''The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea'' (French: ''La vieille qui marchait dans la mer'') is a 1991 French crime

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by

Laurent Heynemann Laurent may refer to: *Laurent (name), a French masculine given name and a surname **Saint Laurence (aka: Saint ''Laurent''), the martyr Laurent **Pierre Alphonse Laurent, mathematician **Joseph Jean Pierre Laurent, amateur astronomer, discoverer ...

and based on the novel by San Antonio ( Frédéric Dard.) Jeanne Moreau won the 1992

César Award for Best Actress The César Award for Best Actress (french: César de la meilleure actrice, link=no) is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the ''Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma'' to recognize the outstanding performance in a leading role o ...

for her performance.

Cast

* Jeanne Moreau as Lady M *

Michel Serrault Michel Serrault (24 January 1928 – 29 July 2007) was a French stage and film actor who appeared from 1954 until 2007 in more than 130 films. Life and career His first professional job was in a touring production in Germany of Molière's '' Les ...

as Pompilius * Luc Thuillier as Lambert * Géraldine Danon as Noemie *

Jean Bouchaud Jean Bouchaud (1891 in Saint Herblain near Nantes – 1977 in Nantes) was a French painter. He was fascinated by travel since his childhood seeing ships from Africa call at Nantes. Apart from his travels in Africa and elsewhere, he also rece ...

as Mazurier * Marie-Dominique Aumont as Muriel * Hester Wilcox as Director's daughter * Léa Gabriele as Girl in Blue * Lara Guirao as Librarian *

Mattia Sbragia Mattia Sbragia (born 17 April 1952) is an Italian character actor. Biography The son of the actor and stage director Giancarlo, Sbragia has been performing in films, on television, and in the theater for almost thirty years. He made his motion p ...

as Stern

Reception

The film was not commercially successful in France, selling only 526,018 tickets. It received mixed reviews from critics. ''The New York Times'' called the film "cheerfully depraved", and said Moreau's performance "is a classic star turn that lends an essentially frivolous movie a surprising soulfulness." ''Empire'' said "Moreau sparkles as the domineering, violent but ironically godly Lady M: by turns becoming beautiful, tragically little-girl-lost, and almost frightening. Serrault is in equally fine fettle, as a kind of devious old innocent" but their verbal sparring "soon becomes really a tad tiresome." ''TV Guide'' called it "an entertaining character study that leans too heavily on Moreau's physical ruin but compensates with the sharp -- but seldom bitter -- dialogue." ''Time Out'' remarked that "Heynemann's mainstream comedy has surprisingly dark undercurrents - it's a caper movie which dares to ebb from time to time."

Awards and nominations

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...

**Won: Best Actress – Leading Role (Jeanne Moreau)

References

1991 films 1990s French-language films Films featuring a Best Actress César Award-winning performance Films about con artists Films scored by Philippe Sarde 1990s crime comedy-drama films French crime comedy-drama films 1990s French films {{1990s-France-film-stub