#3. La Graine et le mulet
Director/Writer: Abdel Kechiche
Producers: Claude Berri (My Wife is an Actress)
Distributor: Unknown
The Gist: At the port of Sète Mr. Slimani, a tired sixty year old, drags himself towards a shipyard job which 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 scissions and tensions which are easily sparked off and which 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 meagre, irregular salary which is not anywhere near enough to supply what he needs to realise his ambition. But he can still dream and talk about it with his family in particular. A family which gradually recompacts around this project which comes to symbolise the means to a better life. Thanks to their ingeniousness and hard work this dream soon becomes a reality… Or almost…
Fact: This little picture that could was France’s winner for Best Film.
See It: An assured lengthy film, don’t see this on an empty stomach – the couscous is killer.
Release Date/Status?: I’ve read somewhere that a December 26th release is pegged, but I”ve yet to confirm who holds the rights.
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