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Extreme Movie
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Secret of the Grain, The
IFC Films
 |
|
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Habib Boufares,
Hafsia Herzi,
and
Farida Benkhetache
The Secret of the Grain is a touching and resoundingly humanistic story set in the rustic port of Sete in southeastern France. Slimane has worked in the same shipyard job for over 35 years, when his growing dissatisfaction prompts him to try to open his own restaurant. His dream seems unbelievable, but his contagious conviction and persistence work their way into the hearts of his loyal but dispersed family; the four children from his first marriage, his ex-wife, current girlfriend and her bright, outspoken daughter, Rym. A grand film about ordinary people, The Secret of the Grain is a deliciously slow-burning drama about fate, food and family. (IFC Films)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Abdel Kechiche
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Abdel Kechiche
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
Theatrical: December 24, 2008
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
151 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
France |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
French | Arabic | Russian |
Alternative Title: La Grain et le mulet
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
An entire family chronicle, along with four decades of French social and economic history, is recapitulated as a lavish, hectic dinner, complete with music and belly dancing. It will leave you stunned and sated, having savored an intimate and sumptuous epic of elation and defeat, jealousy and tenderness, life and death, grain and fish.
100
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
The title embraces the richness of Kechiche's beautiful film, which captures the rhythms of displacement and hardship, the bond of family meals, and even the daily routines of the magnificent women who are part of Slimane's life.
100
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
Given the movie's slow, careful development, I was hardly prepared for the cold-sweat suspense of the last half hour.
88
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
The Secret of the Grain never slows, always engages, may continue too long, but ends too soon. It is made of life itself.
88
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
For me, it's a sign that a filmmaker is on to something if you love hanging out with the characters as they eat and drink and talk and reveal little bits of themselves through everyday action.
83
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
The Secret Of The Grain stretches out at the relaxed pace of a seven-course meal, but at the end of it, Kechiche has squeezed the most he can out of percolating dramas within the family and he lets the audience get to know its members without needing to throw them all a subplot.
80
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
Kechiche takes his time, allowing us to know the characters as if we live next door. But be warned: for those who come to feel like a member of the family, the unexpected end may seem strikingly unfair.
80
Salon.com
Andrew O'Hehir
Richly enjoyable and consistently surprising.
75
New York Post
V.A. Musetto
The cast is solid, with standout performances by first-timer Habib Boufares as Slimane.
70
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
Escalates into visceral allegory with an abandon and cruelty that seem positively Romanian. The last 30 minutes more than redeem the preceding two hours.
70
The New Yorker
David Denby
Kechiche digs a good story out of the flux, and, in the movie's final forty minutes, the suspense is terrific.
60
The Hollywood Reporter
Ray Bennett
A penchant for suffocating close-ups and an overabundance of scenes that go on far too long mar Abdellatif Kechiche's The Secret of the Grain, an otherwise engaging drama about an immigrant Arab family in France.
50
Variety
Alissa Simon
An overlong, dramatically unbalanced picture whose emotional wallop gets somewhat diffused.
 The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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