A powerful conclusion to HippFest 2022, with mesmeric live narration by acclaimed actor Paul McGann.

Severe and deeply religious, Nolff is a fisherman who lives with his wife, daughter and son on the Breton coast, far from the temptations of the city. From his remote cliff-top home, Nolff dedicates himself to his fishing and to raising his son Marcel, as "a free man, a sailor". But Marcel is idle and selfish, exploiting his father's blind affection, and rejecting the old man's passionate devotion to the sea and all it represents. With beautifully stylised, poetic inter-titles, haunting symbolic imagery and striking use of natural settings this is a memorable fable of the opposing elements of earth and water, of the corrupt modern world and the timeless purity of the ocean.

Dir. Marcel L'Herbier | France | 1920 | French intertitles with live English translation | 1h 24m With: Roger Karl, Jaque Catelain, Marcelle Pradot, Charles Boyer

Performing live: Paul McGann (narration), John Sweeney (piano), Frank Bockius (percussion)

Screening courtesy of Gaumont Pathe Archives © Gaumont

BSL-English supported event