Le Silence de la mer (The Silence of the Sea) is a 2004 French made-for-TV drama film directed by Pierre Boutron, based on the 1942 novel of the same name by Jean Bruller aka Vercors. It is the second screen adaptation of the novel after Jean-Pierre Melville's 1949 theatrical film.
The story is set in France during the German Occupation and centers on a young woman named Jeanne Larosière (Julie Delarme) and her grandfather André (Michel Galabru), who live near a sea shore. They find themselves forced to share their home with a German officer named Werner Von Ebrennac (Thomas Jouannet). They decide to never say a word to him as a sort of passive resistance. This arrangement is complicated by the fact that Werner is a francophile gentleman who genuinely desires friendship with his unwilling hosts and between their two warring nations.
Le Silence de la mer provides examples of:
- Adaptational Heroism: There's nothing indicating that Werner believes in Nazi ideals in this adaptation, and he saves the girl from a rape attempt here. He also helps a crying little boy who injured his leg while playing outside, carrying him to his mother.
- Attempted Rape: Jeanne is assaulted by her cousin Pascal in her home when she rejects his advances, and he attempts to rip her clothes. Her screams alert Werner, who just got out of his car, and his presence and a mild Death Glare are enough to make Pascal go away. This part is not in the book.
- Elective Mute: Jeanne and André decide to never say a word to Werner as a sort of passive resistance to German presence in their home.
- Elegant Classical Musician:
- Werner, who's a French culture-loving officer who plays piano and doesn't look unattractive the slightest.
- And Jeanne too in this version, being a pretty young woman who plays piano.
- External Combustion: The French resistance puts a time bomb under Werner's car towards the end. He escapes death out of sheer luck, but not his driver.
- Friend to All Children: A little boy of Jeanne's neighborhood hurts his knee and cries after falling on the ground at one point. Werner sees him, rushes at him, lifts him and carries him to his mother.
- Incest-ant Admirer: Jeanne's cousin Pascal is attracted to her. She doesn't reciprocate the feelings, so he tries to sexually assault her, only to be stopped by Werner's timely arrival.
- Let No Crisis Go to Waste: After Jeanne's bicycle gets stolen, a townswoman she knows offers her a new one... which she took from her neighbor house, which her former neighbors, who were Jewish, had to leave behind.
- Named by the Adaptation: The names of the girl and the old man are not mentioned in the book, "Jeanne" and "André" are unique to this adaptation.
- Nice Guy: All things considered, Werner. He is a German occupier, but that's only his duty. He never shows any disrespect towards his French hosts (or French people in general) and eats at the local German barracks so they won't have to feed him, tries to help people whenever he sees they need it, and doesn't display any belief in Nazi ideals unlike his book counterpart.
- Officer and a Gentleman: Werner is unfailingly polite and respectful of his hosts. As André says, "He seems decent, thank God", but Jeanne doesn't care about this. At some point, someone steals Jeanne's bicycle and she's forced to walk back home. Werner's car passes by and stops, and Werner offers her a ride home, but she ignores him and keeps going on foot.
- Parting-Words Regret: Just before Werner eventually leaves the house for good in his car, Jeanne utters her one and only word of the whole film to him (crying doing so): "Adieu...". It implies that feelings were starting to grow about him in her and that she regrets not having given herself a chance to talk to him.
- Raised by Grandparents: Jeanne became an orphan at an early age. She was raised by André, which changes the relationship of the two main characters in the book (uncle and niece) to a grandfather and granddaughter.
- Related Differently in the Adaptation: This film makes the girl the granddaughter of the main French male character instead of his niece.
- Revenge by Proxy: 99 French hostages are shot in retaliation for a Resistance attack that kills two German officers.
- Thinking Out Loud: Werner, frequently, as he attempts to fill the uncomfortable silence, and connect with his hosts.
- Tranquil Fury:
- The humiliated anger of Jeanne and André is palpable, but never finds expression, outside of never talking to Werner.
- Werner's mild Death Glare when he prevents a rape attempt on Jeanne by Pascal also qualifies.
