The Sea Wall

The story

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.

Cast

G Gaspard UllielJoseph I Isabelle HuppertMadame Dufresne, la mère S Stéphane RideauAgosti À Àstrid Bergès-FrisbeySuzanne V Vincent GrassLe père Bart R Randal DoucMonsieur Jo L Lucy HarrisonCarmen D Duong VanthonLe caporal D Doeun Thenn NanM. Khing C Chorn SolydaLe père Sok I Ingrid MareskiLa femme de Pierre L Louis ArsacPierre

See more cast

R Rosa MeasA'chan M Mang SonA'sok P Phén VannLe chef du village J Jean-Pol BrissartM. Bideau S Samuel BartholinM. Jouve C Cédric EeckhoutJeune agent du cadastre C Cédric SalzeL'agent du cadastre P Philippe GarciaLe capitaine français E Emmanuel CollineauLe sergent français R Reaksmei SoryaLa femme du colonel C Chantoun KienLe chauffeur de M. Jo S Sophie ProvoostLa femme française élégante H Heylen UnacLa deuxième femme française R Robert MonetLe civil français N Narith RoeunLe milicien au porte-voix A André CouderchetLe passager P Poline SokLe bagnard