User reviews

Alan Bennett's play 'Sunset Across The Bay' looks simple on the surface: a character study of a long marriage which has settled into routine, where the wife has been a housewife and the husband a worker in engineering.

From the Leeds slums where they live - about to be demolished - to the seaside retirement flat at Morecambe, we see the old couple struggle to adjust to spending time together after a life where every day was the same.

As 'Dad' says, he's worked all his life to do nothing, and it's difficult for him to adjust.

Quietly simplistic but complex as well, 'Sunset Across The Bay' is a beautiful piece of work, and everything that drama produced today would not be. There's no great action sequences, no sex, violence, or swearing, no hand-held filming. It's completely believable and ordinary, and yet, this being Bennett, it is extraordinary as well.

The kind of thing the BBC did best in the days where they produced many plays each year: and the kind of thing which is sadly missed.

This 70 minute film for the BBC follows the quiet story of an older couple as they move from Leeds to the Seaside town of Morecombe after the husband retires.

Both quietly funny, and quite melancholy, the portraits of the couple is full of the kind of lovely, intimate moments and details that give us the feeling we're watching a real couple, abetted by terrific performances by the two leads; Harry Markham and Gabrielle Daye. Both are wonderfully understated, never falling into the trap of playing 'cute old folks'. Then young director Stephen Frears also does a terrific job at quietly modulating the piece, and creating visuals that feel cinematic, in spite of the intentionally claustrophobic nature of the tale.

This marriage is complex – they two are inextricably intertwined, they need each other, but there is also a distance that has come with time and habit. That tension between love and habitual need is dealt with great subtlety.

In his introduction to the piece on the BBC Box Set, Bennett makes it clear that the couple draws much from his real parents, who lived their whole lives in Leeds. He also reveals that Harry Markham, who is so good as the husband, wasn't a professional actor until very late in life, although he did a lot of amateur theater.

A simple, quiet, humorous and touching portrait of growing old in a society where being old can leave you an outsider, and a prisoner of the way you've always done things.

I agree with the previous writer who said what a beautiful story this is. It is poignantly sad, with a nostalgic feel about the whole thing, not least in the setting - a decaying British seaside resort in the mid '70s. But what I cannot agree with is that the couple are still "very happy" with each other. On the contrary, I think one of the saddest things about the play is that they are clearly incredibly, almost intolerably BORED with each other. Yes, they have got used to being together, but that is part of the trouble. The lady has managed to convince herself that all is fine, because she has to believe it or what would have been the point of her life? - but the man's irritation is constantly bubbling under the surface of his old-fashioned decency and courtesy. In my opinion, Bennett has hit on one of the sad truths of human life: that a large number of people who stay married for decades do it just because there is literally nothing else to do.

A marvellous play for all kinds of reasons. But try not to take it merely at face value - there are numerous side issues such as the one I mentioned above. I just wish this kind of play was written nowadays, but sadly, good playwriting seems a lost art. The BBC's "Play For Today" was superb - now we have to endure Trinny and Susannah telling us what clothes to wear.

Beautiful story of a couple who, upon the husband's retiring, move to Morecambe from Leeds. The story is simple enough, but the magic is in the dialog between the two main characters.

They obviously are still very happy with each other, but express regret and confusion at the way their world has changed. Leeds seems to be (literally) falling down around them as they leave town for their new home by the beach.

Their lives have changed so little since the husband started work in the 40s, that when it comes time to make this big change they find the whole world has changed around them.

It's quietly devastating.

An elderly couple are moving house, as their old home in Leeds amidst a slum clearance programme is about to be demolished. They choose to go to live in Morecambe, scene of past holidays. Morecambe is quiet and, frankly, drab, especially out of season, as they quickly discover.

Events take their turn and issues emerged gently and slowly, but inevitably.

Bennett has a certain way with this kind of situation. From his other writings and interviews, it is very clearly based on some aspects of his own family life and certainly on his skills as a writer about ordinary people, particularly older ordinary people, coming to terms with a world which isn't easy for them.

