My Sailor, My Love

My Review - My Sailor My Love In Cinemas now. My Rating. 8/10

Irish Cinema is booming at the moment I think it's because it manages to combine simple entertaining human interest stories with relatable characters that resonate with discerning audiences who are tired of violence or action hero cardboard cut out characters in movies devoid of any pathos or humour .

My Sailor My Love has the look and mood of European cinema not surprising as this movie is a combined project of Irish and Finnish and Belgium cinema .

Skilfully directed by Klaus Haro who received the Ingmar Bergman Award in 2003 and was chosen by Ingmar Bergman himself.

This is a mature age love story filmed in County Mayo on the Galway Coast with three excellent finely nuanced performances from James Cosmo who plays Howard an elderly retired sea Captain , Catherine Walker cast as Grace his complex and possessive daughter who employs Annie as a housekeeper to her gruff and unapproachable father.

Annie is delightfully played by Brid Brennan who I recall from movies like Brooklyn 2015 and Dancing at Lughnasa 1998.

The trio of characters in this story bring with them a suite of complex emotions the daughter Grace has deep unresolved issues from childhood when Howard her sea captain father went to sea leaving her with her unwell mother.

Grace now sole carer of her father at the expense of her own marriage employs Annie as housekeeper against her fathers wishes then becomes bitterly resentful when Annie usurps her role and manages what she can't do to thaw out her fathers withdrawn and austere attitude to life.

Annie is a compassionate widow and Grandmother who soon shows the rough and rude Howard when he offers her more money than Grace to stay away and not come back that she can manage very well without the abuse of another male in her life .

Set in Achill Island and County Mayo this movie is a joy to watch the score by Michelino Bisceglia is so effective and the screenplay by Jimmy Karlsson and Kirsi Vikman is excellent .

I'm so glad independent movies with great casts and relatively modest production budgets that feature great actors that are not necessarily huge box office names can still be made.

Fortunately, similar films are still being made, such as My Sailor, My Love. Movies about human relationships never become boring or bland when they are made with good heart. Like this movie.

The main story in this film is about finding love in old age. This particular part of the film is beautifully filmed, and a fairly straight-forward story, without too many complications. But there is an additional story that weaves in, the older man's difficult and partly turbulent relationship with his own daughter. If I am going to criticize something about the film, there must be a lot of unresolved issues that I was left with regarding the father-daughter relationship. Here there is much that we do not get answers to, only that the relationship has become strained and that the daughter has her own explanations for this. Without this being explored any further in the film.

Nevertheless, this film succeeds in telling a lovely story. And I have to include it; filmed in fantastic surroundings along Ireland's coast.

When a retired, curmudgeonly, self-centered Irish sea captain has trouble caring for himself, his overprotective, controlling daughter hires a new housekeeper to tend to his needs, a move the fiercely independent protagonist initially resents. However, before long, the once-tentative relationship blossoms into something more substantial, a move the skipper's daughter questions and grows to resent. So how will this fundamental dilemma be resolved? That's the central question raised in director Klaus Härö's latest effort, a well-crafted, if occasionally predictable, romantic drama reminiscent of the similarly themed "Nobody Has to Know" (2021). Set against the sweeping Irish seacoast, this beautifully photographed backdrop provides the perfect stage for this heartfelt saga, one that verges on a tearjerker at times but never slides into a sappy, melodramatic, manipulative hanky fest. In large part this is due to the restrained but powerful performances of James Cosmo and Brid Brennan, who keep their characters real without becoming sentimental, histrionic caricatures. Add to this a finely polished soundtrack, and you've got a quality cinematic offering that deserves a look for a variety of reasons.

Filmed and set in Ireland, James Cosmo, in his 70s, is Howard, former sailor and now retired to his remote home. His wife, who suffered from depression, died years earlier. He lives alone and his 40-something daughter, a nurse, checks on him periodically. He doesn't seem to welcome her visits and his home is a total mess.

So the daughter hires help, a local lady to come in two days a week. She is played by 60-something Brid Brennan as Annie. At first Howard makes it clear that he'd rather her not come, but eventually he softens up when he realizes she is good company.

The adult daughter is played by Catherine Walker as Grace. She too is having personal issues and she and her husband don't always have time to communicate properly.

As the story develops we see that there are some deep family issues, plus some issues Howard is having that he fails to share. It is all plausible, elderly parents and their adult children can have difficulty with issues that represent a wedge. In fact I have five adult children and there are wedges.

My wife and I watched it at home, streaming on Amazon Prime. Not a happy or uplifting movie but suitably interesting. The acting and cinematography are excellent.

James Cosmo is quite good here in one of his few leading roles. He is "Howard", a curmudgeonly old gent who lives alone - washing his smalls in the kitchen sink and caring little about anything but his crossword puzzle. His daughter "Grace" (Catherine Walker) is at the end of her tether, so she employs local lady "Annie" (Brid Brennan) to do a bit of housekeeping for him. He is not at all keen on this arrangement; indeed is so rude as to have her walk out on him, but a few of her more homely touches make him begin to realise that the pit into which his life has slid is perhaps not the only solution. Pretty quickly the two are getting on like an house on fire and gradually this causes a degree of chagrin for the daughter who sees her own role in his life beginning to become less crucial - as she, herself, is watching her own marriage disintegrate. Can they all find a way to make things work? It's a gentle romance this film, with some enjoyable and poignant performances from the three principals that highlights how people cope with grief, loneliness and opportunity. Director Klaus Härö allows the talent to deliver a considered series of portrayals that marry the happy and the sad in a plausible fashion. I can't say I loved the ending. Though perfectly realistic, it seemed a little unnecessary to me - but you be the judge. It doesn't need a cinema screen, but is well worth watching the loads of experience at character acting ooze from Brennan and Cosmo.