The Cruel Sea Film Difficulty Ranking: 3
Why Watch The Cruel Sea?
- To see what Kuwait was like before the arrival of oil
- If you want to watch a classical tragedy
- For energetic editing inspired by the Soviet masters
From: Kuwait, Asia Watch: YouTube, IMDb Next: Battleship Potemkin, The Cow, Batuque
Kuwait Before Oil
The Cruel Sea starts with the words ‘Kuwait before oil’. It’s a nod to how the country’s wealth increased with the discovery of oil. It’s also a ominous sign for contemporary viewers, as the new wealth culminated in the Gulf Wars of the 1990s, 18 years after this film was made.
In this old Kuwait, there’s no signs of oil rigs and no signs of foreigners either. The evidence of wealth is limited. Most of the people living in the dusty town by the sea in which The Cruel Sea is set, come from humble backgrounds and work at sea to earn their daily sustenance. Moussaed, our male protagonist, is just one of these humble workers, who joins a pearl diving crew to try and earn enough to win his lovers hand in marriage
Inevitable Tragedy
Just as modern viewers will watch The Cruel Sea knowing the fate of Kuwait after the discovery of oil, the film itself offers little hope of a better future. Moussaed’s tragic fate seems inevitable. The danger of the sea is highlighted in the title of the film and by his mother and father. The flashbacks to Moussaued’s father’s youth even give a visual account of the dangers of pearl diving. The film makes it clear that the sea is perilous. However, for Moussaued, the sea represents the only chance of him attaining enough wealth to pay for his lovers dowry. Therefore, for him, it’s finding a pearl big enough to make him rich, or die trying. His lack of choice creates his lack of outcomes.
The danger of the sea is even highlighted in the opening credits. Each actor is introduced with a head shot next to their name as usual. However, just before the director cuts to the next actor, the head shots snap from the standard black and white shot to inverted colors. This inverts the actor’s faces into what looks like x-ray scans making them look like lifeless skeletons. It feels more like an introduction to a horror movie than a drama, and installs a sense of the tragedy to come.
Energetic Editing
Whilst The Cruel Sea sets up a tragic ending, the scenes at sea are full of life. The director, Khalid Al Siddiq, uses a similar editing style to Sergei Eisenstein to give a lot of energy to the footage of the fisherman working. He uses a lot of action shots of the fishermen (fishermen throwing out the nets, fishermen pulling them in, fishermen jumping in the sea, and shots from the deck of the boat capturing everyone moving from side to side) and quickly cuts between them to make it more energetic. On top of that, he adds something which the Soviet filmmakers didn’t have: a diegetic soundtrack – sounds of the fishermen singing and drumming. It emphasizes the frantic energy and united force of their work whilst showing their camaraderie.
The energy from the editing and soundtrack of the shots at sea, fills the fishermen with life. Versus the scenes on land, the footage at sea is much more energetic. It makes it feel like the pearl divers are more alive the closer they are to danger and death.
What to Watch Next
Firstly, check out the energetic early Soviet montages of Sergei Eisenstein in Battleship Potemkin and Dziga Vertov in Man With A Movie Camera. Both have inspired the action filled montages of Khalid Al Siddaq in The Cruel Sea.
Also, if you’re looking for more films with workers united working together, check out the Soviet films above, Batuque – centered on the music of Cape Verde, Lucia – telling the history of women in Cuba, or Metropolis – an old German dystopian classic.
Or if you’re looking for more dramatic story lines with characters fated to a tragic life check out The Cow from Iran.
','' ); } ?>