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When the Sea Rises (Quand la Mer Monte...)

When the Sea Rises (Quand la Mer Monte...) (2004)

tomatometer

88

Average Rating: 6.5/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

audience

49

liked it
Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 14,566

My Rating

Movie Info

When the Sea Rises... is the first film written and directed by actress Yolande Moreau (who also stars in the film) and cinematographer Gilles Porte (who also shot the film). Moreau stars as Irène, who is traveling the north of France performing her one-woman show. In the stage show, Irène plays a loud, obese, ugly (she wears a clownish mask) woman who comically confesses murder to the audience. At each performance, she pulls a random man out of the crowd and makes him her accomplice/lover in a

Oct 17, 2006

New Yorker Films

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All Critics (20) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (2) | DVD (5)

When the Sea Rises remains a strangely sad love story of rare poetic power.

February 15, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Observer
New York Observer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

An eccentric French comedy that is never quite as charming as it intends to be.

February 3, 2006
Hollywood Reporter
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A charming, accessible movie that spotlights Moreau's talent against a fanciful cinematic backdrop.

January 19, 2006 Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger
Newark Star-Ledger
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It's nice to see a love story that deals with mature people. We're not likely to get anything like it from Hollywood.

January 13, 2006
New York Post
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It's a bountiful showcase for Moreau, whose lopsided, squinty beauty grows on you just as it grows on the drifter who eagerly volunteers from the audience each night.

January 13, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Daily News
New York Daily News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Graced with a magnetic lead performance by Yolande Moreau, this French-Belgian movie follows the road tour of a middle-aged solo comedienne through northern France.

January 12, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Times
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Magical and enchanting.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Journal International
Film Journal International

[When the Sea Rises] treads lightly, but leaves little impression.

November 27, 2006 Full Review Source: AV Club
AV Club

An interesting and at times poignant blend of fact and fiction.

January 13, 2006 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide
TV Guide's Movie Guide

It's a distinct and bittersweet story about how romance, however fleeting, can pop up in the most unexpected places.

January 13, 2006
Reel.com

A bittersweet, if somewhat slight, slice of thespian life and love.

January 13, 2006 Full Review Source: E! Online
E! Online

An unlikely romance, one that is impossible not to root for, despite the suggestion of menace that always remains close to the surface.

January 13, 2006 Full Review Source: About.com
About.com

A delightful romantic comedy about two lovable eccentrics who enjoy playing together.

January 13, 2006 Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice
Spirituality and Practice

The film's intimacy is not unlike the similarly wistful romance on the road Lost in Translation or the fanciful My Summer of Love.

January 13, 2006 Full Review Source: Film-Forward.com
Film-Forward.com

Wondrous quiet acting by all involved.

January 12, 2006 Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

A nicely-developed tale of an unlike romance.

January 3, 2006 Full Review Source: Compuserve
Compuserve

A quirky ode to transient romance and a showbizer's life on the road.

December 17, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine

Audience Reviews for When the Sea Rises (Quand la Mer Monte...)

This attempt at quirkiness works and doesn't work. The story is about a comediennes life on the road(based on the film's star Yolande Moreau's experiences as a traveling peformer in the 1980's)who becomes romantically involved with a member of her audience. The movie works when the lead is on stage doing her standup routine, because it looked interesting and fun. She wears a weird face mask, has bloodstained arms, shoots a water pistol at the audience and tells a tale of crime committed against a lover. That is interesting. Unfortuately, the romance which is the centerpiece of the movie. The acting is good, but I don't know enough about Moreau's character before she meets her romantic interest, so when she comes out of her shell to start a relationship with this guy, so much remains a mystery. We know more about her stage persona than the real person. It could have been much better.
March 31, 2011
simon m.
simon modica
LOVED it. Wonderful lead actress, a woman with talent that she has developed, a mature, accomplished woman. Their romance touches the heart. Not a movie for folks who need a lot of action or plot. For people who love to watch people, it's the best.
January 5, 2011
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Foreign Titles

  • Wenn die Flut kommt (DE)
  • Quand la mer monte... (FR)
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