Olivier Assayas

Cold Water

Cold Water

An acclaimed early work by Olivier Assayas, the long-unavailable, deeply felt coming-of-age drama Cold Water can at last be seen in the United States. Drawing from his own youthful experiences, Assayas revisits the outskirts of Paris in the early 1970s, telling the story of teenage lovers Gilles (Cyprien Fouquet) and Christine (Virginie Ledoyen), whose rebellions against family and society threaten to tear them apart. The visceral realism of the movie’s narrative and the near experimentalism of its camera work come together effortlessly thanks in part to a rock soundtrack that vividly evokes the period. Cold Water, whose centerpiece is one of the most memorable party sequences ever committed to film, is a heartbreaking immersion in the emotional tumult of being young.

Film Info

  • France
  • 1994
  • 95 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.66:1
  • French
  • Spine #944

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Olivier Assayas, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New interview with Assayas
  • New interview with cinematographer Denis Lenoir
  • Excerpt from a 1994 French television program on the film featuring Assayas and actors Virginie Ledoyen and Cyprien Fouquet
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Girish Shambu

New cover by Eric Skillman

Purchase Options

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Olivier Assayas, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New interview with Assayas
  • New interview with cinematographer Denis Lenoir
  • Excerpt from a 1994 French television program on the film featuring Assayas and actors Virginie Ledoyen and Cyprien Fouquet
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Girish Shambu

New cover by Eric Skillman

Cold Water
Cast
Virginie Ledoyen
Christine
Cyprien Fouquet
Gilles
László Szabó
Gilles’s father
Jean-Pierre Darroussin
Inspector
Dominique Faysse
Christine’s mother
Smaïl Mekki
Mourad
Jackie Berroyer
Christine’s father
Jean-Christophe Bouvet
Professor
Ilona Györi
Marie
Renée Amzallag
Nurse
Credits
Director
Olivier Assayas
Written by
Olivier Assayas
Producer
Georges Benayoun
Producer
Paul Rozenberg
Associate producer
Chantal Poupaud
Executive producer IMA
Elisabeth Deviosse
Executive producer IMA
Françoise Guglielmi
Executive producer SFP
Yannick Casanova
Production manager
Sylvie Barthet
Cinematography by
Denis Lenoir
Production designer
Gilbert Gagneux
Editor
Luc Barnier
Sound
Hervé Chauvel
Costume designer
Françoise Clavel

Current

Finding the Life of the Party in Cold Water
Finding the Life of the Party in Cold Water

Olivier Assayas revived the spirit of the 1970s in one of cinema’s most evocative party sequences, which serves as the centerpiece of his acclaimed 1994 film.

Cold Water: Dancing on the Ruins
Cold Water: Dancing on the Ruins

Fueled by the rebellious sounds of rock and roll, Olivier Assayas’s long-unavailable breakthrough film is a remarkably unsentimental journey through the memories of youth.

By Girish Shambu

Uriah Heep Brings a Touch of the Uncool to Cold Water

Songbook

Uriah Heep Brings a Touch of the Uncool to Cold Water

With its irresistible momentum and sonic crunch, “Easy Livin’” occupies a special place in one of the most celebrated sequences in Olivier Assayas’s filmography.

By Glenn Kenny

Teenage Rebellion in Madison

Repertory Picks

Teenage Rebellion in Madison

The new restoration of Olivier Assayas’s long-unavailable breakthrough film, Cold Water, continues its tour across the country this week.

Of Their Age: Olivier Assayas on the Making of Cold Water
Of Their Age: Olivier Assayas on the Making of Cold Water

Working within the strict rules and tight budget of a commissioned television project, one of France’s finest contemporary directors made an artistic breakthrough that would go on to define his career.

By Hillary Weston