Le marin qui abandonna la mer

The script and direction meld into a strong movie. With charm and humor to spare, this film was among the top echelon of movies from 1976. The characters in this film have a lot of depth, and that makes all the difference. In the end, the audience gets a casserole of film elements and little of the satisfaction that comes from watching these types of movies. I guess if I was in a bad mood, this movie wouldn't be half as good, but I thought it to be enjoyable and would recommend it. This is a story about a place most people might not be able to conceive. It is a powerful film. Many scenes do not feel believable, but good performances help to enhance this story.

The movie is indeed an adaptation of a novel by Yukio Mishima. Just to clarify, the novel is not an obscure work. Mishima is amongst Japan's most famous writers and was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature three times. Also, the plot of the original Japanese story does not happen in a remote fishing village; it happens in Yokohama, which is one of Japan's largest cities. Lastly, it does not happen in feudal Japan, a fact that would be very evident had someone read the book.

Now that that's been said, I've watched the movie since I very much enjoyed the novel. While I agree with most comments concerning the movie itself, I actually very much enjoyed the ending. Not only would have supplying an ending would have been taking too much liberty, but also it allows the viewer to imagine what would happen. Furthermore, to challenge another commenter, this sort of ending does work in movies and was a common motif of films during this era. Some other notable movies with endings similar to this include Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation" and "Parallax View."

Though I never read the Japanese book from which this movie is based - I thought the comments of other posters missed a salient point in their reviews.

No one brought up the exploration of the focus on the "pure and perfect" order of things that is a backdrop for the exploration of the boys in the film. I'm assuming that that refers to the idea that there is such a thing and that when we deviate from it - meaning is somehow bastardized - and focus and purpose are lost. Unfortunately, when - during exploration - one destroys the object of one's investigation that too seems a bastardization of the "pure and perfect order."

A disturbing film but I do like Kris Kristofferson and he did write the music for the soundtrack which is beautiful. I tried many times to find a CD of the soundtrack but the movie has been out of print for so long that it is probably not possible to find one.

This is a British drama from 1976 about a shy and lonely widow Anne (Sarah Miles) raising up her 13-year-old son in a small English seaside city. When she meets the American sailor Jim (Kris Kristofferson), she falls in love with him and wants to marry him. Her son, being a member of a fascist secret circle led by the charismatic pupil "Chief", doesn't agree with that liaison and uses his radical friends against his possible stepfather...

The German title of this brilliant movie was called "Der Weg allen Fleisches" which means as much as "The way of all flesh". This is a suitable title as love, loneliness, seduction, longings and sex are integral elements of the story.

The director uses surreal scenes to support the emotional side of the movie. There is a beautifully shot sex scenes between Anne and Jim, and an outstanding masturbation scene of Anne in front of a mirror, secretly watched by her son. There are strange dream sequences, spiritual moods of the sea and a cruel scene where the gang's leader rips off a dead cat to present his totalitarian theories to his worshippers by its testicles.

Sarah Miles ("Blow-up", "Venom"), Kris Kristofferson ("Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid", "Convoy") and also the children actors are doing a fine job here. The touching score was written by Johnny Mandel, and Kris Kristofferson added his chilling "Sea Dream Theme". This film is more than just a love drama but an outstanding and forgotten tale about love, sex and death at the seaside with great locations and a very strange ending. Watch it if you get the occasion to do so!

I really enjoyed this movie back when it came out in 1976. It never showed up at the major theaters though. I saw it in one of the Dollar theaters. How it got away with an R rating back then I will never know. I had seen x-rated movies that had showed less. And the love scenes were a spread in Playboy. My girlfriend said is was because it had a plot. I do remember she was in a state of shock when we left. She was an 18 year old Southern Bapist Sunday School teacher at the time. Kris Kristofferson was never highly rated as an Actor but I think he did an excellent job in this movie. The child actors were completely believable. It was written by a Japanese gentleman and I am amazed at how well some examples of Japanese literature and movies translate to the US. The Magificent Seven ( AKA the Seven Samarai) and " A fistful of Dollars".

If you can find it on DVD I would highly recommend it.