Le radeau de la Méduse (1998)

Iranian Iradj Azimi directed this French historical drama recreating events depicted in the famous 1819 painting The Raft of the Medusa by Jean Louis Andre Theodore Gericault 17911824 The illfated voyage of the frigate Medusa begins when it departs Rochefort for Senegal in 1816 After striking a sandbar off the African coast 150 civilians row safely to shore but Captain Chaumareys Jean Yanne orders 140 soldiers and sailors onto a raft minus supplies and has it cut loose Only 14 survive from the 140 creating a scandal back in France Gericault Laurent Terzieff later talks to three of the survivors while researching his painting Work on this film began in 1987 but sets destroyed by Hurricane Hugo caused delays so the film was not completed until 1990 However it then remained undistributed until an incident in which writerdirector Azimi slashed his wrists in front of French Ministry of Culture officials