The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea (1976)

×

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea (1976)

Close

×

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea (1976)

Close

Compared to other projects like 'The Great Santini' and 'The Mechanic,' this 1976 drama was a bold endeavour for writer-director Lewis John Carlino. 'The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea' is Carlino's adaptation of a novella set in post-World War II Japan by Yukio Mishima, a prolific 20th century author who tried to revive the Bushido code of samurai honor and committed ritual suicide in 1970. Mishima was a grand literary force, considered several times for the Nobel Prize and was lauded as the 'Japanese Hemingway' by Life Magazine. Indeed, it says a great deal about his writings that Carlino was able to transport the novella's ideas to a contemporary English setting.

'Sailor' focuses on Anne Osborne, a lonely widow and antiques dealer played by Sarah Miles. She lives with her sea-loving, teenaged son Jonathan (Jonathan Kahn) in an English seaside town. Well into the rebellious phase of life, Jonathan finds himself without an adult male influence and backs a schoolmate known only as Chief (Earl Rhodes), who runs a secret society with four other boys as his underlings. This club is not the usual fun-and-games of children, however; Chief is the precocious son of the town's doctor and looks to teach the four members his nihilistic point of view (morality, for instance, is just rules that adults invented to control the world). So dedicated is the boy to his values that he even kills and autopsies the family cat to prove an idea about existence.

Providing Jonathan with another outlet is Jim Cameron (Kris Kristofferson), an American sailor who arrives into port and has a chance meeting with Anne. The two fall in love almost immediately and Jonathan discovers a man who fits Chief's description of 'a heart of steel' - a man who travels the Earth and overcomes great odds. However, Jonathan feels betrayal as the love affair between Anne and Jim thickens; his hero decides to stay in England and remain tied to the soil. It's only Jonathan and his friends who can restore Jim's 'grace' with the sea from which he came, leading to one of the most outrageous conclusions in film history.

The film doesn't fit any one particular genre, nor does it stimulate one clear emotion. The love story between Anne and Jim functions as an obvious work of erotica, while the dark portrayal of adolescence reminds me of writers like Aldous Huxley and Patrick McCabe. The story's meaning is intentionally unclear, although it seems to imply that each person is given a specific destiny and that the feelings of children, by necessity, are of equal value to those of adults. There is also a certain sexual philosophy judging passion as the destroyer of good things, in this case the strong bond between Jonathan and his mother.

One of 'Sailor's' technical strongpoints is its broad, languid pacing that has a feel similar to waves of the sea. Cinematographer Douglas Slocombe offers breathtaking images of ocean, sunrise, and house interiors that compare with still-life paintings. Adding to the rich visuals is a lean, chilly score by Johnny Mandel (with themes by Kristofferson) that captures the film's underlying ideas. The entire cast is superb, especially the children headed by Jonathan Kahn (who had a brief screen career). Sarah Miles conveys a wide range of emotion and has a physical elegance that is ideal for her role. Kristofferson was an excellent choice for the Jim Cameron figure, a rugged, brooding individual whose tales of sea life feel authentic. Of vital importance is the chemistry between Miles and Kristofferson, which must be strong for the film to work. Unlike inferior films that produce a cardboard love affair, Anne and Jim's rapport is solid and convincing.

Anyone who is put off by graphic sexuality or cruelty to animals should avoid this film. Miles and Kristofferson are involved in two explicit sex scenes, with Kahn watching through a peephole to satisfy his curiosity. Miles is also viewed masturbating at her dressing table, but the material was filmed with great sensitivity. The cat 'experiment' is highly unpleasant, although not exceptionally graphic, and Chief blasts apart an overhead seagull by tossing a firework stuffed inside pieces of bread. The end credits mention that no real animals were harmed in the film, a rare disclaimer in the 1970s.

×

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea (1976)

Close

×

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea (1976)

Close

This movie is morbid but is quite faithful to the original story. And it uses its Dover location very effectively in showing a place isolated in its own mythology.

The story is about a fatherless adolescent boy who is himself very much like the sea. He is restless and calm and seemingly untameable. All the confusion and frustrations of adolescence are portrayed here in an honesty that no other movie has ever dared to show. The restless urge to be a grown up and to move on to a life of daring excitement, and the desire to find a philosophy and a poetry to which one can ascribe are all explored in an uncompromising way in this film.

Desperate for an authority and leadership that he can look up to, the boy finds himself vying for the acceptance of a sadistic boy with a Nietzsche complex who uses a strain of hierarchy in his little band of friends in order to maintain control. Soon Kristofferson shows up and as he seems to be the stuff of oceanic legends, the boy finds a new hero to worship.

I would not even attempt to give the ending away. Suffice it to say that this is a most disturbing film in its subject matter and for those with short attention spans, it may seem slow in its pace. But like the sea, the film is languid in its pacing and it promises the same degree of poetry and savagery.

Fascinating viewing!
~ Zen Bones

×

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea (1976)

Close