''The Flood'' (french: L’Inondation) is a 1994 French-Russian
crime film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Described as "one of the best actresses in the world", she is known for her portrayals of cold and disdainful characters devoid of morality. She is the recipient of sev ...
. It is based on the 1929 short story ''Navodneniye'' by
Yevgeny Zamyatin
Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin ( rus, Евге́ний Ива́нович Замя́тин, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ zɐˈmʲætʲɪn; – 10 March 1937), sometimes anglicized as Eugene Zamyatin, was a Russian author of science fictio ...
. It was screened at the
Locarno Festival
The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...
in 1994.
Plot
The film takes place in
Petrograd
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in the 1920s. Sofia (Isabelle Huppert) dreams of becoming a mother, hoping that with the birth of a child, husband Trofim (Boris Nevzorov) will not leave her. However, the woman can not conceive for a long time. One day a young neighbor, Ganka, who was left an orphan, appears in the couple's home. She begins to cohabit with Trofim, and his interest for his wife is completely lost. Taking advantage of a flood which came to pass, Sofia gets rid of her rival. Everyone believes that Ganka ran away from home. Meanwhile, Sofia is pregnant, and the relations of the spouses are improving. After giving birth to her daughter and during a fever, she tells how she killed Ganka with an ax.
Cast
*
Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Described as "one of the best actresses in the world", she is known for her portrayals of cold and disdainful characters devoid of morality. She is the recipient of sev ...
- Sofia
*
Boris Nevzorov
Boris Georgievich Nevzorov (russian: Бори́с Гео́ргиевич Невзо́ров; 18 January 1950 – 18 February 2022) was a Russian actor and film director. He was an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (1997)Svetlana Kryuchkova - Pelagiya
* Mariya Lipkina - Ganka (as Masha Lipkina)
* Vladimir Kuznetsov
* Mikhail Pyam
*
Andrei Tolubeyev
Andrei Yurevich Tolubeyev (russian: Андрей Юрьевич Толубеев) (March 30, 1945 – April 7, 2008) was a Soviet and Russian theatrical and cinema actor. People’s Artist of the RSFSR, People's Artist of the RSFSR (1991). Chai ...
Natalya Yegorova
Natalia Vladimirovna Egorova (russian: Наталья Владимировна Егорова, Natalya Vladimirovna Yegorova; née Bykova, born 13 September 1966) is a retired professional tennis player who represented the Soviet Union and Russia ...
Isabelle Huppert on screen and stage
Isabelle Huppert is a French actress who has appeared in more than 120 feature films, mostly in starring roles. Regarded as one of the most respected actresses in French cinema, she has appeared in films directed by Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc God ...