Emotions are there, but suppressed, as was the way of working-class Yorkshire folk in those days. (I write as a Yorkshireman brought up in a poor home.) Nothing happens quickly and the plot focuses on the two main characters, all the other characters being there in very subsidiary roles.

Bennett is not judgemental about these people, and about those around them, he writes in a way which allows the themes to emerge and for watchers to come to their own conclusions, even at the end.

I felt a sadness at the end of the play and felt that Bennett had written something of real worth and dignity. I grew up in Leeds, having been born in another part of West Yorkshire, and felt that he had a real insight into the mores of these people. The quiet dignity and working-class aspirations and fears of the characters is well caught and the cast do justice to the writing.

Alan Bennett is on record as saying that he writes because he is in two minds about things, including these two people. This surely reflects his view of his own parents, about which he has written much.

Written by Alan Bennett and directed by Stephen Frears. Bennett recalled how as a child he spent his holidays in Morecambe where it always seem to be raining.

People from Leeds seemed to go to Morecambe for their annual holidays according to Bennett.

Here an elderly married couple retire to Morecambe from Leeds. Their house is getting knocked down, their neighbours have already been dispersed.

The man has retired from work and seems to have difficulty adjusting to retirement and with nothing to do. He finds accompanying his wife to do shopping as a bit of a chore.

He also wants to watch his pennies now that he is a pensioner. Although their son (Bob Peck) in Australia helps out financially.

The woman does her best to make friends but it is clear that both are finding it to settle in a new patch.

Bennett got a lot of inspiration form his own parents for this Play for Today. It was an age where towns were going through redevelopment.

It was also a time when your post retirement years could be short. You have to make your time count.

This is a bittersweet drama. A tragi comedy and a character piece. It has some acute observations from Bennerr,

You sense that it might not end well, the man is already bored and getting listless. His wife is making the best of the situation.

Maybe both should had taken their son's offer to relocate to Australia.

It has an early appearance from Bob Peck, better known to a worldwide audience as the ranger in Jurassic Park.

By turns nostalgic humorous and bleak this terrific example of Bennett's work depicts a couple entering their autumn years as a series of life's doors close behind them. Retirement , the upheaval of moving from a home of some 35 years , the ongoing reconstruction and disappearance of the city they once knew and that more buttoned up generations stoic attempts to try and make the best of what they had left. Repays repeated viewing in my view. His loyalty to his employer who didn't remember his name at his retirement , The clearance of the area they had lived in (probably perfectly good houses being demolished in favour of cheaply built Tower blocks) and the general feel that they where heading for an abyss of loneliness and tragedy.

I approached this film with an interest in Morecambe's past. It shows some interesting shots of the sea front. The clock tower still stands but the pier is long gone. It was an interesting look at Morecambe in the mid 70s. The inside of the Midland hotel was instantly recognisable. A better film showing Morecambe back in the day is the Entertainer. Quite a place it was back then. A thriving tourist destination - a far cry from what it used to be now.

However, don't feel sorry for the place, today it is a great place. A faded grandeur about the place that I think is great and not bleak.

The film is poignant. A look at past times and mannerisms. The world was a gentler place and not as all knowing as now. The film is an everyday tale of getting old. It is subtle and very watchable. I found the saddest part when the couple drove away from the house they had lived in for decades. So many memories - houses are more than bricks and mortar. They contain a part of you and are hard to let go. I recommend watching this time capsule of a film. How the world has changed.

How can I get a DVD or video of the play for today named " Sunset across the Bay " Allan Bennet Play 1975 I am studying Allan Bennett at the moment and wish to view this play in either DVD or video format...I am based in Nottingham and would appreciate any help please Douglas MacDonald. I would appreciate an email reply as soon as possible and look forward to your reply. Thank you for your help and will be able to return the video or DVD as soon as possible...it is just for a class viewing during our particular session..it is being used as part of a class discussion for an adult education class for the Workers Educational Class in the Bramcote branch in the city of Nottingham.