Le Silence de la mer is a 1949 film by Jean-Pierre Melville that takes place in 1941 and concerns a Frenchman and his niece's relationship with a German lieutenant who lives in their house during the German occupation of France. Melville based the film on the 1942 book of the same name, Le Silence de la mer

Le Silence de la mer

Le Silence de la mer is a novel written in early 1942 by Jean Bruller under the pseudonym Vercors. It was published secretly in Nazi-occupied Paris...

by Jean Bruller

Jean Bruller

Jean Marcel Bruller was a French writer and illustrator who co-founded Les Éditions de Minuit with Pierre de Lescure and Yvonne Paraf. During the World War II occupation of northern France he joined the Resistance and his texts were published under the pseudonym Vercors.Several of his novels have...

 (under the name Vercors

Vercors

Vercors is an upland district in the south-east of France:* Vercors Caves, a set of long caves* Vercors Plateau, a range of mountains and plateaus in the department of Isère, French Alps* Vercors Regional Natural Park, a protected area of southeastern France...

) and actually filmed inside of Vercors' own home outside of Paris. The film has been described as an "anti-cinematographic" film due to the unique method of narration used to give voice to the (mostly) silent Frenchman and his niece.