One of the most important filmmakers France has ever produced, Jean Epstein was a film theorist, critic and a leading figure in the French Impressionist movement. Perhaps best known today for directing the first adaptation of The Fall of the House of Usher from a screenplay co-written with Luis Buñuel, Epstein produced several masterpieces during the silent period, including Faithful Heart (Coeur fidèle), The Three-Sided Mirror (La glace à trois faces) and Finis Terrae, the story of a group of fishermen stranded off the cost of Brittany.
Four fisherman set out on a three month expedition to the islet Bannec. They intend to harvest seaweed, which will fetch high prices if burned and processed properly – but cabin fever soon sets in. After two of the men brawl over a broken bottle of wine, one of them cuts his thumb on a piece of glass, while the other comes to suspect that his knife has been stolen with malicious intent. As the situation escalates, conditions at sea make it impossible for the men to leave Bannec or for help from the mainland to reach them.
An atmospheric maritime tale and a forerunner to such films as Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse and Mark Jenkin’s Bait, Finis Terrae is one of Jean Epstein’s finest achievements and an aesthetic triumph, particularly in its early and deeply effective use of slow motion cinematography. The Masters of Cinema series is honoured to present Finis Terrae on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK and North America, sourced from an astounding 4K restoration by Gaumont Film Company.
