This film disappeared soon after its release and I can hardly believe that it is only now, 33 years later, that I have been able to see it again on a private DVD. It is a genuine masterpiece of British cinema. It has atmosphere reminiscent of PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK and the emotional intensity of BRIEF ENCOUNTER, with which it shares the theme of an overwhelming love which is suppressed and rendered impossible by circumstances. The film is set on the Suffolk coast in the 19th century and concerns the Victorian painter Phillip Wilson Steer, who spends the summer there. Steer is perfectly cast and played by David O'Hara, who beautifully underplays every scene, thus contributing to the film's amazing subtlety. But the outstanding performance is by the female lead, Saskia Reeves. It may well be the best thing she has ever done. She displayed at this early stage in her career that she knows how to act and convey overwhelming emotion without saying a word, one of the most difficult tasks in the acting profession. She was at this age hauntingly beautiful. As someone who is only five foot four inches tall, one never knows this from the way the film is shot, though I believe it was a handicap in her career. Some of Britain's best supporting actors appear in the film as well: Joss Ackland, Rosemary Harris, Anthony Higgins, and Geraldine James. As the desolate Mrs. Todd, whose husband and son are drowned at sea in a storm, Geraldine James is magnificent in her grief and her poverty, upheld by a pride of the sort one finds in Greek tragedy. This incredible film was directed by Syd Macartney, whom I knew fairly well in the early 1990s. He is from Northern Ireland and immensely talented and so effortlessly amiable. The failure of anyone to take any notice of this film upon its release was a terrible disappointment to him. There is no question that he was and is one of the most talented directors England has seen in decades. The artistry and genius he shows in every scene of this film has, in effect, been lost to creative cinema. He was one of the most noted directors of television commercials, for which he had his own company. And he has directed countless television dramas over the years. But he should have been the next David Lean. He was catastrophically under-appreciated and should have won many Oscars and gone on to make so many inspiring famous films. Syd has more talent and inspiration than any ten other directors put together. But we live in a world where the best are often not seen for what they really are, and where mediocrity is prized above all else. This film is so powerful and tragic. If only everyone could see it. Apparently it has never been available on DVD commercially. What a terrible loss to British culture and to British cinema!
