User Reviews

We are introduced to the narrative as a young boy goes into the frigid waters of a wide river. He is determined to reach the other shore, a sort of a challenge, evidently. There, hidden in the roots of a big tree he finds a box with a message inside. The finder of the message is promised he will lead a happy life. Years later, we meet the grown up boy now serving on a French navy ship. Moriaty is not a happy individual.

The boredom of life aboard brings the young men together. Moriaty friends a kindred spirit, Massina, and become friends. Massina, and his dog Giovanni, act as a distraction. The story centers on the two friends and their experiences. Nothing prepares the fellows for what they are about to witness, an atomic blast in the distance. France was experimenting in the South Pacific atomic tests.

Directed by Marion Hansel, the film meanders for the most part. It is a slow account on the lives of young men serving in the French navy during the 1970s. The fact that France engaged in the testing of nuclear weapons is only lightly dealt in the film. Adrien Jolivet as Moriaty and Nicolas Robin as Massina are young performers who show promise

I almost fell asleep during this offbeat feature. The strange tale of some sailors working on a ship, in 1972, near Mururoa island, during the french atomic tests period. We can watch the daily routine and personal problems of those young guys; their hopes, doubts, wishes and lacks of many things. Guys who need growing. And the result on their relations is interesting, but not so well shown by the film maker, not in a proper way. The audience may have some difficulties to see where the director wants to lead the real story. It's not obvious at all. So shame, because the surrounding sets are some kind of magic: paradise beaches, blue lagoons...And of course the atomic mushroom.