La sposa del mare

Still pining for a mysterious woman with whom he and two other gentlemen shared a lifeboat many months earlier, a British army officer recollects the shipwreck that led to their encounter as well as their intimate time together in this early career Richard Burton motion picture. The film plays out primarily in flashback and seeing Burton so young is just as curious as Joan Collins being cast as his love interest - a nun who never revealed her true identity to him during their time together. The story is propelled by a couple of implausible elements -- namely, her extreme reluctance to say that she is a nun, and the fact that the four shipwreck survivors insist on calling each other by nicknames rather than their real names -- however, these improbabilities add unexpected layers of depths. In particular, the film handles Burton's attraction to Collins with delightful ambiguity; we never find out if she truly ever reciprocated his feelings, and is it out of craving for human affection that she chose to never tell him that she was a nun? The naming thing is quite interesting too as we get to know the characters through their traits and idiosyncrasies more than anything else, and as Collins keeps telling Burton, things are different when stuck out at sea. Clocking in at just over an hour and a quarter long, the film feels incredibly short with a lot of unrealised narrative potential, but the ending is so unexpected and packs such an emotional wallop that it is hard not to exit the film a tad shaken. Certainly, 'Sea Wife' is very far removed from the average wartime romantic drama out there.

Most of the small number of viewers who have commented on this film to date, seem to find it boring or without much substance. But I think "See Wife," has much more than meets the eye – especially than meets the eye of modern movie-goers who are so used to being bombarded with action after action scenes along with lots of CGI. This is a story first, about civilian victims of war; then about survivors at sea and on an uninhabited island; then about return to life after World War II. But the plot develops around four survivors and includes drama, distrust, prejudice and mystery.

Some reviewers like to see parts of other films in this one, but there is something that sets "Sea Wife" apart from "Life Boat" and others. That is in the forbidden and lost love. And, part of the mystery revolves around another love that is held and given for something higher. The script is very good, the scenes are engaging and the acting is very good. A very good film that movie fans who look for big doses of quality acting will appreciate. It doesn't have a usual Hollywood ending, but one that satisfies the mystery and drama of the story.

Richard Burton and Joan Collins in a shipwreck/lifeboat drama was something that I could not resist checking out. Once all has been said and done I'm still happy to have checked it out and spent some time with these characters. The entire cast does a fine job, Grant and Sydney are also both solid and their story is ultimately one of the more interesting elements of Sea Wife. Some reviewers mentioned having trouble with Collins playing a Nun but for me I think those individuals are bringing too much baggage to that analysis because if you are able observe her soley for her performance here she does an excellent and to me believable performance. The main weakness is the story, it just doesn't dig deep enough into any of the four main characters development. That's unfortunate because the setting kinds of lends itself to that type of exploration but it was just not forthcoming. I also feel the direction, while competent, was not particularly interesting. Despite some major shortcomings I did fine Sea Wolf kind of interesting.

Facile dramatics about four disparate characters--three men and one woman (Joan Collins)--shipwrecked off the coast of Singapore in 1942. One of the men grows very fond of the lady, who is secretly a nun. The nun's curious reluctance to divulge her vocation unnecessarily drags out these proceedings (and makes Sister Collins out to be something of a tease, which is touched upon fleetingly). Film verges on camp but is saved from silliness by an adept, surface-pretty production, also by Richard Burton's fiery emoting (predictably, he's colorful and mercurial as ever). Shallow, but certainly entertaining on a minor scale. **1/2 from ****

Joan Collins is a nun (!!) shipwrecked on an island with Burton. This movie is hilarious and sexy. Burton as usual is so serious he's got his tongue in his cheek because the script's morality won't let him use it to plow the ever-gorgeous Collins. I haven't seen it for years, but I still use Burton's growling "I love you, Sea Wife" to make my wife laugh. And a note on Collins: Evidently the eternal self-pitier Russell Crowe was upset to see himself compared to her at an awards show. But she is the one who was shamed; she was, is, and will always be wonderful. Enjoy this flick and "Land of the Pharoahs" as proof!