X
- 2017
- Not Rated
- Independent Entertainment
- 1 h 26 m
- 2017
- Not Rated
- Independent Entertainment
- 1 h 26 m
Summary The story of a man who returns to the sea where he spent his childhood summers in search of peace following the death of his wife.
Directed By: Stephen Brown
Written By: John Banville
- 2017
- Not Rated
- Independent Entertainment
- 1 h 26 m
- 2017
- Not Rated
- Independent Entertainment
- 1 h 26 m
The Sea
54
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Summary The story of a man who returns to the sea where he spent his childhood summers in search of peace following the death of his wife.
Directed By: Stephen Brown
Written By: John Banville
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
54
14% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
86% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
54
14% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
86% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
[A] good, middlebrow adaptation — which, despite being scripted by Banville himself, sacrifices much of the novel’s structural intricacy for Masterpiece-style emotional accessibility.
What’s impressionistic on the page has to be re-sculpted and honed to a point on screen, but the result is that the novel’s tenderly hidden secrets become rather blatant twists.
Despite its careful control of tone and a raging central performance by Ciaran Hinds, which is actually sufficient reason to see the film, this story of a man who plunges into childhood memories in the aftermath of his wife’s death remains admirable but wingless.
It’s impossible to escape the sense that Banville’s work is best experienced on paper.
The film can’t match the novel’s elegant, startlingly excellent Booker-Prize-winning writing, but a first-class cast (including Charlotte Rampling and Sinéad Cusack) make this an absorbing watch.
Though handsomely photographed and featuring a compelling cast, the Ireland-set memory piece — adapted by John Banville from his Man Booker Prize-winning novel — will leave audiences wondering how much more satisfying the muted drama might be on the page.
Hinds is a strong, wounded presence, but the laboured structure cuts insistently around him to get at a psychology mostly scrambled in translation. This Sea's just too choppy.
User Reviews
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Production Company
Independent Entertainment,
Samson Films,
Quicksilver Films,
Rooks Nest Entertainment
Release Date Jul 7, 2017
Duration 1 h 26 m
Rating Not Rated
Genres
Awards
Irish Film and Television Awards
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
Edinburgh International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Film by the Sea International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
