Water Drops on Burning Rocks pays tribute to one of film's greatest auteurs, Rainer Werner Fassbinder. French director François Ozon brings to the screen for the first time a perverse study in sexual game-playing that Fassbinder wrote at age 19 and left unproduced — perhaps because the young boy's story he told was too much like his own.

That story, of a blooming romance between busi­ nessman Leopold and naïve, considerably younger Franz, is directed much like a middle-period Fassbinder work. Ozon confines the action to Leopold's apartment (a faithfully recreated 70s German residence) and lets the camera unblinkingly record the action head-on.

As cracks appear in the harmonious fagade of Leopold and Franz's relationship, the two begin to manipUlate and spy on each other. The tension mounts further when their two ex-girlfriends appear on the scene. A few more surprises pop up along the way, including a show-stopping musical number performed by the cast and a climactic bombshell delivered by Leopold's ex.