Marianne Winckler relocates to the port city of Caen in order to pass herself off as a member of a large community of itinerant workers desperate to make ends meet. She gains employment as a cleaner on a ferry travelling between Ouistreham and Portsmouth, recording the drudgery of the work she and her colleagues are required to do.
Juliette Binoche
Marianne Winckler
Hélène Lambert
Chrystèle
Louise Pociecka
Louise
Steve Papagiannis
Steve
Jérémy Lechevallier
Eric
Kévin Maspimby
Kévin
Faïçal Zoua
Faïçal
Arnaud Duval
M. Mathieu
Didier Pupin
Cédric
Marianne Winckler relocates to the port city of Caen in order to pass herself off as a member of a large community of itinerant workers desperate to make ends meet. She gains employment as a cleaner on a ferry travelling between Ouistreham and Portsmouth, recording the drudgery of the work she and her colleagues are required to do.
Juliette Binoche is "Marianne", a woman looking for work after her marriage has failed and she is left pretty much broke. The employment agency recommends she becomes something along the lines of a "domestic apparatus operator" (i.e. a minimum wage cleaner). Talk about back-breaking work? Anyway, gradually she finds her feet and falls in with other, similarly situated, folks - notably the affable "Cèdric" (Didier Pupin) with whom she bonds a little (platonically), and "Chrystèle" (a strong performance from Hélène Lambert). It is the latter who manages to get "Marianne" a job cleaning the ferry between Portsmouth and Ouistreham where they work servicing the guest cabins - 4 minutes per cabin! Now I have used this ferry once or twice, so at this point the reality of the film - and of the really tough jobs done by these labourers (for that is certainly what they are) starts to kick in. They have a camaraderie and an esprit de corps that defiantly stands up to the pretty difficult working environment in which they must function. Lambert, especially, but Lèa Carne's "Marilou" and Evelyn Porèe's team-leading "Nadège" all contribute well to the general sense of just how hard these folks toil, and on what tiny incomes they are expected to get by. The twist? Well, midway through, we learn that "Marianne" has quite a different agenda to that introduced at the top of the film, and what conflict there is comes from that realisation by her friends who must come to terms with her true identity. Some applaud whilst other this see as a betrayal. Binoche is convincing here; and the film offers us a pretty scathing attack on not just the employers who pay next to nothing, but on the travellers and general public who seem incapable of flushing a toilet or tidying up after themselves. It does plod a bit; and the ending is both rushed and a little disappointing - but as a critique on an employment sub-culture which many of us just sleep through, it is well worth a watch.
![Official US Trailer [Subtitled]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/XspXs68BsTw/hqdefault.webp)
![Official Trailer [Subtitled]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/jl1dLVrCWTc/hqdefault.webp)
A bourgeois couple, modern yet conventional. One night by accident, a young prostitute barges into their lives. Hounded down, beaten up, threatened, she will continue to struggle, with the help of a well off lady, first for her survival-her resurrection-then for her dignity and freedom. Stormy encounters for everyone involved.
A successful photographer gives up everything to devote himself to writing and discovers poverty.
Nelie escaped a miserable existence by becoming a frontline nurse in 1914. One day, she takes the identity of Rose, a young woman from a good family, who dies in front of her. She presents herself in her place at Madame de Lengwil's house, to become the reader of this wealthy woman.
Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn how to use the internet – he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption.
Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
The relationship of a couple who meet by chance in New York City is put to the test when they encounter a life or death circumstance.
Alone in her empty flat, from her window Anne observes the people passing by who nervously snatch up the personal belongings and pieces of furniture she has put out on the pavement. Her final gesture of taking a ring off her finger signals she is leaving her previous life in Holland behind. She goes to Ireland, where she chooses to lead a solitary, wandering existence, striding through the austere landscapes of Connemara. During her travels, she discovers a house that is home to a hermit, Martin.
Suzanne Simonin describes her life of suffering in letters. As a young woman she is sent to a convent against her will. Since her parents cannot afford the dowry required for a marriage befitting her rank they decide she must instead become a nun. Although a kind and understanding Mother Superior helps her to learn the convent’s daily routine, Suzanne’s desire for freedom remains unabated. When the Mother Superior dies, Suzanne finds herself faced with reprisals, humiliation and harassment at the hands of the new Abbess and the other Sisters. For many years, Suzanne is subjected to bigotry and religious fanaticism. (Berlinale.de)
The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.
A restless photographer leaves her family to "find herself" and takes up deep-sea diving.