| Calm at Sea | |
| Native Name: | |
| Director: | Volker Schlöndorff |
| Starring: | Marc Barbé Ulrich Matthes |
| Runtime: | 90 minutes |
| Country: | France Germany |
| Language: | French German |
Calm at Sea (fr|La mer à l'aube) is a 2011 German / French drama film directed by Volker Schlöndorff.[1] [2] The film depicts the events leading to the 1941 execution of a group of French communists, including the 17-year-old Guy Môquet, as retaliation for the assassination of a German officer by the French resistance.
The film was mostly positively received. Jörg Schöning sums it up in Der Spiegel: “Schlöndorff's film, which is not particularly interested in the more recent questions of humanity, thankfully concentrates on the concrete. The sea in the morning is the stroke of luck of a documentary game: the people, their actions and words are historically documented, the consequences of their actions are highly dramatic - and still trigger considerable emotions today.”
Filmgazette editor Wolfgang Nierlins judged: "Schlöndorff's film shows the fateful course of events, relentlessly aggravated by human arbitrariness and blind coincidence as a tragic event." He understands Calm at Sea as “a differentiated plea for humanity” and awards 8 out of 10 possible stars.[3]