Finis Terræ
About Finis Terræ
Four seaweed cutters camp for three months on the islet of Bannec, off Brittany, and burn the weed in piles so the ash can be sold. Ambroise drops Jean-Marie's only bottle of wine. They fight, and Ambroise cuts his thumb on the glass. Jean-Marie misses his knife and thinks Ambroise stole it. Ambroise hides a swelling infection until he collapses on the beach after a failed sail to Ushant. Jean-Marie finds the knife, carries him to the boat, and meets the doctor's boat in the fog. The doctor lances the thumb, and Ambroise is put to bed on Ushant.
Cast & crew
More about Finis Terræ
Jean Epstein wrote and directed it. Serge Sandberg produced it for Société générale de films. Nicolas Delbart edited. The players are local non-actors, including Jean-Marie Laot and Ambroise Rouzic, using their own names. It opened on 19 April 1929. The title is the Latin name of Finistère and means "end of the earth."
Themes
Making
Epstein shot on Bannec and on Ouessant with people who were not professional actors, in a documentary manner, and he cut in slow-motion shots.
Look
Joseph Barthès, Gösta Kotulla, Louis Née, and R. Tulle photographed it, often with the camera held by hand, on the islands rather than on a set.
Notes
- Wikidata lists the running time as 82 minutes. Wikipedia lists 80.
- The lighthouse Phare du Créac'h, on Ouessant, is in the film.
- Other names in the cast are Gibois, Malgorn, François Morin, and Pierre.
- On Ushant the wives and parents notice only one plume of smoke on Bannec and ask the doctor to go out.
Scenes
- Ambroise breaks Jean-Marie's bottle and cuts his thumb on the glass.
- He collapses on the beach after the wind fails on the way to Ushant.
- In the fog Jean-Marie hails the doctor's boat, and the thumb is lanced.
