A Day at the Beach

Films about alcoholism are never going to be easy to watch, but what makes this film special is that we see the full effects of the selfishness and path to destruction alcoholics do to their loved ones.

If you have ever been in the presence of a drunk, when you are sober yourself, you have probably seen the worst aspect of that person, which can often come across as either boring, bullying, or downright nasty. To the credit of this film and the excellent acting by Mark Burns, all of these characteristics are explored in the film. By the end of the film, your heart goes out to little Winnie (Beatie Edney) who deserves a far better dad, whom she believes is her uncle because of the shame that Bernie (Mark Burns) has brought onto his family.

This film has the otherworldiness that Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory suffers from. It features British actors, talking in English, but the film was done in Denmark. It kind of works in a weird parallel universe sort of way. It is not really important because the story counts more.

Anyone who has kids knows the dreaded feeling of trying to kill a day while finding ways to entertain them. So spending a rainy day at the beach just to get out of the house is something parents can relate to. The cameo of Peter Sellers (credited as A. Queen) and Graham Stark was light relief the film really needed because, from then on, it becomes a catalogue of distressing episodes as Bernie self-destructs.

The scene when the selfish parents join Bernie in the pub and leave the kids in the car says a lot about the 70s. Different times. A different world.

A powerful but sad film. I am glad I caught it on Netflix.

This was a dark piece indeed. The original story was a Danish book, I believe. The name of the author escapes me. The other comments are correct. It was a bleak look at alcoholism but hauntingly accurate. I loved the film. Painful to watch yet truthful. The little girl was amazing. Peter Sellars was great & his gay partner, whose name I've forgotten, was another great British comedian. Probably the best piece of trivia is that his wife, Sharon Tate, and others, were murdered in California while Polanski was in England editing the movie at Twickenhan Studios, after shooting insert shots there. Polanski left Twickenham Studios that night when he heard about the murders & never returned to finish the film. Had he done so, I am sure the film would have been released properly & been worthy of standing by his other work. I would love to see this film released on DVD.

I saw this film at Pacific Cinematheque in Vancouver around 1994/95. The lead character is a pathetic drunk who takes his daughter for a day out. I believe it is set in a Danish seaside town. Certainly northern European of some sort. It is a series of episodes in a search for drinks, and the little girl ends up having to rescue her drunk dad. An allegory of life and the parent/ child relationship, perhaps. Peter Sellers is hilarious as a homosexual stall keeper. The atmosphere is relentlessly bleak, dark, ominous, and finally it rains. Could be depressing if the viewer has a family member similarly afflicted by alcoholism.

Too bad it is not available. Would love to see it again.

It's amazing to have finally seen this lost film. Poor Mark Burns died this year without ever having seen the finished film! Why was it lost? It's quite good but I can understand that even if this film had a normal release in cinemas it would not have been a hit. It's too sad and tragic. The performances are great, tho. Mark Burns plays a sensitive soul who loves his daughter but loves his drink a little bit more. Beatie Edney is amazing. One of the best child performances I've seen. It's fantastic to see that she grew up to be an even greater actress as an adult. She was in a chilling part in the TV series Prime Suspect.

It's also nice to see the Danish beach where "A Day" was filmed and also to see the great Bergman actress Eva Dahlbeck in the small role of a café owner.

As someone who usually does not like movies soliciting compassion for alcoholics or drug addicts I was surprised how much I liked A Day at the Beach. The title's promise is fulfilled in the best way possible. A young, intelligent alcoholic takes his little niece to a small seaport for a day. The man is most of the time looking for booze or ingesting it, occasionally rendering verbal outbursts which often sound very lucid. The girl is left to her own devices most of the time but fiercely loyal to her uncle.

From the technical side the movie is virtually faultless. Foreground and background are always in very sharp focus, except for two brief episodes with POV shots of the very drunk main character. The drabness of the place (it is always raining or overcast) is occasionally contrasted by bright, vivid colors. It looks all very controlled and there can be no doubt that a true master is behind this picture. The cast is brilliant down to every secondary character. I found Peter Seller's contribution as a fairy unnecessary and superfluous, though.

I watched the DVD release from Odeon Entertainment. There is an informative booklet about the movie, but Roman Polanski's involvement in the actual shooting is not clear. According to the booklet Polanski left the film while the final editing was in progress. Doesn't this mean that the effectively directed the movie? I would not be surprised if this were the case, in my opinion it very much looks like a Polanski movie. Its stunning how timeless his work is!

A Day at the Beach would never have attracted a mass audience, and from the look of it (and the choice of actors) it probably was never meant to be a blockbuster. But everybody who can stand this difficult and rather depressing subject matter (men preferring drugs to other humans) this is a rewarding and aesthetically satisfying movie. It's great that they made it available on DVD.