#527: KECHICHE, Abdellatif: The Secret Of The Grain (2007)

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KECHICHE, Abdellatif (France)
The Secret Of The Grain [2007]
Spine #527
Blu-ray


The winner of four César awards, including best picture and director, Abdellatif Kechiche's The Secret of the Grain is a stirring drama about the daily joys and struggles of a bustling French Arab family. It has the texture of a documentary but a classic, almost Shakespearean structure: when patriarch Slimane acts on his wish to open a portside restaurant specializing in his ex-wife's couscous and fish, the extended clan's passions and problems explode, leading to an engrossing, suspenseful climax. With sensitivity and grit, The Secret of the Grain celebrates the role food plays in family life and gets to the core of contemporary immigrant experience.

154 minutes
Color
Surround
in French and Arabic
1:85:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2010
Director/Writers


Screenplay by Abdellatif Kechiche.
Adaptation and dialogue by Kechiche and Ghalya Lacroix.
Kechiche was 47 when he directed The Secret of the Grain.

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Sixteen-page booklet featuring an essay by film critic Wesley Morris.

Commentary

None.

Video interview 1

With Kechiche.
Sueur

Kechiche’s extended reedit of the climactic belly-dancing sequence, featuring a new video introduction by the director.
Video interview 2

With film scholar Ludovic Cortade.

Excerpt

From a 20 heures television interview with Kechiche and actress Herzi.
Video interviews

With Herzi, actress Marzouk, and the film’s musicians.
Theatrical trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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