For his debut feature, Melville gave himself the extremely tall task of adapting a Jean Bruller novel published illegally during the German occupation of France, a challenge made greater by the strict scrutiny of the book’s author. Giving anguished expression to the thousands of French civilians living under Vichy control with experiences like that of the story’s humble heroes, Le silence de la mer gained Bruller’s approval through its stark depiction of the trials of a man (Jean-Marie Robain) and his niece (Nicole Stéphane) who must grudgingly house a Nazi officer, Ebrennac (Howard Vernon), over a strained winter in their provincial cottage. What the hosts do not anticipate is the German’s gentle manner and worldly sophistication, which they nonetheless deflect in a sustained vow of silence. The film’s hushed action is limited largely to the drawing room where the man reads, the niece knits, and the Nazi talks eloquently and endlessly, tying each non-interaction in a neat bow with a repeated farewell gesture. Employing an arsenal of crystalline deep-focus, sudden extreme close-ups and expressionistic low angles, Melville keeps Ebrennac at a remove while placing us inside the mind of Robain’s character, who provides a tormented narration to contrast his Nazi visitor's soft-spoken musings.

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