Seen on: December 14, 2007

The players: Director: Abdellatif Kechiche, Writer: Abdellatif Kechiche, Ghalya Lacroix, Cast: Habib Boufares, Hafsia Herzi, Farida Benkhetache, Sabrina Ouazani

Facts of interest: Louis Delluc Prize Winner/France 2007; Special Jury Prize and Critics’ (FIPRESCI) Prize Winner/Venice 2007

The plot: Considered too old and “unproductive” by his employers, Mr. Slimane (Habib Boufares), a French immigrant worker of Tunisian origin, loses his job. Separated from his wife, he lives away from his estranged family an lodges in a run-down hotel with the owner and her daughter. Using up his meager savings, he buys a derelict boat and plans to open a couscous-restaurant on the harbor of Marseille with the help of both of his families.

Our quick thoughts: Don’t look for this one to appear at your local dollar flick-house. This down-to-earth, nitty-gritty piece of French author film-making doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell to be released in the U.S., not even on the art-house circuit. If you don’t speak the lingo, even subtitles will not be able to reproduce the essence and richness of a heart-wrenching film that takes a deeply felt interest in the social condition of immigrant workers and their families in present-day France.   

The final word: In a year where French cinema produced such uncanny masterpieces as Pascale Ferran's steamy “Lady Chatterley” or Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi's animated jewel “Persepolis,” this possibly overlong (151 minutes) and very chatty film (people talk, scream and fight all the time) has popped up right on top of many French and European best-of lists of 2007. This reviewer can only agree: “La Graine et le Mulet” is definitely one of the most humane films he has ever seen in his 40 or so years as a film critic.

(Editor's note: As of now, no release date has been confirmed for "The Secret of the Grain" in the United States. We'll keep you posted on any updates.)