Le Silence De La Mer
1949
The debut film from acclaimed French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville (LE SAMOURAI, LE CERCLE ROUGE), LE SILENCE DE LA MER is considered by many to be one of the most important films to deal with the German occupation of France during World War II and is based upon on the novella by French Resistance author Vercors. Read more
| Starring | Nicole Stephane, Jean-Marie Robain, Howard Vernon |
|---|---|
| Director | Jean-Pierre Melville |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
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Le Silence De La Mer
The debut film from acclaimed French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville (LE SAMOURAI, LE CERCLE ROUGE), LE SILENCE DE LA MER is considered by many to be one of the most important films to deal with the German occupation of France during World War II and is based upon on the novella by French Resistance author Vercors.
| Starring | Nicole Stephane, Jean-Marie Robain, Howard Vernon |
|---|---|
| Director | Jean-Pierre Melville |
| Studio | EUREKA ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 25 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: French |
| Released | DVD: 25 Jun 2007 Production year: 1949 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews
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Melville's extraordinary first feature, an adaptation of Vercors' classic novella about the French Resistance, is in... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
A thoughtful look at occupation
Released in 1949 and based on a secretly published WW2 novel by Vercors this film should be regarded in the context of the German occupation of France. (Some might see a connection with the war in Iraq.)
France in 1941: an army officer is billeted on an old man and his niece. They can only offer resistance by refusing to speak to him. He in turn respects their silence and speaks of the cultural greatness of France which he hopes will soften the German attitude to its conquered lands. A grudging mutual respect develops slowly and it is suggested that a closer relationship might develop between the niece and the officer were things different.The rhetorical speeches of the officer are persuasive but a visit to Paris and the ridicule of his fellow officers open his eyes to the truth. He returns a changed man.
This simple premise builds powerfully towards its climax with great skill and the three actors convey the difficulty of their situations in a subtle and convincing way.
The director, JP Melville filmed in the confines of the authors own house. The occasional outdoor scenes contrast with the awkwardness within. Sometimes the warmth of the fire is shared, sometimes the isolation of separate rooms is underlined. The officer changes into civvies and then back to uniform again. The struggle for common ground is a deceit which reality cannot sustain amongst these individually decent people. The final, silent communication between the old man and the officer is through a newspaper headline which each knows the other will respect.
Compared with the same director's 'Armée des Ombres', (Army in the Shadows, 1969) this relates to a more profound humanity, to conscience and the individual. The latter film deals with 'Le Resistance' and deals with the brutality and violence of the underground war. But both are recommended viewing.
Film quality is mostly good with a few signs of wear. -
Most recent members' review
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
The very edge of silence.
It is a pleasure to be reminded how good a straightforward film could be, when it was simply presented without distracting frills. There are occasions when you do need colour and wide screens and spectacular effects - if your director and camera crew are up to handling them - when, for example you have large battle scenes, or fine landscapes, or when your subject matter is just too vapid to stand up alone. For a serious subject, however, and for some dramatic effects (consider Ivan the Terrible!), it can still be best to use black and white.
This film is beautifully effective, and amazingly straightforward: Vercors' text, pruned where the pictures can tell the story for themselves, is read out virtually word for word with a sharpness of presentation which over-whelmed me. The bleak quietness of occupied France in 1941 (so early - and Vercors wrote during 1941), laced into the delicate sensitivity of personal feelings reaching across the unbridgeable divide of victory, injustice and defeat is perfectly conveyed.
It is interesting to be reminded how, at that time, resentment of the wehrmacht came not from horror at atrocities, concentration camps, genocide (although those are remarked in the closing sequences) and all the rest, but from the humiliation of defeat and dishonour. For those who remember, this film has a vivid truth as you recall those bitter and frightening early days of the war, seen from a quiet country village. A masterpiece.
Incidentally, if you have a copy of Vercors' novel beside you, and suffer my weaknesses in recognising spoken French, you do not need sub-titles: the script runs almost verbatim from the key sections of the text. For once, my longing for French sub-titles with French films is answered! It is, also, quite a study to see how, at one or two points, there have been slight amendments to the form and order of events to fit the visual medium. Delicate touches. The casting is impressively exact.
In the last twenty - or ten - minutes the film is given the final embellishment beyond Vercors' text which could only have been done visually, with exact restraint, and which reduced me to tears.
What an utterly beautiful film. Thank goodness no film stock was available in colour; Melville might have felt obliged to use it!
I am gushing a bit, but this is a great film which it would be very hard to surpass. Its painful melancholy, sharp edged as it is, took my breath away. Even, it just about manages to retain Vercors' touches of ambiguity - sensitive ambiguity when he was writing in 1941! I do not think, alas, that we ever see its like today ... just 'movies' ... -
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The debut film from acclaimed French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville (LE SAMOURAI, LE CERCLE ROUGE), LE SILENCE DE LA MER is considered by many to be one of the most important films to deal with the ... -