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Melodrama and ethics in François Ozon's Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brûlantes/Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000)

2007; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 7; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1386/sfc.7.3.207_1

1758-9517

Fiona Handyside,

Literature and Cultural Memory

AbstractFrancois Ozon's third full-length feature film, Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brulantes/Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000), was based on a text written by the German film-maker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, well known for his interest in melodrama in the films of the Hollywood director Douglas Sirk. Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brulantes also imitated Fassbinder's filmic style and borrowed from his visual motifs. This article argues that, far from being merely a post-modern exercise in style, Ozon's film makes an important contribution to current debates in contemporary French film-making concerning the role of genre in film-making. It traces the ways in which Ozon's film is linked to Fassbinder's subversive project and argues the case that Ozon's own film can be seen as an ethical intervention.