L'enigma dei banchi di sabbia

I thoroughly enjoyed this old-fashioned spy yarn based on a novel by Erskine Childers. The story is simplicity in itself: a quintessentially British yachtsman, Arthur Davies, is exploring off the coast of Germany when he uncovers some strange activity. He calls in his upper-crust friend, Carruthers, and the two soon find themselves out of their depth and caught up in some sinister events.

Okay, so there isn't much story to go along with, and the story that there is is rather predictable. That's beside the point: RIDDLE OF THE SANDS is a strongly visual film that conveys the joys of being free on the oceans, as well as the pleasure of a world that was a lot simpler than ours. It's well-shot throughout with an infectious charm, and as the two leads, Simon MacCorkindale and Michael York have a wonderfully deadpan chemistry.

The thriller and spy aspects, although relatively mundane by modern-day standards, are interspersed well with the rest of the story, and Jenny Agutter turns up as lovely as ever. There are some well-handled set-pieces dotted throughout - the atmospheric journey through the fog, the hide-out in the loft, the dinner scene - and if the film doesn't perhaps excite you as it might, then it leaves you with a warm and cosy feeling afterwards, like the effect of sitting by the dying-down remnants of a roaring fire.

The people who commented obviously loved it so much. So did I. No movie can be perfect, and anything with a strong nautical theme is very, very hard to get looking right. Look at all the pirate movies where it is obvious that a period ship, recreated at huge expense, has its sails hanging slack and is being propelled through the water by engines. There was a Columbus movie not long back where the bottom edge of a sail was flapping round his face while he said something deep and meaningful.

RofS is one of the few films that manage to sustain realistic nautical action and atmosphere right through. My only very minor quibble was that in the scene below decks where Clara puts on the kettle, there is far too much space above her head. But that could not detract from the "awkward English chap" conversation Arthur has with her.

Of course anything with Jenny Agutter in it is a good movie, but with Jenny and sailing boats as well, this is one to love.

If you've read the book you'll realise that it couldn't be made into a 90 minute or so film. Bits have to be cut and some scenes adapted so that the film contains a flowing understandable narrative. Often this is not particularly successful. Riddle of the Sands suffers to some extent in this way. Nevertheless this is a pretty good attempt at transferring the book to film. Michael Yorke and Simon McCorkindale are right for the parts they play. Neither are my favourite actors but I don't think many others would have portrayed the characters, warts and all, as realistically. The supporting cast are where the real strength of the film lies. Hans Meyer as Grimm is wonderfully sinister, as indeed is Michael Sheard as Boehme. Alan Badel was one of the best actors ever and his portrayal of Dollman is flawless. Jenny Agutter as Clara also shines. The music by Howard Blake deserves mention because the soundtrack is so important when setting the mood and, besides, the recurrent theme is a very nice piece of music. This is a slow-paced film but is nonetheless a powerful and well told story. If you want fast action and explosions everywhere give it a miss and head for some standard Hollywood identikit action film. If you want a well made story set in beautiful surroundings with good understated performances and a decent soundtrack try and hunt down a copy of the video or catch it on one of its rare TV showings.

Tony Maylam (and Christopher Challis - read his autobiography, "Are they really so awful") went all-out in this film to recreate a feel for Erskine Childers's slightly jingoistic novel, and for the joy of messing about in boats. The film achieves much of what it set out to do, but some extra elements grafted on to the original plot slightly spoil it for me.

The plot features Davies, an English amateur yachtsman (brilliantly played by Simon MacCorkindale) who stumbles onto something strange while pottering around the bleak Friesian coast in northern Germany. Mystified, he summons his old friend Carruthers (Michael Yorke) to help uncover the secret.

As a detective tale or spy story viewed through the eyes of either Davies or Carruthers, the film works. The few action sequences, which are almost always seen from the viewpoint of others, tend to fall flat and spoil the overall continuity. The subtitles to scenes in which characters are speaking in German are annoying, since almost everything is also translated verbally for the benefit of Davies who does not speak the language.

That said, this is quite a tense film, and gives a very true rendering of the novel.

The scenery and props are quite superb. Davies's yacht is a joy to look at from the outside and suitable poky in the interior shots. The flat coastal scenery is very atmospherically shot and the costumes are very good.

Except for a rather wooden "Kaiser Bill", the acting is excellent, though this is no less than one would expect from such as Alan Badel and Jenny Agutter.

This film is very enjoyable, but best watched with one's thinking cap on.

It's probably impossible to transfer the cozy atmosphere of Erskine Childers's book to the screen, but Maylam's attempt is a creditable one. The Dutch and German villages, the sand banks, the coastline, all in muted browns and greys, look every bit as dull as you'd expect them to, but we begin to see their attraction; and something of the feeling of day-to-day life on a boat is conveyed to us. A nice score by Howard Blake helps give us the measure of things.

It's what we COULD have expected to survive transition to the screen - excitement - that's most really lacking. Childers's novel was (so everyone says) the first modern spy story. In addition to a love of the sea it also conveys a sense of menace, a feeling that something of importance hangs on the riddle of the sands, which the film, blandly paced and having to resort now and then to first-person narration, doesn't. It's still pleasing enough, especially if you've read the book and the film isn't giving away any of its secrets.