Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Just perfect...

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Call me a sociopath, but after watching See The Sea I took out the DVD (a short movie anthology) and threw it away. Okay, the movie is done excellently. You have this uneasy gut feeling about the woman from the very beginning, and it slowly creeps up your body until the pretty disturing resolution.This is the emotional equivalent to having someone kick you in the stomach and vomit into your mouth. I honestly don't know why Ozon would want his audience to feel that way. I was impressed enough by 5 X 2 to give this one a try, even after the letdown of ANGEL. But I don't think I will go and watch another OZON after this one. Okay, "§$% you've accomplished your goal. You've gotten your reaction. Now leave me the "§$% alone.

My main reason for seeking out this film was due to the fact that it's directed by one of the great filmmakers of today, Francois Ozon. You can always count on Ozon to deliver a well observed tale of the unexpected, and even though he lacked experience at the time this film was made, it's still a great way to spend 52 minutes of your life. From Ozon's later movies, the one I would say this one most closely resembles is the seductive thriller Swimming Pool, as Ozon captures the meeting of two very different women and the resulting absurdity that stems from that meeting. See the Sea is a lot grittier than Swimming Pool, however, and if his objective with this film was to make an impact; he definitely succeeded in doing just that. The film focuses on Sasha, a young woman living a peaceful life with her baby daughter in a beach house. Her life is disrupted one day when another woman by the name of Tatiana asks if she may camp out on Sasha's land. Sasha agrees, and the film follows the relationship between the two over the course of a few days.This film is very short, running at just 52 minutes; but Ozon makes great use of his time, and overall I've got to say that I'd have been happy for him to drag the story out more. The pace of the film is very relaxed, but it's always obvious that it's leading to a sinister conclusion. Ozon builds the tension between the characters well, and by constantly hinting that there's more to the eerie stranger that meets the eye, the director skilfully entices his audience into the central situation. The build-up to the final resolution is never terribly shocking (toothbrush scene aside), but it's always foreboding and this bodes excellently with the shock climax. The style of the film is very down and dirty, and the film doesn't feature the picturesque settings and cinematography of the later Swimming Pool. The way that the director finally shows his hand is absolutely superb, however, as the character that has been referred to but never seen until the end comes home to survey the damage to his family home. Overall, See the Sea is a distressing and damaging film that leaves the viewer with something to think about, and while the director has done better; this early film is well worth seeing.

SEE THE SEA is a well made short (52 minute) film that works on most levels. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a "masterpiece" or anything (as some reviewers have...), especially being that the film's ending is completely predictable - but even so, the good acting, "suspenseful" atmosphere, and swift run-time keep this one from ever being boring or too self-indulgent...A young mother lives in a small sea-side community with her 10-month-old daughter. Her husband is off on business and the two are left alone in their small cottage. A young female drifter/back-packer wanders into the community and stops to ask if she can set up her tent on the woman's property for a few days, and the woman reluctantly agrees. We soon find that this was not such a good idea, as our wandering "friend" turns out to be a little "off"...Everything in SEE THE SEA was handled competently and confidently by the director, building a sense of tension through the interactions of the mother and the back-packer. Also, the mother's lacadaisical treatment of her baby (leaving her alone in the tub and on the beach, leaving her alone with the back-packer that she just met as she goes to drink wine at a restaurant, etc...) adds another layer to the story and almost makes you wonder if the ending of the film was almost justified - or if this was perhaps what the director was trying to convey. Speaking of the ending (which I will not give away here...) - that is my one major problem with the film. The sense of "tension" in the film was well-built, but led up to an EXTREMELY predictable (if still somewhat "satisfying" ending. A decent short film overall - worth a look to those that dig "darker" material in their films...7.5/10

See the door? If this movie is on in your vicinity, perhaps now would be a good time to open the door, step outside, and close the door, making sure it's locked behind you. It's just that bad. It's even worse than another François Ozon film I've seen called "Water Drops on Burning Rocks."At 50 minutes, this film is excruciating. Some may call it a brilliant art film, but to call it a film is to simply say that anything that IS filmed can be considered a movie. Which is true, to some extent, but that is far from saying that everything on film is a something that people would like to see.The concept of this film seems to be one of "Oh boy, cynicism!" The characters are empty glasses at the start, filled a bit with their actions, only to be emptied again at various points so that completely unbelievable things can occur. And these unbelievable things... They advance the plot, right? Nope! They're just thrown in there to remind us all that the world is a horrible place and everyone in it is potentially going to despoil your like-new toothbrush and perhaps do a few other things that aren't very nice for no particular reason.This is a film that asks the audience to draw their own conclusions, I suppose. But when all is said and done, what conclusions can even be drawn from it? Not many, and those few that can be drawn aren't too remarkable. This is an empty film. Out of a 10, I give it a 2.