The Sea (2013 film)

The Sea is a 2013 British-Irish drama film directed by Stephen Brown. It is based on the novel of the same name by John Banville, who also wrote the screenplay for the film.[2] The film premiered in competition at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on 23 June 2013.[1] The film had its North American premiere at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[3][4]

The Sea
Promotional Poster
Directed byStephen Brown
Produced byDavid Collins
Michael Robinson
Luc Roeg
Screenplay byJohn Banville
Based onThe Sea,
a novel by John Banville
StarringRufus Sewell
Natascha McElhone
Ciarán Hinds
Sinéad Cusack
Bonnie Wright
Music byAndrew Hewitt
CinematographyJohn Conroy
Edited byStephen O'Connell
Production
company
Rooks Nest Entertainment
Samson Films
Distributed byIndependent
Release date
  • 23 June 2013 (2013-06-23) (EIFF)
[1]
Running time
87 minutes[1]
CountryIreland
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Premise

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.

Cast

Production

The producer of the film Luc Roeg said that "I've wanted to make a film of John Banville's haunting and soulful novel for several years and it's been worth the wait. I'm excited to introduce a new film maker, Stephen Brown, to world cinema and I couldn't be more delighted with the cast and crew we've assembled together with our producing partners at Samson Films."[2]

Filming started in September 2012 and finished in January 2013.[5][6]

Reception

The Sea premièred at the 2013 Edinburgh International Film Festival and received mixed reviews. Rating it at 7/10,the Screenkicker website said "intimate, superbly acted meditation on grief and abandonment that will make you think about how we cope with tragedy".[7] Marc Adams, chief film critic of Screen Daily wrote, "the film's emotional still waters run deep and the film is gently watchable as a series of fine actors deliver nuanced and powerful performances."[8] Guy Lodge of Variety wrote "This good, middlebrow adaptation of John Banville's Booker Prize-novel sacrifices structural intricacy for Masterpiece-style emotional accessibility." And added "Afforded the least, but most searing, screen time are Anna's final days, which economically imply longer-running problems in Max’s marriage. In a uniformly strong cast, a superbly terse Cusack cuts that little bit deeper as a dying woman who understandably has no time for her husband’s hovering pain."[9]

Local response was less favourable. Niki Boyle of Film List, a Scottish web magazine, gave the film two out of five stars and said that "Hinds and Rampling are suitably low-key, and character actor Karl Johnson puts in a decent turn as a more poignant version of The Major from Fawlty Towers, but the whole thing feels utterly derivative, from the contrast between the muted-palette and light-saturated flashbacks, to the spare, mournful piano-and-violin score."[10] Rob Dickie of "Sound on Sight", praised the performance of cast but criticise the pace and climax of the film by saying that " the pace is lethargic, there are no surprising revelations and the ending is horribly anticlimactic, meaning the strong performances and flashes of visual flair go to waste."[11]

Ross Miller of Thoughts on Film gave it 1 out of 5 stars, saying that, "What could have been a fascinating and melancholic look at memory, regret and loss is actually a boring and monotonous character drama... a pretentious mess that's a chore to sit through."[12] Emma Thrower of The Hollywood News also gave film a negative review by saying that "A frustrating blend of wooden and naturalistic, it is a surprise to realise author John Banville is responsible for a screenplay that often unfolds like an overblown television drama. Rufus Sewell and Bonnie Wright also suffer in these laborious and often unwelcome instagram-filtered interludes, Sewell an incongruous pantomime villain and Wright an underused but ultimately ineffective screen presence."[13]

The Sea also served as the closing film at "25th Galway Film Fleadh", at 14 July 2013.[14][15] IconCinema listed The Sea at its Top 200 most anticipated films of 2013.[16]

Accolades
Year Award Category Recipient Result
2013 Edinburgh International Film Festival Audience Award Nominee Nominated[1]
2014 IFTA Award Best Actress in a Supporting Role Sinéad Cusack Won
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References
  1. "Michael Powell Award Competition / World premiere". Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  2. "Ciaran Hinds, Charlotte Rampling, Natascha McElhone, Rufus Sewell Assemble for 'The Sea' in Ireland". Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  3. Fleming Jr, Mike. "Toronto Sets World Cinema Film Lineup". Deadline. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  4. "Toronto International Film Festival – Contemporary World Cinema". tiff.net. Archived from the original on 16 August 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  5. "Natascha McElhone Joins 'The Sea' As Production Begins". Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  6. "Bonnie Wright in first on-set look from "The Sea", completes filming". Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  7. "THE SEA – REVIEW". Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  8. "THE SEA". Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  9. Lodge, Guy. "Edinburgh Film Review: 'The Sea'". Variety. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  10. "Restrained drama adapted from John Banville's Booker Prize-winning novel". Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  11. "EIFF 2013: The Sea is a well-acted but lethargic exploration of memory". Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  12. "EIFF 2013: The Sea Movie Review". Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  13. "EIFF 2013: The Sea Review". Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  14. "Tasting Menu, The Sea bookend Galway". Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  15. "The Sea – Closing Film". Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  16. "Top 200 most anticipated films of 2013". Retrieved 27 June 2013.
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