Le radeau de la Méduse

Jul 15, 1998

2h 10m

★ 6.3

Overview

Iranian Iradj Azimi directed this French historical drama re-creating events depicted in the famous 1819 painting The Raft of the Medusa by Jean Louis Andre Theodore Gericault (1791-1824). The ill-fated voyage of the frigate Medusa begins when it departs Rochefort for Senegal in 1816. After striking a sandbar off the African coast, 150 civilians row safely to shore, but Captain Chaumareys (Jean Yanne) orders 140 soldiers and sailors onto a raft (minus supplies) and has it cut loose. Only 14 survive from the 140, creating a scandal back in France. Gericault (Laurent Terzieff) later talks to three of the survivors while researching his painting. Work on this film began in 1987, but sets destroyed by Hurricane Hugo caused delays, so the film was not completed until 1990. However, it then remained undistributed until an incident in which writer-director Azimi slashed his wrists in front of French Ministry of Culture officials.

Genres

Drama

History

Production Companies

Gémaci

Utopia Productions

Le radeau de la Méduse Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Chaumareys

Jean Yanne

Coudein

Daniel Mesguich

Reine Schmaltz

Claude Jade

Julien Schmaltz

Philippe Laudenbach

Coudein

Alain Macé

Harmonica

Rufus

Richefort

Victor Garrivier

Maître d'équipage

Michel Baumann

Théodore Géricault

Laurent Terzieff

La Tullaye

Jean Desailly

la cantinière aveugle

Marie Matheron

la cantinière

Laurence Hamelin

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