The Secret of the Grain
2007 · Movie · Not Rated · 155 min · ★ 7.0 · 88% critics
In a port town in southern France, an aging shipyard worker who has fallen on hard times tries to build a new future by opening a restaurant on an old boat. As the plan takes shape, the story becomes a portrait of family tensions, community ties, cultural identity, and everyday resilience.
Also known as Couscous
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Details
- Original title
- La Graine et le Mulet
- Years
- 2007
- Release date
- 2007-12-12
- Language
- French
- Rated
- Not Rated
- Runtime
- 155 min
- Critic score
- 88/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.0/10 (243 votes)
- Box office
- $14,700,000
- Budget
- $9,100,000
About
You may like this if you enjoy intimate, slow-burning family dramas about working-class life and community, especially if titles like It All Starts Today or The Children of the Marshland appeal to you; Not for you if you want a brisk, plot-heavy story.
Pros: rich family dynamics; vivid community portrait; moving and humane | Cons: very slow pace; overlong scenes; divisive style
Themes
- infidelity
- immigrant
- solidarity
- cooking
- restaurant
- docker
- belly dancing
- family clan
- family conflict
- ex-wife
Awards & recognition
- European Film Academy Critics Award · 2008
- Grand Jury Prize of the Venice Film Festival · 2007
- Louis Delluc Prize · 2007
Cast & crew
Habib Boufares
as Slimane Beji
Hafsia Herzi
as Rym
Farida Benkhetache
as Karima
Abdelhamid Aktouche
as Hamid
Alice Houri
as Julia
Bouraouïa Marzouk
as Souad
- CF
Cyril Favre
as Serguei
Leila D'Issernio
as Lilia
- AD
Abelkader Djeloulli
as Kader
Bruno Lochet
as Mario
Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche