The Secret of the Grain (2007)
"La graine et le mulet" (original title)

At the port of Sète, Mr. Slimani, a tired 60-year-old, drags himself toward a shipyard job that has become more and more difficult to cope with as the years go by. He is a divorced father ... See full summary »

Director:

Abdellatif Kechiche

Writer:

Abdellatif Kechiche

Stars:

Habib Boufares, Hafsia Herzi, Farida Benkhetache

19 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Habib Boufares	...	Slimane Beiji
Hafsia Herzi	...	Rym
Farida Benkhetache	...	Karima
Abdelhamid Aktouche	...	Hamid
Alice Houri	...	Julia
Bouraouïa Marzouk	...	Souad
Cyril Favre	...	Serguei
Leila D'Issernio	...	Lilia
Abelkader Djeloulli	...	Kader
Bruno Lochet	...	Mario
Olivier Loustau	...	José
Sami Zitouni	...	Majid
Sabrina Ouazani	...	Olfa
Mohamed Benabdeslem	...	Riadh
Hatika Karaoui	...	Latifa

Storyline

At the port of Sète, Mr. Slimani, a tired 60-year-old, drags himself toward a shipyard job that has become more and more difficult to cope with as the years go by. He is a divorced father who forces himself to stay close to his family despite the schisms and tensions that are easily sparked off and that financial difficulties make even more intense. He is going through a delicate period in his life and, recently, everything seems to make him feel useless: a failure. He wants to escape from it all and set up his own restaurant. However, it appears to be an unreachable dream given his meager, irregular salary that is not anywhere near enough to supply what he needs to realize his ambition. But he can still dream and talk about it with his family in particular. A family that gradually gives its support to this project, which comes to symbolize the means to a better life. Thanks to its ingeniousness and hard work, this dream soon becomes a reality...or almost....

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Plot Keywords:

shipyard | grand opening | bank loan | persuasion | social issues | 

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Taglines:

The Best French Film of the Year

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Pathé Distribution [fr]

Country:

France

Language:

French Arabic Russian

Release Date:

12 December 2007 (France)

Also Known As:

The Secret of the Grain

Filming Locations:

Chantier naval, Sète, Hérault, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$9,864 (USA) (2 January 2009)

Gross:

$86,356 (USA) (27 February 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pathé Renn Productions, Hirsch, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

151 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Digital capture (for this is a HD video movie) was supposed to start in the summer of 2005 but one of the leading actors was sick, which resulted in a major delay. Thus, filming actually started on 5 September 2005 and was still running by 16 January 2006. The set was on a boat in the port of Sète for at least six weeks from October to December 2006. Outside temperatures were very low, as opposed to what they should have been if schedule could have been held. This led the production to set up large tents near the boat with heating systems for the actors and extras to remain comfortable between takes.

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Connections

References Finding Nemo (2003)

User Reviews

The beauty of simplicity

One that likes generalizations may say that French movies often get trapped in what one may call "a presumptuous way of looking at life". Always that unadjusted narrative, and of course the mysterious/pseudo-philosophical ending. Well, this one is a French contemporary movie that is not attached formulas. The contemplative look is sure french, however the measure is precise. It provides an unbelievable and unexpected intimacy with the characters, which is only recognized by the viewer as the movie comes to the end. Offering a particular time frame that values a constant and naturalistic look at the sequences, this movie conducts you through the beauty of simple things in life as if it was the greatest conquests of human kind.