This is flat out brilliant film-making - right up there with Hitchcock, Kurosawa, Ford, or anyone else you can name. It functions on multiple levels, the simplest of which is as a thriller which will keep you on edge for 52 minutes - and stays with you a long time after. It's done in a traditional French style - minimal dialogue, almost no music (1 pivotal scene), maximum use of visuals to tell story. The director doesn't need to tell the audience where to go emotionally with heavy handed music cues or dialogue - he knows exactly where he's taking us and lets the images speak for themselves. It's ironic that French films are sometimes thought of as pretentious, because this film is made so simply and fluidly. I heard it said that the best way to tell a story is to get out of its way and let it tell itself. I'd put this one in my top twenty of all time.
Review of See the Sea
