Director and Star Defend Tsunami Thriller

The French actress Emmanuelle Béart and Fabrice Du Welz, the director of her latest film, "Vinyan," a thriller centered on the 2004 Asian tsunami, defended it from critics in an interview with Reuters on Sunday. "I don't want to be unpleasant to people who have really suffered from the tsunami," said Mr. Du Welz, who is Belgian. "I tried to be as respectful as I can." The film, which had its debut at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, has been criticized by families of people who died in the tsunami. It tells the story of a couple who refuse to believe that their son was a victim of the disaster and set out to search for him. Ms. Béart said that the tsunami itself was not its main subject. "The story is that they lost their son," she said of the couple at the center of the film's story. She plays the mother of the child who is presumed lost.