In the region of Cornouaille, on the rugged coast of Brittany, Martin
scrapes by on odd jobs and petty theft. He has recently started
going out with Gwen, a solitary woman who goes swimming far out at sea,
whatever the weather. When Gwen tells him that she is pregnant
with his child, Martin takes fright and disappears. Meanwhile,
Corinne, Martin's sister, is struggling to cope with her third child,
especially as her husband Jean has problems of his own. Gwen and
Corinne find they have to fend for themselves, but a bad situation
becomes intolerable when Martin is accused of murder...
Since the 1920s, Hollywood has dominated the film industry, but that doesn't mean American cinema is all bad - America has produced so many great films that you could never watch them all in one lifetime.
In the 1940s, the shadowy, skewed visual style of 1920s German expressionism was taken up by directors of American thrillers and psychological dramas, creating that distinctive film noir look.
The cinema of Japan is noteworthy for its purity, subtlety and visual impact. The films of Ozu, Mizoguchi and Kurosawa are sublime masterpieces of film poetry.