A warm and compassionate, but never sentimental film about three men who have to learn to live in a rehabilitation centre with a handicapped body. The film shows the humour (sometimes black), the courage and also the weak and depressive moments of several nicely-drawn characters. In the idiom of the better American film, The Waterdance tackles themes relating to the position of handicapped people in our society, also examined at this festival by the films Passages by Yilmaz Arslan and Face of our Fear by Stephen Dwoskin.Protagonist is the writer Joel Garcia. A recent accident has paralysed him from the waist down and alongside the battle with his physical disability, he mainly fights a psychological struggle to accept his new situation. He becomes friend with two men sharing his ward in the rehabilitation centre: Bloss, a coarse and racist biker, and the black, smart yet tragic Raymond. After a start marred by conflicts, the three very different men eventually call a truce and arm themselves with humour and rebellion against the great and disheartening atmosphere around them.
