The Sea Wall (2008)
"Un barrage contre le Pacifique" (original title)

A troubled mother's spirit crumbles when her adult children strike out for independence. Feeling abandoned she contemplates taking drastic action.

Director:

Rithy Panh

Writers:

Marguerite Duras (novel), Michel Fessler,

Stars:

Isabelle Huppert, Gaspard Ulliel, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Isabelle Huppert	...	La mère
Gaspard Ulliel	...	Joseph
Astrid Bergès-Frisbey	...	Suzanne
Randal Douc	...	Monsieur Jo
Vanthon Duong	...	Le caporal
Stéphane Rideau	...	Agosti
Lucy Harrison	...	Carmen
Doeun Thenn Nan	...	M. Khing
Chorn Solyda	...	Le père Sok (as Solida Chorn)
Ingrid Mareski	...	La femme de Pierre
Louis Arsac	...	Pierre
Rosa Meas	...	A'chan
Mang Son	...	A'sok
Phén Vann	...	Le chef du village
Jean-Pol Brissart	...	M. Bideau

Storyline

French Indochina, 1931. In the Gulf of Siam, a Widow and her two children, Joseph, 2o, and Suzanne, 16, barely survive by exploiting rice fields located much too close to the ocean. Every year their crops are flooded and their only hope lies in the construction of a seawall. The mother refuses to give up and desperately battles both the sea and the corrupt colonial bureaucrats ...

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Plot Keywords:

remake | based on novel

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France Cambodia Belgium

Language:

French

Release Date:

7 January 2009 (France)

Also Known As:

The Sea Wall

Company Credits

Production Co:

Catherine Dussart Productions (CDP), Studio 37, France 2 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min 115 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

French visa # 119169 delivered on 24-11-2008.

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Connections

Remake of This Angry Age (1958)

User Reviews

Third Time Out.

The third time we've seen Marguerite Duras' childhood as a movie and they are all more interesting than her own films - which is not difficult. This is not a great film, though it is remarkable on period. I still prefer René Clement's deeply flawed version and I did enjoy the eroticised L'Amant.

Curiously this is the first one not by a French director and it's a French movie. Huppert is always watchable and, with her character shifted to centre stage, there is an interesting change of emphasis. The final shot of the actual rice paddy is resonant. Jo Van Fleet's version seems to come from another planet.

The picture of Colonial Cambodia here is more convincing, though the things that should be central are sketchy - the ex-school teacher mother's back story, her relationship to the locals, who she is supposed to be protecting.