Though its aftertitles detailing the history of French nuke experiments suggest otherwise, writer/director Marion Hänsel’s Black Ocean is not a political treatise or a history lesson, instead taking advantage of the remote, isolated environments in which the experimentation took place – as well as the monumental imagery of the act itself – in order to communicate a more universal story about the power of awe. Ocean principally follows three young sailors on a French naval vessel in 1972, who are on course for an unknown destination in order to help carry out the bomb tests they’ve yet to personally witness. The film is essentially divided into two parts: before and after the blast.
Adrien Jolivet
as Moriaty
Nicolas Robin
as Massina
Romain David
as Da Maggio
Alexandre de Sèze
as Glass
Jean-Marc Michelangeli
as The lieutenant
Steve Tran
as Schaff
Nicolas Gob
as Mayer
Antoine Laurent
as Lining
Thibault Vinçon
as Dedeken
Grégory Gatignol
as Hatt
Stephen Scardicchio
as Sailor
