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The Silence of the Sea

Original title: Le silence de la mer
  • 1949
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 27m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
5.4K
YOUR RATING
The Silence of the Sea (1949)
DramaRomanceWar

1941 in a small town in Nazi occupied France. Against the will of its elderly male and his adult niece residents, the Nazis commandeer a house for one of their officers, Lt. Werner von Ebren... Read all1941 in a small town in Nazi occupied France. Against the will of its elderly male and his adult niece residents, the Nazis commandeer a house for one of their officers, Lt. Werner von Ebrennac, to live in for as long as he is in the area on Nazi business. As a figurative and lit... Read all1941 in a small town in Nazi occupied France. Against the will of its elderly male and his adult niece residents, the Nazis commandeer a house for one of their officers, Lt. Werner von Ebrennac, to live in for as long as he is in the area on Nazi business. As a figurative and literal silent protest against the Nazis and the officer, the uncle and niece do whatever is ... Read all

  • Director
    • Jean-Pierre Melville
  • Writers
    • Vercors
    • Jean-Pierre Melville
  • Stars
    • Howard Vernon
    • Nicole Stéphane
    • Jean-Marie Robain
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.6/10
    5.4K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Jean-Pierre Melville
    • Writers
      • Vercors
      • Jean-Pierre Melville
    • Stars
      • Howard Vernon
      • Nicole Stéphane
      • Jean-Marie Robain
    • 21User reviews
    • 40Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos14

    Howard Vernon in The Silence of the Sea (1949)
    Max Hermann in The Silence of the Sea (1949)
    Jean-Marie Robain in The Silence of the Sea (1949)
    Nicole Stéphane in The Silence of the Sea (1949)
    Nicole Stéphane in The Silence of the Sea (1949)
    Howard Vernon in The Silence of the Sea (1949)
    Howard Vernon in The Silence of the Sea (1949)
    Jean-Marie Robain in The Silence of the Sea (1949)
    The Silence of the Sea (1949)
    Howard Vernon in The Silence of the Sea (1949)
    The Silence of the Sea (1949)
    The Silence of the Sea (1949)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Howard Vernon
    Howard Vernon
    • Werner von Ebrennac
    Nicole Stéphane
    Nicole Stéphane
    • La nièce
    • (as Nicole Stephane)
    Jean-Marie Robain
    Jean-Marie Robain
    • L'oncle
    Ami Aaröe
    Ami Aaröe
    • La fiancée
    • (as Ami Aaroe)
    Georges Patrix
    • L'ordonnance
    Denis Sadier
    • L'ami
    Rudelle
    • L'Allemand
    Max Fromm
    • L'Allemand
    • (as Fromm)
    Claude Vernier
    Claude Vernier
    • L'Allemand
    • (as Vernier)
    Max Hermann
    • L'Allemand
    Fritz Schmiedel
    • L'Allemand
    • (as Schmiedel)
    • Director
      • Jean-Pierre Melville
    • Writers
      • Vercors
      • Jean-Pierre Melville
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      When the author of the original novel, Vercors, objected to Melville adapting his book without obtaining the rights, the filmmaker made him a deal. The filmmaker would go ahead and make the film without permission, and when it was complete, Vercors would arrange a screening of it for 24 former Resistance members. If even one of the 24 objected to the film, he, Melville, would personally burn the negative in front of Vercors' own eyes. When Vercors arranged the screening, he assumed that only 26 people would be present: himself, Melville and the 24-member "jury." However, much to Vercors' chagrin, Melville "stacked the deck" by instructing his publicist to invite many prominent critics and literary figures, including André Malraux and Jean Cocteau (whose novel Melville would later adapt into the film Les Enfants Terribles (1950)), although Melville feigned innocence in the matter. Of the 24 "jury" members, one dropped out just before the screening, and the editor of the French newspaper Le Figaro was recruited as a replacement. When the film was over, 23 voted in favor of the film and only one against: the Le Figaro editor. However, when Vercors discovered that the man had voted against the film not because of the work itself, but because his vanity was offended at being a last-minute substitute, Vercors discounted his vote, and the film was saved.
    • Quotes

      Werner von Ebrennac: There's a lovely fairy tale that I've read, that you're read, that everyone has read. I don't know if the title is the same in your country. We call it, "Das Tier und die Schöne", "Beauty and the Beast". Poor Beauty, she is at the mercy of the Beast, powerless and imprisoned. She is subjected to his implacable, heavy presence all day long. Beauty is proud, dignified, she has become hard. But the Beast is better than he seems. He doesn't have the finest manners. He is tactless, brutal. He seems vulgar next to the refined Beauty. But he has a heart. Yes, a soul which aspires to higher things. If Beauty wished it so...

    • Connections
      Featured in Melville Steps Out of the Shadows (2010)

    User reviews21

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Quiet but powerful war film
    "It is a noble thing for a soldier to disobey a criminal order."

    The condition the main characters find themselves in seems on one hand absurd and existential, and on the other, to reveal such a timeless and menacing aspect of all war - the desire for one nation to essentially eliminate another. For most of the film, a German officer talks to a Frenchman and his niece about his life, his taste in the arts, and professes his admiration for French culture, all while they sit in stony silence, trapped in their own living room, but passively resisting his overtures to connect with them on a human level. His eyes are eventually opened to his country's plans and what they are really doing though. The novel the film was based on was written in occupied France and published secretly in 1942, which is a marvel on its own to think about.

    The film by no means forgives the Nazis (and even includes a Treblinka reference the novel didn't have to emphasize that the Holocaust was known by at least some German officers), but it also shows that decent men exist in any enemy. In this terrible situation, it thus sets up fascinating questions: Should the Frenchman and his daughter engage with this man? Should he attempt to disobey his orders? Or does war simply crush those possibilities out of existence? That scene where the officer sees the monuments in Paris extolling the military triumphs of the past, for leaders and causes which ran their course and faded into oblivion, is brilliant. One sees the courage of the Resistance in these two quiet people in their home, the appeal to humanity under extraordinary circumstances, and the cruelty and senselessness of it all.
    helpful•4
    0
    • gbill-74877
    • Dec 7, 2019

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 22, 1949 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • France
    • Languages
      • French
      • German
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Tisina mora
    • Filming locations
      • Villiers-sur-Morin, Seine-et-Marne, France(town)
    • Production companies
      • Melville Productions
      • Organisation Générale Cinématographique
      • Société du Cinéma du Panthéon
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 27 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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