Wonderful character development!

Best movie of this year hands down!

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Sarah Miles deserved far, far better than this film. Her performance is head and shoulders above any others in the movie, and this becomes evident 15 minutes into it. Her performance is the only reason I can give this film a rating higher than one star. Kris Kristofferson plays her love interest, in a performance that redefines the words laconic and listless.Possible Spoilers: Miles plays a lonely widow whose husband who died after a long illness, with a troubled, sullen teen son (naturally). She meets Kris Kristofferson, playing a sailor with no sense that he is one, and instantly drops all of her British reserve to fall in lust with an American stranger who is completely passive and has absolutely no personality. Sarah Miles literally carries every scene between her and Kristofferson on her own shoulders; it's like watching a champion dancer dance with a mannequin, except that you can at least prop up and pose a mannequin. For some bizarre reason, Kristofferson, who underplays every role he has, decided to underplay this performance even more, as if that would give him some sort of quiet American strength. Instead, it gives him a quiet lethargy that puts the energy right through the floor. I have to wonder if Miles actually said to Kristofferson at some point during rehearsals: "Kris, you are going to give me more energy than that during the take, aren't you?" If the director actually said to Kristofferson "less energy, be more subtle", that was the Wrong direction for Kristofferson. It's like saying to Robin Williams "Robin! Be more manic, and much higher energy!" Naturally, the woman's son resents the hell out of Kristofferson, and like most movie children of single mothers, is under the influence of the worst element he can find, a hateful little psychopath that likes blowing seagulls' heads off with firecrackers, mutilating cats, etc, without adults around them ever noticing. Without a strong father figure around, the movie argues, male children will immediately fall into gangs or worse.The end of the movie is out of a Stephen King novel, and does not fit in with the rest of the story at all. There seems to be no moral or statement to the film that I could find. In fact, it seems to go out of its way to avoid one. If you had to find a "moral" in it, it would seem to be, stay in the Navy and never retire, or you will deserve to be cut into tiny pieces in short order, as your just punishment. Why? I have no idea. I guess the sea is a jealous mistress. Like, Fatal Attraction jealous.Which is especially odd, as there are No Sea Metaphors or allusions to the sea in this film! (This IS adapted from a Japanese story by a famous but rather disturbed author, who committed suicide as a protest against modern society, but even in terms of the Samuri tradition, the film makes no coherent statement; even one that we could disagree with.) The film left me with a feeling that I had been subjected to three levels of abuse: one, a slow-moving (and I mean, Slow-Moving) morality tale with no moral at the end, two, Kris Kristofferson's energy-sucking performance that seemed to suck the vitality out of me as I watched it, and lastly, the abuse of Sarah Miles, who gave an Oscar-worthy performance in a film that was not worthy of her, and gave her no energy to work with; which means her work was twice-heroic. If she was not in this film, no-one would remember it on any level; and out of respect for her, no-one should.

A nice coincidence: I just started this novel, by Yukio Mishima, and this film, which I didn't even know existed, popped up on Netflix Instant. I finished the novel and started the movie about one minute later. First off, the novel: excellent. I think it really captures, in a horrifying way, what it was like to be a kid who thinks he's so much smarter than all the adults in his life. It's very insightful, tightly plotted (only 180 pages), and has brilliant but simple characterizations. The film: it's a fine adaptation. The location is transported from Yokohama, Japan to a small, coastal town in England south of London. Sarah Miles plays a young widow with a 13 year-old son (Jonathan Kahn). Kahn is a precocious boy who pals around with a gang of five other too-smart-for-their-age kids. They refer to each other by rank. The lead boy, known as the chief (Earl Rhodes), is a ferocious leader who believes human morality is a ridiculous concept. Basically, he has a very fascist philosophy and believes himself, and his five underlings (Kahn is #2 of the five), to be of a superior ilk than everyone around them. Kris Kristofferson plays the titular sailor who begins a romantic relationship with the very lonely Miles. While Kahn is excited at first to know this sailor (he is himself fascinated by the sea), when he realizes that he's intent on entering the family, he feels threatened. Kahn and his buddies then form a plot to get rid of Kristofferson. The major criticism that most seem to have of the film is that it doesn't explicate the children enough. I'm not sure that it's true. Perhaps I understand them better because I had just finished the novel (where there is a bit more of an explanation), but I think that people reading the novel may be just as perplexed by these kids' attitudes as they are when watching the movie. Perhaps a lot of people didn't have that philosophy when they were that age. More power to them, because it's very ugly, but I think it's very common. The one big complaint that I have with the film is a technical gripe: the sound is awful. I don't think it's just the video I watched, either. Much of the time, characters speak in an audible volume. But just as often they speak so softly that you can't hear them at all. Even after I turned off my air conditioner, I could just barely hear what was being said. The cinematography is very beautiful, as is the score (by Douglas Slocombe and Johnny Mandel respectively).

"The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea" by Lewis Carlino deals with the romance between lonely widow and a merchant marine officer.Her son is a troubled teenager who spends his free time with a group of sadistic boys.The kids sentence a cat to death for being old and fat;they drug it and dissect it alive.Somber drama with gorgeous photography of British coast and some graphic scenes of sex and sadism.Frank Perry made similar film in 1969 titled "Last Summer",a grim story where bored wealthy kids at a seaside island abuse first a total stranger and then rape one of their own.If you liked "Last Summer" you can't miss "The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea".It's well-acted and unforgettable drama with seriously dark streak.8 sailors out of 10.

Compared to other projects like 'The Great Santini' and 'The Mechanic,' this 1976 drama was a bold endeavor 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 modern English setting.'Sailor' focuses on Anne Osborne, a lonely widow and antiques dealer played by Sarah Miles. The middle-aged woman lives with her sea-loving, teenaged son Jonathan (Jonathan Kahn) in an English coastal 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 club 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 a town surgeon and looks to teach the four members his nihilistic points 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 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 change 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.As a person who has seen numerous films and read quite a few novels, 'The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea' was a very strange experience. The film doesn't fit any one particular genre, nor does it really generate 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 nothing less than convincing.Anyone who is put off by graphic sexuality or cruelty to animals will best avoid this film. Miles and Kristofferson are involved in two explicit sex scenes, with Kahn watching through a peephole to sate his teenaged curiosity. Miles is also viewed masturbating at her dressing table, but all of this 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.'Sailor' deserves good DVD treatment for its photography alone, if not for its fine acting. Image Entertainment has come through with a 2003 disc that presents the film with respect, undoing years of mistreatment by TV broadcasts and full-frame VHS tapes. The film is presented in widescreen with immaculate visuals and Dolby enhancement of the original mono track. Unfortunately, there are no extras, with chapter stops offered as the lone feature. Another minus is its auto-play of the film when loaded into a DVD machine, which is inconvenient if you need a few moments to settle in. But for admirers of this film, IE's new disc restores the vibrant imagery seen in cinemas thirty years ago. Moving, shocking, and at times repugnant, 'Sailor' is one of the most bizarre film experiences you will ever have.*** out of 4Roving Reviewer - www.geocities.com/paul_johnr