(brief report from the Toronto International Film Festival)
Those who have watched "L'amant" (1992) may still remember the somewhat unique story base on a novel set in the French colonies of Indochina in the 1930s. "The sea wall" is adapted from the work of the same author, with a similar backdrop. However, instead of focusing on the erotic encounter between a French woman and a Chinese man (although a similar elements still exists here, sans "erotic"), "The sea wall" is about the struggle of a woman who can be almost described as eccentric. Isabelle Huppert plays that woman.
The sea wall itself is a motif that reflects the struggle against nature, a barricade against salty sea water from flooding and destroying the rice fields. But the hostile side of nature is not the only enemy that the widowed, over-20-years settler has to content with. There is also the colonial bureaucrats that constantly threaten to take back her rice fields. Her temperamental 20-year-old son and innocent 17-year-old daughter try to help as much as they can, not an easy thing when the mother is even more temperamental. The family's only true ally is a loyal local employee called "Corporal".
There is nothing especially dramatic in the plot, including the romantic escapades of son and daughter, both with a rich object-of-affection a French woman and a Chinese man respectively. The backdrop does include undercurrents of local unrests caused by severe oppression. But those stay as backdrops.
Technically, there is again nothing extraordinary. There is neither revealing long takes nor sharp, suggestive montages. The Cambodian landscape captured is watchable, but not breathtaking. Story telling and editing are run-of-the-mill.
At any film festival, I'll make sure I see at least one film with Isabelle Huppert, if there's any at all. "The sea wall" is decidedly not her "career-best" performance or any such thing. Still, her pitch-perfect portrayal of this irritatingly temperamental and lovably stubborn woman makes this film a rewarding experience.
Those who have watched "L'amant" (1992) may still remember the somewhat unique story base on a novel set in the French colonies of Indochina in the 1930s. "The sea wall" is adapted from the work of the same author, with a similar backdrop. However, instead of focusing on the erotic encounter between a French woman and a Chinese man (although a similar elements still exists here, sans "erotic"), "The sea wall" is about the struggle of a woman who can be almost described as eccentric. Isabelle Huppert plays that woman.
The sea wall itself is a motif that reflects the struggle against nature, a barricade against salty sea water from flooding and destroying the rice fields. But the hostile side of nature is not the only enemy that the widowed, over-20-years settler has to content with. There is also the colonial bureaucrats that constantly threaten to take back her rice fields. Her temperamental 20-year-old son and innocent 17-year-old daughter try to help as much as they can, not an easy thing when the mother is even more temperamental. The family's only true ally is a loyal local employee called "Corporal".
There is nothing especially dramatic in the plot, including the romantic escapades of son and daughter, both with a rich object-of-affection a French woman and a Chinese man respectively. The backdrop does include undercurrents of local unrests caused by severe oppression. But those stay as backdrops.
Technically, there is again nothing extraordinary. There is neither revealing long takes nor sharp, suggestive montages. The Cambodian landscape captured is watchable, but not breathtaking. Story telling and editing are run-of-the-mill.
At any film festival, I'll make sure I see at least one film with Isabelle Huppert, if there's any at all. "The sea wall" is decidedly not her "career-best" performance or any such thing. Still, her pitch-perfect portrayal of this irritatingly temperamental and lovably stubborn woman makes this film a rewarding experience.