The sea makes you think all kinds of things. Beams of pale sunlight below, the pounding surf, moonlight reflected on the surface to the end of the horizon, shifting currents, peculiar sounds, brilliant colors and eerie creatures. It is an ethereal and mysterious realm. When ten year old Nicolas discovers the body of someone drowned, few take his word for it. For when it comes to the dark and mysterious, the body is just the tip of the iceberg. The remote seaside village in which Nicolas lives is inhabited only by older women and boys. Nicolas and his young companions are fed gruel, forced to swallow medicine when none are sick, herded into dingy hospital rooms for unannounced and unneeded surgeries, and treated with systematic contempt. These women claim to care for the boys even when they obviously don't. Nicolas suspects he is being lied to, so he attempts to discover more about his captors and the circumstances he finds himself in. With his artistic skills he attracts the attention of a sympathetic nurse who doesn't much care for the scare tactics of her sisters.
Though extremely dark, the film is also beautiful. The beauty is haunting. There is not one explanation for what is happening to the boys, to the women and to the human species. Revenge for the misgivings, mistakes and arrogance of the male hierarchy may be involved, or, more likely, payback for our abuse of the earth and each other. The film is definitely outside the box. It is part of the Toronto International Film Festival's vanguard series (one of my favorite series). Part of what seduces me in this regard is that nothing of the director's vision is held back for fear of any censor. Maybe support of artists is peculiar to the French culture and I wish it was shared by my own. Don't expect to go right to sleep after watching this one! Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015.
Though extremely dark, the film is also beautiful. The beauty is haunting. There is not one explanation for what is happening to the boys, to the women and to the human species. Revenge for the misgivings, mistakes and arrogance of the male hierarchy may be involved, or, more likely, payback for our abuse of the earth and each other. The film is definitely outside the box. It is part of the Toronto International Film Festival's vanguard series (one of my favorite series). Part of what seduces me in this regard is that nothing of the director's vision is held back for fear of any censor. Maybe support of artists is peculiar to the French culture and I wish it was shared by my own. Don't expect to go right to sleep after watching this one! Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015.