Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Couscous Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 8, 2014

Winner of multiple awards at the Venice Film Festival, Abdellatif Kechiche's "Couscous" a.k.a. "The Secret of the Grain" (2007) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; extended reedit of the final scene in the film; video interviews with director Abdellatif Kechiche and actors Hafsia Herzi and Bouraouïa Marzouk; and discussion with the professional musicians from the film. In French, Arabic, and Russian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The boat

Slimane Beiji (Habib Boufares) is a Tunisian immigrant who has spent most of his life working on the docks in the French port town of Sète. He is divorced but likes to spend time with his ex-wife, Souad (Bouraouia Marzouk), and their children. Whenever possible he brings them fresh fish.

Slimane lives with his lover, Latifa (Hatika Karaoui), and her daughter, Rym (Hafsia Herzi, The Source). They own a small hotel with a tiny bar not too far from the docks where African immigrants often come for a drink. Rym adores Slimane and treats him as if he is her father.

One day, Slimane is told by his boss that there is no more work at the docks – at least not for old men like him. Depressed and enormously hurt, Slimane goes back home. Later on, he collapses while making love to Latifa.

Slimane’s sons and daughters suggest that it might be best for him to go back to the old country; with his severance pay Slimane can start a business and have the type of life he never had in France. Rym, however, urges Slimane to ignore his family, and remember that he has her and Latifa.

After much soul searching, Slimane decides to stay and transform his old boat into a restaurant. Most of his close friends and neighbors immediately conclude that he has gone crazy, but Rym likes his idea and vows to help him with the paperwork for the bank loan he would need to renovate the boat.

At the bank, Slimane and Rym’s business plan is met with a great deal of skepticism. The bank officer quickly determines that Slimane does not have enough to use as collateral for the type of loan he needs and urges him to reconsider his plan. She also attempts to explain to Slimane that this isn’t the best time to open up a restaurant, especially at the docks.

Bit instead of giving up Slimane decides to invite bank officials, city officials and local community leaders to his boat for dinner, hoping that once they taste the type of food and drinks he wants to sell, they would realize that his restaurant will be a success and give him the loan he needs. The main course will be fish with couscous and grilled peppers.

Abdellatif Kechiche’s The Secret of the Grain, distributed internationally as Couscous, is a quiet but powerful film about immigrant life in France. It does not have a clear social agenda, but anyone familiar with modern French history should quickly detect the subtle political overtones in it.

The narrative lacks any surprising twists. The many long conversations and discussions between the different characters, for instance, are pretty straightforward, addressing dilemmas most of us have faced. What makes this film great are the quiet scenes where these characters are alone with their thoughts, as well as the ones where they try to run away from them, singing or dancing to the music of their homeland.

The cast is comprised mostly of unprofessional actors, but the majority of them are sensational. The star of the film, however, is the young French actress Hafsia Herzi, who is truly irresistible as Rym. Her exotic dance at the end of the film is pure magic.

In 2007, The Secret of the Grain won multiple awards at the Venice Film Festival, including the Young Cinema Award (Best Film Venezia 64), the Special Jury Prize, and the Marcello Mastroianni Award (Hafsia Herzi). In 2008, the film won four Cesar awards, including Best Film and Best Director.

Couscous Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Abdellatif Kechiche's Couscous arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye.

The high-definition transfer is not identical to the one Criterion used for their Blu-ray release of Couscous in the United States, but it has been sourced from the same digital master the French director approved a few years ago. Unsurprisingly, depth and clarity are very good. Contrast levels also remain stable. Colors are solid and natural, never looking boosted. There are some extremely minor discrepancies between the brightness settings -- the Criterion release occasionally looks slightly darker -- but they should be credited to the different encodes. Most of the nighttime footage here also looks a bit soft and the same native light digital noise occasionally sneaks in, but the film does look wonderful in high-definition. Finally, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Couscous Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French LPCM 2.0 (with portions of Arabic and Russian). For the record, Artificial Eye have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

There is a serious gap in quality between the lossy track from the old R2 DVD release of Couscous and the lossless 5.1 track on this new Blu-ray release. Not only is clarity substantially better, but there is an entirely new range of dynamics. If you still own the DVD release, watch the finale where Rym dances for the guests -- because of the improved depth and dynamic intensity, the long sequence has a very different atmosphere. The dialog is crisp, stable, and always easy to follow. Also there are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review. The English translation is excellent.

Couscous Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original theatrical trailer for Couscous. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (3 min).

• "Sueur" Featurette - a reedit of the final scene in the film (an extended belly-dancing sequence). The same footage is also included on Criterion's release of Couscous, with a very short introduction by director Abdellatif Kechiche. In French, with optional English subtitles. (44 min).

• The Musicians Featurette - filmed video interview with the professional musicians from Couscous. The same interview also appears on Criterion's release of Couscous. In French, with optional English subtitles. (16 min).

• Interview with Hafsia Herzi - in this video interview, young French actress Hafsia Herzi, who plays Rym, discusses her character and Abdellatif Kechiche's directing methods. The same interview also appears on Criterion's release of Couscous. In French, with optional English subtitles. (15 min).

• Interview with Abdellatif Kechiche - in this video interview, Abdellatif Kechiche explains what inspired him to become a filmmaker, and discusses Couscous and its unique themes, characters (and specifically the fact that they are not 'exotic' people), the film's visual style, etc. The interview does not appear on Criterion's release of Couscous. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (24 min).

• Interview with Bouraouïa Marzouk - in this video interview, French-Tunisian actress Bouraouia Marzouk discusses her acting career and the character she plays in Couscous. The same interview is included on Criterion's release. In French, with optional English subtitles. (12 min).

Couscous Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Director Abdellatif Kechiche's Blue Is the Warmest Colour has enjoyed tremendous success at prestigious film festivals around the world, but I think that his Couscous and Games of Love and Chance are better films. The later has not yet been released on Blu-ray in an English-speaking territory, but the former has been available in North America for quite some time. Thanks to British distributors Artificial Eye now there is also an English-friendly Region-B release. If you don't know much about Couscous, I encourage you to avoid reading reviews and just see it. I promise you will experience a very special film. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.