EL VENTRE DEL MAR
Spain
Synopsis
Based on real events.
The Italian writer Alessandro Baricco narrates these events in the novel “Oceano Mare”, concentrated in a chapter titled “The Belly of the Sea”.
June 1816. The frigate the Alliance, of the French Navy, ran aground on a sandbar off the coast of Senegal. The attempts to free the hull prove futile, so there is no choice but to abandon the ship. As the available boats are not enough to accommodate all the crew, they build a raft about 12 metres long and 6m wide. In that precarious boat, they force 147 men to board: soldiers, sailors, a few passengers, and a few officers. The ship’s evacuation plan foresees that the available boats will tow them up to the shore. Still, panic and confusion seize the convoy trying to reach the coast. Due to cowardice or ineptitude, the boats lose contact with the raft. The rope that towed it breaks, or someone cuts it. The boats continue to approach land but leave the raft at its luck. The current carries it away, and it disappears over the horizon.
A horror that lasted for days and days … A scenario in which the worst of cruelties and the sweetest of pities come into play.
The Italian writer Alessandro Baricco narrates these events in the novel “Oceano Mare”, concentrated in a chapter titled “The Belly of the Sea”.
June 1816. The frigate the Alliance, of the French Navy, ran aground on a sandbar off the coast of Senegal. The attempts to free the hull prove futile, so there is no choice but to abandon the ship. As the available boats are not enough to accommodate all the crew, they build a raft about 12 metres long and 6m wide. In that precarious boat, they force 147 men to board: soldiers, sailors, a few passengers, and a few officers. The ship’s evacuation plan foresees that the available boats will tow them up to the shore. Still, panic and confusion seize the convoy trying to reach the coast. Due to cowardice or ineptitude, the boats lose contact with the raft. The rope that towed it breaks, or someone cuts it. The boats continue to approach land but leave the raft at its luck. The current carries it away, and it disappears over the horizon.
A horror that lasted for days and days … A scenario in which the worst of cruelties and the sweetest of pities come into play.
Director's Statement
After the wreck of a ship, 147 men try to save themselves, confined in a raft adrift in the middle of the sea.
A horror that lasted days and days, of which only 15 survived, exercising the worst of cruelties and the sweetest of pieties.
This shipwreck was immortalized by Théodore Gericault in the famous painting “The Raft of the Medusa”, preserved in the Louvre Museum.
A horror that lasted days and days, of which only 15 survived, exercising the worst of cruelties and the sweetest of pieties.
This shipwreck was immortalized by Théodore Gericault in the famous painting “The Raft of the Medusa”, preserved in the Louvre Museum.
Director's Biography
Agustí Villaronga was born on Mallorca in 1953. Always a transgressor, he moves along brave and unforgiving paths. Sometimes he travels through genre cinema but frequently overflows it, rigorously exploring little-frequented territories, placing himself without palliative in the part of evil and death as exorcism and deep reflection. His films have been awarded at festivals in Berlin, Cannes, Montreal, San Sebastián, Tokyo ... and twice he has been selected to represent Spain and Mexico at the Hollywood Oscars.
FILMOGRAPHY:
2021 - THE BELLY OF THE SEA
2018 - BORN A KING
2017 - UNCERTAIN GLORY
2015 - THE KING OF HAVANA
2010 - PA NEGRE
2002 - ARO TOLBUKHIN
2000 - THE SEA
1989 - MOONCHILD
1985 - IN A GLASS CAGE
FILMOGRAPHY:
2021 - THE BELLY OF THE SEA
2018 - BORN A KING
2017 - UNCERTAIN GLORY
2015 - THE KING OF HAVANA
2010 - PA NEGRE
2002 - ARO TOLBUKHIN
2000 - THE SEA
1989 - MOONCHILD
1985 - IN A GLASS CAGE
Cast & Crew
Directed by: Agustí Villaronga
Written by: Agustí Villaronga
Produced by: Javier Perez Santana, Cesc Mulet
Cinematography: Josep M. Civit, Blai Tomás
Editing: Bernat Aragones
Production Design: Susy Gómez
Costume Design: Pau Aulí, Susy Gómez
Make-Up & Hair: Alma Casal
Original Score: Marcus J.G.R
Sound: Fernando Novillo, Lucía Millán
Visual Effects: Anna Aragones, Félix Bueno, Gloria Bernabeu
Animation: Ana Aragones
Casting: Katina Penyafort
Cast: Roger Casamajor (Savigny), Oscar Kapoya (Thomas)
Nominations and Awards
- Feature Film Selection 2021
