Un barrage contre le Pacifique

Originally filmed in 1957 by Rene Clement and with an international cast headed by Jo Van Fleet, Silvana Mangano and Anthony Perkins, (I haven't seen it), "The Sea Wall" is based on a novel by Marguerite Duras and is set in Indochina in 1931. This version, directed by the Cambodian director Rithy Panh, is a visually sumptuous epic centered mainly on Isabelle Huppert's fine performance as the matriarch.

The plot is the fairly conventional one of someone fighting both nature and bureaucracy to retain control of their land, a theme common from a number of American based pictures, though the beauty here of the 'exotic' locations gives the film an added dimension while the director's background in documentary adds to the authenticity. Perhaps it could do with a greater sense of urgency, (you tend to be beguiled by the pictures rather than the plot), but it's still a fairly pleasant way to pass a couple of hours, particularly on a wet Saturday afternoon.

'The Sea Wall' directed in 2008 by Cambodian director Rithy Panh is the second screen adaptation of Marguerite Duras's novel 'Un barrage contre le Pacifique' after the one made in 1957 by René Clément, a few years after the novel was published. The French writer was also a prolific screenwriter and collaborated with some of the best-known contemporary directors of her time with original scripts and adaptations of her books. I believe that she would have liked this film, which was made a decade after the writer's death. The screenplay follows the story with a strong autobiographical touch in the book, inspired by the childhood and adolescence spent by the writer in Indochina in the interwar period. The adaptation is faithful to the book, with an extra authenticity derived from on-site filming in Cambodia and the contribution of Rithy Panh who is also an excellent documentary filmmaker. It is one of those cases where the remake is justified and the result, although far in time, is I think closer to the characters and messages of the book than the first film.

'The Sea Wall' is the story of a woman, a widow who raises her two children, a 19-year-old boy and a 16-year-old daughter, in the difficult conditions of French colonial Indochina. Her rice plantation is located near the ocean and colonial officials tricked her by lending her money for land subject to meteorological whims. The construction of a dam goes beyond the simple necessity, it becomes a symbol of the struggle with nature but also of the confrontations with a bureaucracy that cruelly exploits not only the locals but also the French colonists who do not have enough money or relations to fit in the upper echelons of the social and economic hierarchy. The mother's war of survival overlaps with the maturing crises of the children, the difficult relations between the three family members being complicated by the need to survive economically even at the cost of moral compromises.

Marguerite Duras's Indochina in Rithy Panh's vision is a country of social and racial inequalities, and of political and economic conflicts presented unabashedly, in a realistic, almost naturalistic style. Between René Clément's 1957 film and this film version, the Cambodian tragedy of the 1970s took place and the Cambodian director did not hesitate to suggest that there, in the country's colonial past, lies much of the roots of the Khmer Rouge's cruelty. Isabelle Huppert creates here another of her great roles as a woman beyond her prime, who tries to navigate between the blows of fate and family conflicts, torn between the desire to raise her children decently and the compromises she cannot avoid. The two young actors who play the roles of young people, Gaspard Ulliel and Astrid Bergès-Frisbey are both excellently cast and act strongly, with a combination of innocence and sensuality, two characters who shape themselves as the story progresses. The cinematography plays an important role in creating the atmosphere, because the weather conditions decide the fate of the heroes. One can blame the film for a certain lack of rhythm. It could be an intentional decision of the director to involve the viewer in the sensations of the heavy flow of time that the heroes feel. The cinematic narrative omits or passes very quickly over some of the important aspects of the story, especially in the second part of the film, which may make the accumulation of events at the end less clear to those who have not read the book or seen the older version of the movie. Even so, I believe that 'The Sea Wall' is a film worth watching or watching again, which fits with honor in the series of films through which French cinema critically and without nostalgia revisits the country's colonial past.

This is a costume drama of solid but very routine production values. The theme is anti-colonialism. The French colonial authorities are shown as corrupt and oppressive and the colonist family at the centre of the narrative is economically hopeless and morally degenerate. Isabelle Huppert is a slightly crazy and clueless head of a family whose only assets reside in the sexual allure of its teenage son and daughter. These assets are exploited in an attempt to save the family's fortunes. They are an unlikeable bunch although some nuance is generated by Huppert who injects a little humanity into her character. The film feels slow-paced and over long and do we really need another anti-colonial tract?

This diamond ring is getting around: from Monsieur Jo's ring collection to Suzanne's finger, then back to Jo, then to Suzanne again, then the French woman gets it after some nocturnal goings-on with Joseph, Suzanne's brother, then it comes back to Suzanne... whew, what a journey for a flawed piece of goods. As a symbol of human desires gone out of whack, it's really effective. Just as effective are the scenes of the villagers being exploited by Jo and his henchmen in the Land Registry, and the revenge taken on a hapless official by the villagers: Rithy Panh grew up in a totalitarian state and understands the mechanisms of colonial corruption and brutality. His camera quietly records all the actions of a colonial regime desperate to keep its power and privileges in a far-away land.

The actors are mostly very good. Gaspard Ulliel stands out as the son who has great value as a gigolo, not so much as a plantation boss. Astrid Berges reminded me of Jane March in L'Amant: she's pretty and looks like a prize for a rich planter. Lucy Harrison as Carmen has a wonderful easy charm in her two scenes. Stephane Rideau as Agosti has had his part trimmed considerably from the important role he plays in Duras's novel, and that detracts from the power of the film. Finally Isabelle Huppert gives one of her star turns: she understands the nervous energy of Mme. Donnadieu, and her willingness to play the game of racial superiority over Jo, but the iron will the woman had is somehow missing. It's a three-quarters performance.

The third time we've seen Marguerite Duras' childhood as a movie and they are all more interesting than her own films - which is not difficult. This is not a great film, though it is remarkable on period. I still prefer René Clement's deeply flawed version and I did enjoy the eroticised L'Amant.

Curiously this is the first one not by a French director and it's a French movie. Huppert is always watchable and, with her character shifted to centre stage, there is an interesting change of emphasis. The final shot of the actual rice paddy is resonant. Jo Van Fleet's version seems to come from another planet.

The picture of Colonial Cambodia here is more convincing, though the things that should be central are sketchy - the ex-school teacher mother's back story, her relationship to the locals, who she is supposed to be protecting.