THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN
Kechiche sets a great deal in motion, knows how to build tension and suspense like a popular master
by Vishal Verma
India Release in Mumbai & Banglore (PVR Screens) by NDTV Lumiere. Powered By A Pathe Distribution (in France) release of a Hirsch, Pathe Renn production, in association with France 2 Cinema. (International sales: Pathe Distribution, Paris). Produced by Claude Berri. Executive producer, Pierre Grunstein. Directed, written by Abdellatif Kechiche.
Star Cast
Habib Boufares….. Slimane.
Hafsia Herzi…..Rym
Faridah Benkhetache……..Karima.
Abdelhamid Aktouche………Hamid.
Bouraouïa Marzouk…….Souad.
Hatika Karaoui…………. Latifa
Alice Houri……… Julia.
Technical Analysis
A tremendous critical success in France, French-Tunisian writer-director-actor Abdellatif Kechiche's The Secret of the Grain is a sprawling yet intimate tale set among the Arab working class of the Mediterranean port Sète.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the tale is not the alienation that miffs some Tunisians living in France but the dissonance between the first generation of immigrants and their offspring, the latter feeling completely at home in the French language, fully able to negotiate with the French in business affairs.
Entire ensemble cast is strong, with Hafsia Herzi a standout as Latifa's bright, outspoken teen daughter Rym, whom Slimane cares for as much as he does his own extended clan. Sharp lensing by Lubomir Bakchev provides a docu feel.
Leisurely paced "Grain" sets up a series of contrasts that initially appear digressive, but add up to something greater when one reflects upon the whole. For instance, the pic's opening moments introduce two male characters (later revealed as father and son) at their respective jobs. Their attitudes toward work provide telling info about their opposing characters and values -- and also shape the film's finale.
The Secret of the Grain is crowd-pleasing in the sense that the story and characters are easy to identify with. The length of certain episodes and the truncated nature of other scenes will likely bother some viewers, however. Kechiche sets a great deal in motion and doesn’t resolve any of it in a tidy way, though he knows how to build tension and suspense like a popular master. His exuberant, naturalistic method belongs somewhere between the arthouse and the multiplex.
The Story
Kechiche’s latest, The Secret of the Grain, in which a 61-year-old shipyard worker in the port city of Sète is laid off after four decades of service and sets about opening a couscous restaurant aboard the decrepit boat he buys with his severance pay. For Slimane Beiji, played with quiet, solitary force by screen newcomer Habib Boufares, the restaurant is both a folie de grandeur and a final testament — a way, he hopes, to unite the disparate members of his family (including his ex-wife, his four grown children, his current mistress and her daughter) and restore his own bruised dignity. Yet the more Beiji devotes himself to the project, gradually, a story of considerable narrative complexity emerges, and by the time The Secret of the Grain reaches its breathtaking final act, our pulses are racing.
Recommended: This Cesar (France) & FIPRESCI winner (Venice Int Fest Competition section) is a must for any cinema lover anywhere.
Other Credits
Camera (color), Lubomir Bakchev; editors, Ghalya Lacroix, Camille Toubkis; production designer, Benoit Barouh; costume designer, Maria Beloso Hall; sound (Dolby Digital), Nicolas Waschkowski, Olivier Laurent, Eric Legarcon, Eric Armbruster, Jean-Paul Hurier; associate producer, Nathalie Rheims; assistant director, Carlos da Fonseca Parsotam; casting, Monya Galby. Reviewed at a Special Screening in Mumbai on January 28, 2009. Media (for NDTV Lumiere – Vitcom Consultancy. Running time: 151 MIN.