A wry and comic look at the shifting of power in sexual relationships, Francois Ozon’s film is adapted from a play written but never staged by the celebrated German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder. When the smooth-talking Leopold (Bernard Giraudeau), a successful businessman of 50, seduces 20-year-old Franz, the youngster falls under his spell and moves in with him. But, Leopold soon reveals his true colours and Franz contemplates returning to his girlfriend (Ludivine Sagnier) – until Leopold seduces her too. The arrival of Leopold’s former lover Vera, a male to female transsexual, only complicates matters further. Witty and sharply observed, Water Drops on Burning Rocks bears Fassbinder’s perverse sense of humour, embellished by the style and verve of Ozon, the enfant terrible of modern French cinema.
