Un Barrage Contre Le Pacifique
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Rithy Panh
Isabelle Huppert
Gaspard Ulliel
Vincent Grass
Lucy Harrison
Astrid Bergès-frisbey
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
1931, French Indochina (now Cambodia). A French widow and her two children eke out a living from rice fields located perilously close to the ocean. Every year, their fields are flooded with sea water and their crops are destroyed. Their only hope seems to be the construction of a seawall. The mother refuses to give up, battling both nature and the local colonial bureaucrats. Her twenty-year-old son, an angry young man, is equally determined, but it is the teenaged daughter Suzanne who proves to be most stubborn. One day, her willowy beauty catches the attention of a rich, well-dressed Chinese man. As Monsieur Jo's interest in Suzanne verges toward obsession, her mother and brother find themselves in a quandary: Monsieur Jo could provide the financial security they need, but he is Chinese, and racial prejudice is a fact of life in their society.
Director
Rithy Panh
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States January 2009
Released in United States October 2008
Released in United States September 2008
Shown at Palm Springs International Film Festival (World Cinema Now) January 6-19, 2009.
Shown at Rome Film Festival (Competition) October 22-31, 2008.
Shown at Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations) September 4-13, 2008.
Based on the novel "Un Barrage Contre Le Pacifique" by Marguerite Duras; published by Gallimard in 1950.
Released in United States January 2009 (Shown at Palm Springs International Film Festival (World Cinema Now) January 6-19, 2009.)
Released in United States October 2008 (Shown at Rome Film Festival (Competition) October 22-31, 2008.)
Released in United States September 2008 (Shown at Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations) September 4-13, 2008.)
