Marie Baie des Anges (1997)

Director:

Manuel Pradal

Writer:

Manuel Pradal (writer)

Release Date:

19 June 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A story of haunted youth.

Plot:

A random montage of disturbing images tell a story about one summer in the lives of two teenagers who somehow find love within each other...

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Frédéric Malgras	...	Orso
Vahina Giocante	...	Marie
Nicolas Welbers	...	Goran
Amira Casar	...	Jeune Femme de la Villa
Swan Carpio	...	Jurec
Jamie Harris	...	Jimmy
Andrew Clover	...	Andy
Roxane Mesquida	...	Mireille
Aurelie Morardet	...	Corinne
John Dowling	...	John
Patrick Serray	...	Bob
Serge Merlin	...	Le Surveilliant
Brigitte Roüan	...	Paule
Marc Brunet	...	Louis
Aladin Reibel	...	Le Coiffeur
Grégori Derangère	...	Le Pilot de F1
Yann Delque	...	Ardito
David Kilner	...	Larry
Sauveur Campanella	...	Le Vieux Pécheur
Louisa Bouali	...	Louisa
Christophe Deslandes	...	Chris
Karim Saad	...	Claude
Laetitia Lefebvre	...	Karine
Janvier Abelle	...	Le Pécheur
Frederic Westerman	...	Les Garçons de la Baie
Mathieu Fascella	...	Les Garçons de la Baie
Antoine Santiago	...	Les Garçons de la Baie
Victor Lafleur	...	Les Garçons de la Baie
Patrick Gomez	...	Les Garçons de la Baie
Emmanuel Fernandez	...	Les Garçons de la Baie
Ali Belaidi	...	Les Garçons de la Baie
Freddy Laborde	...	Les Garçons de la Baie
Jean-Rene Puertas	...	Les Garçons de la Baie
Manuel Santioago	...	Les Garçons de la Baie
Louis Bengler	...	Les Garçons de la Baie
Aissa Blillita	...	Les Garçons de la Baie
Peter Homan	...	Les Marins Américains
Scott Thrun	...	Les Marins Américains
Luc Clementin	...	Les Marins Américains
David Gregg	...	Les Marins Américains
Altay Lawrence	...	Les Marins Américains
Paul Henson	...	Les Marins Américains
Martin White	...	Les Marins Américains
Robert Girard	...	Les Marins Américains
Kasim	...	Les Gitans de Rome
Davor	...	Les Gitans de Rome
Baloo	...	Les Gitans de Rome
Ferid	...	Les Gitans de Rome

Directed by
Manuel Pradal

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Manuel Pradal		writer

Produced by
Lionel Closson	....	co-producer
Pascal Judelewicz	....	executive producer
Philippe Rousselet	....	producer
Anne-Dominique Toussaint	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Carlo Crivelli

Cinematography by
Christophe Pollock

Film Editing by
Valérie Deseine

Casting by
Antoinette Boulat

Production Design by
Javier Po

Set Decoration by
Irène Galitzine

Costume Design by
Claire Gerard-Hirne

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Olli Barbé	....	assistant director (as Olivier Barbe)
Frédéric Nicolas	....	first assistant director
Philippe Royere	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Katia Boutin	....	assistant sound editor
Gita Cerveira	....	sound
Laurent Lafran	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Alexis Bonnet	....	assistant camera
Léo Mac Dougall	....	assistant camera
Pierre Michaud	....	gaffer
Yves Michaud	....	Steadicam operator

Editorial Department
Sylvie Lager	....	assistant editor
Frederique Veillard	....	first assistant editor: film

Music Department
Bruno Mercere	....	music mixer

Other crew
Guy Courtecuisse	....	post-production manager

Production Companies

• La Sept Cinéma
• Lelia Films
• Les Films de la Suane
• Les Films des Tournelles
• Studio Images 2

Distributors

• Cinema Ten K.K.
• Pyramide Distribution (France)
• Sony Pictures Classics (1998) (USA) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

Angel Sharks (UK)
Marie from the Bay of Angels (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence including some sexual assaults, sexuality, language and teen lawlessness.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Brazil:16 | Canada:14A | France:U | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R

Company:

La Sept Cinéma

Trivia:

The Formula One racing sequences were taken from the 1995 Monaco Grand Prix.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The speed at which the Formula One cars approach Orso is much, much too slow.

Teenagers in isolation - echoes from old movies

Two teenagers, male and female, together in an isolated place... Not too original, but if compared to some other preceding movies, there are a lot of differences.

"Friends", "Blue Lagoon", "Spielen wir Liebe", "Paradise"... all of them come from 70's. "Marie baie des anges" is two decades late. Maybe this makes it so unlike its ancestors.

How do teenagers appear in those places? In Blue Lagoon they grow up on desert island, in Friends run away from adults, in Paradise from danger, in Maladolescenza they look for secret place but keeping contact with other world. Feelings? Fearing adults, loving each other in Friends, exploring and (self)discovery in Blue Lagoon, bullying and violence in Maladolescenza. Ending? Tragic in Blue Lagoon (acciental) and Maladolescenza (violent), reintegrating in Paradise and Friends.

And Marie offers a new combination. Main characters run away rejected by peers (Orso also running from law), feelings are superficial and ending is tragic in the most pointless way.

One of the rare binding motifs is teenage sexuality. In Blue Lagoon it is innocent and has to be discovered from nothing, in Paradise it exists and develops, in Friends it is careful because of abuse and slowly grows to real love, while in Maladolescenza appears and increases as one of the bully patterns. In Maria, however, nothing has to be discovered: sex has already been their way of life before they met and sailed into isolation.

So, the only movie that shows that teenagers don't need special circumstances to be involved in sex, and admit it is a big part of their life, has been made recently, when it became fashionable to close our eyes and say that teenage sexuality doesn't exist because we don't want to see it. The consequence? Number of teenage pregnancies and STD is a lot bigger now than it was in 70's when movies were more free to show reality (and today most of them are found controversial, on black lists and usually can't be found at all). Of course, it was not a merit of movies that situation was better before, it is a matter of the society.

There is one thing that shows Marie was made recently: among these movies it is the only one without nudity (at least teenage characters). Sometimes it is advantage, sometimes limitation. It is hard to believe that two teenagers, obviously practicing sex a lot and living alone on the island, would be fully clothed all the time in the middle of summer. But today it's not easy to show things that were allowed in 70's. On the other hand, great scene of Maria's dance was extremely erotic (and was meant to be) just because of her dress. It could be compared to Dawn Dunlap's dance in Hamilton's Laura, but she was seducing only a camera in her mother's hand so her (very beautifully filmed) dance looked more like gym exercise, while Marie was openly seducing male, older fishermen on the beach. Laura was nude, Marie erotic.

Photography is something that all of the mentioned movies rely on. And it doesn't fail. Landscape in Friends is not so attractive, but used very well, and unlike the rest of these movies it has great carefully made indoor scenes. Island in Marie can't be compared to Blue Lagoon, but there is a perfect match between the actors and the surrounding nature. Only Maladolescenza doesn't take place at the sea, and the beautiful landscape emphasizes the dark side of the story. Nature is not perfect enough to change people. Violence and evil from inside destroy the beauty. Both Fabrizio and Orso want to keep everything under their control, but aren't able to do it. Orso maybe thinks he loves Marie while Fabrizio seems to be almost split between childish friendship and violent domination, incapable to share love. However, after causing a tragedy we feel there is a hope for Fabrizio to learn and change in future, while Marie's death becomes a trigger of Orso's final insanity and sinking into crime and madness.