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The Secret of the Grain

Original title: La graine et le mulet
  • 20072007
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 2h 31m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
7.5K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
La graine et le mulet (2007)
  • Drama
In southern France, a Franco-Arabic shipyard worker along with his partner's daughter pursues his dream of opening a restaurant.In southern France, a Franco-Arabic shipyard worker along with his partner's daughter pursues his dream of opening a restaurant.In southern France, a Franco-Arabic shipyard worker along with his partner's daughter pursues his dream of opening a restaurant.
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
7.5K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Abdellatif Kechiche
  • Writers
    • Abdellatif Kechiche
    • Ghalya Lacroix
  • Stars
    • Habib Boufares
    • Hafsia Herzi
    • Farida Benkhetache
Top credits
  • Director
    • Abdellatif Kechiche
  • Writers
    • Abdellatif Kechiche
    • Ghalya Lacroix
  • Stars
    • Habib Boufares
    • Hafsia Herzi
    • Farida Benkhetache
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 40User reviews
    • 108Critic reviews
    • 83Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 19 wins & 10 nominations

    Photos18

    La graine et le mulet (2007)
    La graine et le mulet (2007)
    Habib Boufares and Hafsia Herzi in La graine et le mulet (2007)
    Habib Boufares in La graine et le mulet (2007)
    Habib Boufares and Hafsia Herzi in La graine et le mulet (2007)
    La graine et le mulet (2007)
    Alice Houri and Leila D'Issernio in La graine et le mulet (2007)
    Hafsia Herzi in La graine et le mulet (2007)
    Hafsia Herzi in La graine et le mulet (2007)
    Hafsia Herzi in La graine et le mulet (2007)
    Hafsia Herzi in La graine et le mulet (2007)
    Hafsia Herzi in La graine et le mulet (2007)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Habib Boufares
    • Slimane Beijias Slimane Beiji
    Hafsia Herzi
    Hafsia Herzi
    • Rymas Rym
    Farida Benkhetache
    • Karimaas Karima
    Abdelhamid Aktouche
    • Hamidas Hamid
    Alice Houri
    Alice Houri
    • Juliaas Julia
    Bouraouïa Marzouk
    • Souadas Souad
    Cyril Favre
    • Sergueias Serguei
    Leila D'Issernio
    • Liliaas Lilia
    Abelkader Djeloulli
    • Kaderas Kader
    Bruno Lochet
    Bruno Lochet
    • Marioas Mario
    Olivier Loustau
    Olivier Loustau
    • Joséas José
    Sami Zitouni
    • Majidas Majid
    Sabrina Ouazani
    Sabrina Ouazani
    • Olfaas Olfa
    Mohamed Benabdeslem
    • Riadhas Riadh
    Hatika Karaoui
    • Latifaas Latifa
    Henri Rodriguez
    • Henrias Henri
    Nadia Taoul
    • Sarahas Sarah
    • (as Nadia Taouil)
    Jeanne Corporon
    • La banquièreas La banquière
    • Director
      • Abdellatif Kechiche
    • Writers
      • Abdellatif Kechiche
      • Ghalya Lacroix
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    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.... —Venice Film Festival
    • father in law daughter in law relationship
    • neighborhood
    • shipyard
    • butt slap
    • scrap metal
    • 39 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • The Best French Film of the Year
    • Genre
      • Drama
    • Certificate
      • Not Rated
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Shooting 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.
    • Quotes

      Julia: [talking to Slimane about her husband] Is that a family man ?

      Serguei: Never there for his kid.

    • Connections
      Featured in Maltin on Movies: Flipped (2010)
    • Soundtracks
      El fan hob wa imane
      Written by Mohamed Abdel Wahab and Hussein El Sayed

    User reviews40

    Review
    Top review
    6/10
    It could have been an excellent movie
    Something unusual happened at the end of this movie projection. Several people not knowing each other gathered at the cinema exit and discussed the movie. It appeared that the movie was spoiled by several cinematographic tics which the director promoted to the status of the style and used all over the movie "ad nausea". He extends the lengthy sequences probably to make us share the uneasiness of the characters in the given situation (the mother scolding the child for weeing in her panties, the guests waiting for the cous-cous, the final run of Slimane and the belly dance). But this is a 0-level translation of the reality into the cinematographic language. The profusion of the very close-ups and the clip-like filming with very short shots is a minor default. It is probably one of the points which makes some people like the movie as "modern". The movie is almost twice as long as usual and I can not find any cinematographic reason to make it this long, if not just the desire to convince the spectator (and jury) that this movie has something exceptional. We spent some good moments but we hope that this gifted director will not be encouraged to belaborates more in his future creations.
    helpful•42
    48
    • andre-blecha-1
    • Mar 9, 2008

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 12, 2007 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • France
    • Languages
      • French
      • Arabic
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • Couscous
    • Filming locations
      • Chantier naval, Sète, Hérault, France
    • Production companies
      • Pathé Renn Productions
      • Hirsch
      • France 2 Cinéma
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $86,356
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $9,850
      • Dec 28, 2008
    • Gross worldwide
      • $14,776,783
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 31 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • DTS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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