110. Sea Without Shore; movie review

SEA WITHOUT SHORE
Cert PG
91 mins
BBFC advice: Contains unsettling tone

I have tried to establish whether the version I watched of Sea Without Shore five years ago was for a festival or main distribution.
Anyway, the truth is that it was too arty for my tastes and they have not changed enough for me to enjoy it in 2020.
Here is a reprise of my words from five years ago...

It is one of life's small regrets that I struggle to understand the abstract.
Of course, it is not too surprising: as a newspaper editor, I deal in facts and deadlines. I am immersed in logic every day.
True, it would be nice if I could go off at a complete tangent in my social life but I tend not to. As is evidenced by the everyfilm quest: I am list-orientated and lean towards straight lines.
Consequently, artistic fields such as interpretive dance and poetry are far from my comfort zone.
This means that Sea Without Shore was never likely to resonate with me nor those who see life through a similar lens to mine.
It explores the death of a lover in rural 19th century Sweden through dance and an abstract narration.
According to its publicity "the stream of consciousness narration, a collage of poetic fragments, features words by 16th-century lesbian poet Katherine Philips, 19th-century' fin du siecle' poets Renee Vivien and Algernon Charles Swinburne".
Its two main characters are simply known as woman in lace dress (Livia Rangel) and woman with long black hair (co-director Fernanda Lippi).
They lithely move through what appears to be a stately home and the freezing but beautiful Swedish countryside.
It left me baffled but to write more would make it appear as if I am trying to claim knowledge which I don't possess.


Reasons to watch: If you are a lover of interpretive dance and poetry
Reasons to avoid: It is very arty and its story is meandering

Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: Only 4/10 for me but more artistic types will rate it higher

Did you know? "The Sargasso Sea is the only sea on the Earth without a coastline, a sea without shores. This strange and unique creation of nature is located in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean and is surrounded by ocean currents."

The final word. Co-director Andre Semenza: "The process of making this film was akin to that of devised theatre: as things happened in the studio, we assembled the elements to build a theme and dramatic material."

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