Resurrected last month for a tribute to Isabelle Huppert, who spoke over one hour to a standing room only crowd at the 1999 FESTIVAL DU FILM DE PARIS, this Russian film by Igor Miaiev was adapted from Evgueni Ziamatine's novel of the same name, "L'Inondation" in French or "The Flood". A rather slow moving film which feels much longer than it actually is (a legacy of films from the former Soviet Union), it was one of the first Russian-French coproductions of the post-Communist area. Non-political in nature, the picture deals with a range of women's issues, including infidelity, infertility, discrimination, and jealously, all dealt with in remarkable depth by the perfectly casted Isabelle Huppert. Warning: recommended only for Russian film and Isabelle Huppert fans.
2 Reviews
moody, shocking and obscure
vandino112 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
The Russians sure know their tragedy. This one has all the hallmarks of Slavic film sensibilities: hysteria, depression, grittiness and a ferocious lack of humor. In the film, taking place in the 1920's, Huppert is the possibly barren wife who, with her husband (the typically burly, unkempt Russian stereotype) take in a teenage orphan girl. This leads to an ugly incestuous situation that spills over into a shocking scene of retribution. This is followed by further unexpected events that continue to put Huppert through a wringer. Not a bad movie but hard to take. It also features the flood of the title and it IS quite a scene, beautifully shot, with footage of the city wind- and water-whipped that looks so real that I wonder if some of it was taken from a real disaster. Overall this film does have its moments, for those who want to put themselves through it, but be forewarned this is NOT the feel good movie of 1994. Although, to the mordant Russians, this is probably considered light comedy.
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