The Secret of the Grain

Director Abdellatif Kechiche's The Secret of the Grain begins as something of a social-issue movie about outsourcing and productivity eclipsing quality, and ends as a humanistic but unsentimental film about self-sacrifice and the complexities of family loyalty. Slimane (Habib Boufares) is a French Arab dockworker who is laid off after 35 years because he cannot work as fast or as cheaply as younger migrant laborers. The introverted, almost somnambulant Slimane prides himself on bringing home fish for his extended family, which includes his ex-wife, Souad (Bouraouïa Marzouk); his lover, Latifa (Hatika Karaoui); and Latifa's daughter, Rym (Hafsia Herzi). A panoramic view of the conflicted and tempestuous relationships within this large clan unfolds gradually, often revealed over dinners of seafood and couscous cooked by Souad. And even though Slimane seems like a broken man on the outside, he does have one last ambition—to open a restaurant on an old merchant ship that he and Rym plan to renovate. Watching The Secret of the Grain—deliberately paced for nearly two hours before breaking out with a surprising 40 minutes of anarchy at the end—may initially feel like a commitment, but it will handsomely reward the patient viewer. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include director Abdellatif Kechiche's extended reedit of the belly-dancing sequence “Sueur,” with a new introduction (47 min.); interviews with Kechiche (13 min.), costar Hafsia Herzi (15 min.), costar Bouraouïa Marzouk (11 min.), the musicians (15 min.), and film scholar Ludovic Cortade (21 min.); an excerpt from a 20 Heures TV interview with Kechiche and Herzi (8 min.); a booklet featuring an essay by film critic Wesley Morris, and a trailer. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a winning film.] (M. Sandlin)