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The Secret of the Grain
User Score
8.1 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7

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  1. tonyGreen
    Apr 12, 2012
    8
    Solid family drama that revolves around a family of first generation immigrants ( Algerian ?) and their struggles to build new lives in France. The French spoken has a fairly thick Arabic flavour and was hard to follow but subtitles are well done. Engaging.
  2. NicoDaFlagburna
    Jan 24, 2011
    9
    Powerful matriarchs, a system of economic oppression and a culture told through the medium of food. Sleepy France is seen but never heard, instead the familial space centres the narrative and provides a framework for naturalism. The acting is spot-on, the camera innocently soaks up the atmosphere with a wondrous eye for detail and our perspective is that of an 'insider' like someone who is part of the cultural fabric or part of the family. A great learning experience and positively specific. 9/10 94/100… Expand
  3. evancuster
    Mar 13, 2011
    8
    the movie starts out rather slowly and is a little confusing with all of the characters their relationships with each other. However, it gradually builds until it becomes very suspenseful and tense in the final 45 minutes, and then with typical French film, ends, leaving the viewer to wonder about how it finally ends. Very absorbing, although some scenes go on too long, and the movie as a whole is rather long, but makes up for it at the end.… Expand
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 16 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Ray Bennett
    60
    A penchant for suffocating close-ups and an overabundance of scenes that go on far too long mar Abdellatif Kechiche's The Secret of the Grain, an otherwise engaging drama about an immigrant Arab family in France.
  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: Alissa Simon
    50
    An overlong, dramatically unbalanced picture whose emotional wallop gets somewhat diffused.
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  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    100
    An entire family chronicle, along with four decades of French social and economic history, is recapitulated as a lavish, hectic dinner, complete with music and belly dancing. It will leave you stunned and sated, having savored an intimate and sumptuous epic of elation and defeat, jealousy and tenderness, life and death, grain and fish.
    Read full review
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