Based on a novel by Jean-Claude Izzo, this melancholic movie focuses on three sailors being the last remaining crew members on their ship which is aground in the harbor of Marseille. After the owner has sold the "Aldébaran", only the Lebanese captain Aziz, the Greek Diamantis and the Turk Nelim are stuck on the boat for a lack of prospects. Aziz doesn't want to return to his wife, Diamantis tries to find a girl he left at the age of 20 and Nelim, young and foolish, just wants to have fun...
Acting
Giraudeau and Manojlović carry decades of unspoken regret.
Cinematography
Marseille's harbor as purgatory—gorgeous and suffocating.
Director
Claire Devers
Bernard Giraudeau
Diamantis
Marie Trintignant
Mariette
Audrey Tautou
Lalla
Darry Cowl
Falco
Predrag 'Miki' Manojlović
Abdul Aziz
Sergio Peris-Mencheta
Nedim
Nozha Khouadra
Gaby
Bakary Sangaré
Ousbène l'Ivoirien
Ivan Franěk
Le Marocain
Miglen Mirtchev
Subotica, le Hongrois
Maryline Even
Gisèle
Moussa Maaskri
Sergio, le videur
Véronica Novak
La prostituée
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Marie Trintignant filmed this months before her tragic death, giving Mariette an unintended valedictory weight.
Izzo's novel was part of his 'Marseille trilogy' exploring France's fraught relationship with its Mediterranean immigrants—Devers makes the sea itself a character of exile.
FR
