The Sea Wall
Un barrage contre le Pacifique
The film centers on a young French widow and her two adolescent children as they attempt to carve out a meager life for themselves by farming rice fields alongside the ocean in French Indo-China in the 1930s. Their efforts are hampered each year by the presence of the sea, which invariably floods the fields with saltwater and wipes out the crops. In desperation, the mother realizes that their only hope lies in the construction of a sea wall to prevent continued flooding, but the mother must cut a swath through the local bureaucracy in an almost Sisyphean attempt to make this happen. Meanwhile, her obstinate daughter, Suzanne, draws the romantic obsessions of a well-to-do Chinese gentleman, Monsieur Jo. Though he could easily provide a way out, the possibility of a romantic relationship between Jo and Suzanne could just as easily fall prey to local racial prejudices that would damage or ruin the lives of both.
Production Countries
Production Companies
Trailers & Videos
Cast
Crew
Philippe van Leer
Foley Artist
Pierre Milon
Director of Photography
Geneviève Lemal
Co-Producer
Marguerite Duras
Novel
François Dumont
Dialogue Editor
Stéphane Bidault
Visual Effects Supervisor
Fabrice Delville
Finance
Michel Fessler
Writer
Edith Vesperini
Costume Design
Frédérique Dumas-Zajdela
Producer
Alain-Gilles Viellevoye
Finance
Rithy Panh
Director, Writer