Noir océan

The locations that Marion Hänsel (Dust, Sounds of Sand) chooses for her films often evoke a feeling of loneliness and isolation. Noir océan is set on and around a naval vessel that is patrolling in the Pacific Ocean near Mururoa, awaiting one of the many controversial nuclear tests that France held there between 1966 and 1995. The tone of this stylised drama is different from what could be expected in view of the politically charged background.

Introduced by a mysterious childhood memory, the action unfolds in a sluggish tempo as a melancholy and philosophically tinted study of male community. Two young sailors keep their distance from the macho games of the rest and become friends. Not much more seems to happen at first, until the psychological after-shock of the bomb brings to light the hidden despair of one of the young men. Based on two short stories by Hubert Mingarelli.