''Cold Showers'' (french: Douches froides) is a

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

drama film directed by

Antony Cordier Antony may refer to: * Antony (name), a masculine given name and a surname * Antony, Belarus, a village in the Hrodna Voblast of Belarus * Antony, Cornwall, a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom ** Antony House, Cornwall, United Kingdom * Antony, H ...

. It was a Directors' Fortnight Selection at

2005 Cannes Film Festival The 58th Cannes Film Festival started on 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Twenty movies from 13 countries were selected to compete. The awards were announced on 21 May. The Palme d'Or went to the Belgium, Belgian film ''L'Enfant (film), L'Enfant ...

. The film tells the story of three teenagers, a girl, Vanessa, and two boys, Mickael and Clement, who face changes and problems over a period of three months as they enter adulthood. The film attracted controversy on its release due to the full-frontal nudity of several young French actors.

Plot

Mickaël (Johan Libereau) is from a poor

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

family - his father Gérard (Jean-Philippe Ecoffey) is a taxi cab driver who lost his license and then his job as a result of a police roadblock targeting drivers under the influence of alcohol. His mother Annie (Florence Thomassin) works as a cleaning woman in the

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

gym: After this they have a tough time financially. Not a great student, Mickaël excels in

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

and his life is focused on his sport and on his judo coach and girlfriend Vanessa (Salomé Stévenin). One of Mickaël's teammates Clément (Pierre Perrier) is from a wealthy family: his father Louis Steiner (Aurélien Recoing) uses a wheelchair and his mother Mathilde (Claire Nebout) is a woman of the world and society. Louis decides to sponsor the judo team, buys them outfits, and asks Mickaël to work with Clément to perfect his technique and prepare the judo team for a French championship. Mickaël and Clément relate well and while Mickaël is a winning player, Clément is smarter and understands the intrinsic rules of the game better. An incident occurs that forces Mickaël to take the position of a wounded team mate and in doing so he must lose eight kilos to qualify for the championship team. The struggle to lose weight (he is already in ideal physical condition) places stress on both Mickaël and his family and teammates. Mickaël and Vanessa include Clément in their camaraderie, a situation which evolves into a

ménage à trois A () is a domestic arrangement and committed relationship with three people in polyamorous romantic or sexual relations with each other, and often dwelling together; typically a traditional marriage between a man and woman along with anothe ...

as the three have group sex in the after hours gym. Vanessa reacts as though this is the greatest physical feeling ever, Clément is smitten, and Mickaël has troubling doubts. When the three decide to try it again in a hotel room Mickaël is so conflicted that he does not join the other two, only listening to their cavorting in the bathtub feeling inferior to the smarter, wealthier Clément. But on the judo side, the team plays the championship and Mickaël's delicate sense of

self worth Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...

is restored for a moment. It is the manner in which the trio of teenagers resolve their antics that closes the film.

Cast

Johan Libéreau Johan Libéreau (born 27 September 1984) is a French actor. He was an apprentice pastry chef and waiter, before being spotted by an agent. Filmography * 2003: '' Tais-toi!'' as Adolescent 2 * 2004: ''Julie Lescaut'' episode "Sans pardon" as ...

as Mickael *

Salomé Stévenin Salomé Stévenin (born 29 January 1985) is a French actress. She began her acting career at the age of 3 when she appeared alongside her father in the film '' Peaux des Vaches'' ("Thick Skinned") in 1989. Her recent appearances include the 2002 ...

as Vanessa * Pierre Perrier as Clément *

Florence Thomassin Florence Thomassin (born 24 June 1966) is a French actress and sculptor. In 2001, Thomassin was nominated for a César Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Beatrice in Bernard Rapp's ''A Question of Taste ''A Question of Taste'' ...

as Annie * Jean-Philippe Ecoffey as Gérard *

Aurélien Recoing Aurélien Recoing (born 5 May 1958) is a French actor and stage director. Personal life Aurélien Recoing is the son of (puppeteer), and the brother of (director and translator), Blaise Recoing (actor and musician), and David Recoing (pianist, ...

as Louis Steiner *

Claire Nebout Claire Nebout (born 20 May 1964) is a French actress. She has appeared in 55 films and television shows since 1986. She co-starred in ''In the Country of Juliets'', which was entered into the 1992 Cannes Film Festival The 45th Cannes Film Fest ...

as Mathilde Steiner * Julie Boulanger as Valentine *

Steve Tran ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

as Tranh * Denis Falgoux as The coach *

Magali Woch Magaly or Magali is a given name. Magali may refer to: *Magali Amadei (born 1974), French fashion model * Magali Babin (born 1967), Canadian musician and composer *Magali Febles (born 1964), Dominican beauty pageant director *Magali Harvey (born 19 ...

as Mickael's sister *

Camille Japy Camille Japy (born 7 September 1968) is a Belgian-French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** Fre ...

as Coach's wife *

Dominique Cabrera Dominique Cabrera (born 21 December 1957) is a French film director. She has taught filmmaking at La Fémis and at Harvard University. Her film '' Nadia et les hippopotames'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film ...

as The nurse * Sarah Pratt as the examiner

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for this film contains songs by

Julie Delpy Julie Delpy (; born 21 December 1969) is a French-American actress, film director, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter. She studied filmmaking at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and has directed, written, and acted in more than 30 films, includi ...

and

Galt MacDermot Arthur Terence Galt MacDermot (December 18, 1928 – December 17, 2018) was a Canadian-American composer, pianist and writer of musical theater. He won a Grammy Award for the song " African Waltz" in 1960. His most-successful musicals were ''Hai ...

. The score is composed by

Nicolas Lemercier Nicolas Lemercier or Le Mercier (1541 – 1637) was a French architect or master mason. He was the son of architect/mason Pierre Lemercier and may have been the father of Jacques Lemercier. Works attributed to Nicolas include Pontoise Cathedral and ...

. The main song of the film is called "Central Park".

Awards and nominations

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...

* Nominated: ** Best First Film

Prix Louis Delluc The Louis Delluc Prize (french: Prix Louis-Delluc ) is a French film award presented annually since 1937. The award is bestowed to the Best Film and Best First Film of the year on the second week of each December. The jury is composed of 20 members, ...

* Won ** Best First Film

Taipei International Film Festival Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

* Won: ** Grand Prize Verona International Film Festival * Won: ** Grand Prize Marseille Film Festival * Won: ** Critic Prize French Press Golden Star * Won: ** Best First Film

French Syndicate of Cinema Critics The French Syndicate of Cinema Critics (french: Syndicat français de la critique de cinéma et des films de télévision) has, each year since 1946, awarded a prize (" Prix de la critique", English: "Critics Prize"), the Prix Méliès, to the be ...

* Won: ** Best Promising Actor -

Moulins Film Festival * Won: ** Best Actress -

La Ciotat Film Festival * Won: ** Best Actress -

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 0422133, Cold Showers 2005 drama films 2005 martial arts films 2005 LGBT-related films 2005 films 2000s coming-of-age drama films French coming-of-age drama films French LGBT-related films Gay-related films LGBT-related coming-of-age films LGBT-related drama films Louis Delluc Prize winners 2000s French films Judo films