Neither the Sea Nor the Sand

This strange film is based on a book by a former British television newsreader and is a combination of love story and ghost story. The settings are striking and the music score effective but it's a slow affair and one is baffled as to what market the film-makers were aiming for.

A married woman while on vacation falls passionately in love and begins an affair with a lighthouse keeper, only to be left heartbroken when he dies suddenly. However the very next day he turns up on her door-step, in a zombie-like state. Was it her grief that did that? Anyhow she's overly happy, hoping they can rekindle their love. But she soon realises that his body is beginning to decompose and that she must soon decide their fate. Picturesque, slightly disturbing and haunting British Gothic tale of love with a real sense of tragedy and despair. The grotesquely odd story is kind of ambiguous and scratchy in parts, relying on mood (more so then sense), convincing chemistry and a strongly affecting performance by Susan Hampshire. She really does carry it along quite nicely with a real mix of emotions. But the likes of Frank Finlay (especially in his zombie state) and Michael Petrovitch are not being overshadowed. The music was a bit a shamble. Sometimes fitting, other times awkward. The slow pacing is deliberate and some sequences do pack atmosphere (especially when Hampshire's character comes to the realisation they can't be together), but it feels somewhat lukewarm in Fred Burnley's directorial attempt of capturing some sort of brooding realism to this low-key build-up of macabre. It's nicely photographed with the bleak coastal locations adding to the perceptive nature of its story.

Upon its release this was labelled by multiple critics as "undoubtedly one of the worst movies of the 70s", and around here quite a few reviews are extremely harsh as well. I can understand why people dislike it, though. I, too, find the film incredibly slow-paced, indecisive in terms of tone and atmosphere, and perhaps slightly overlong. And yet, overall, I found "Neither the Sea nor the Sand" strangely mystifying, deeply absorbing, and a lot more thought-provoking than any other movie I have seen lately. Bottom line, I disagree with the critics and cherish it dearly.

For starters, this is one of those really rare films where you absolutely can't guess what it's about when you avoid reading summaries or reviews. You can't derive anything from the title, and even up until halfway through the length you still don't have a clue where the story will be heading too. I sincerely hope you're reading this review AFTER you've seen the film already. The beautiful Ilse of Jersey filming locations, the hypnotizing music, and the devoted performance of Susan Hampshire all help making "Neither the Sea nor the Sand" a unique piece of poetry.

Anna is stuck in a marital crisis and fled to the Ilse of Jersey to sort things out. She falls head over heels in love with mysterious and philosophical lighthouse caretaker Hugh. She abandons everything for him, and they're happy for a while, but during a trip to Scotland Hugh suffers from a heart-attack and dies. Needless to say, Anna is heartbroken. So heartbroken that, the next night, Hugh returns to her. Is he a ghost? Is he a zombie? It doesn't matter for Anna since it's her love that keeps Hugh alive and they can be together again. But, how long and at what cost can you co-exist with a corpse?

It's the theme of many a horror movie. People cannot accept the death of a loved one and are prepared to sacrifice everything to bring them back. Whatever way they succeed, though, they always painfully find out that nobody returns as the same person. "Neither the Sea nor the Sand" is also categorized as horror for this reason, and once even appeared under the infamous video-label Redemption, but you'll be sorely disappointed if you expect decaying zombies or malignant ghosts. Gordon Honeycombe's novel and script purely focuses on the heartache of loss, the purity of true love, and the power of mind.

If the director had not died in 1975,he could almost have thought of suing François Ozon whose "Sous Le Sable" ("Under the Sand")bears more than a distant resemblance to "Neither the Sea..."The 2000 work ,starring Charlotte Rampling and Bruno Cremer is certainly more satisfying ,but it owes a lot to the obscure (at least in France) screenwriters of this movie.

Direction is amateurish ,and it's really a pity because there were potentially great scenes ,particularly this one when Susan Hampshire keeps on repeating in the car "Talk to me!Don't look at me that way!"There's also a good use of E.Browning's poem ("I shall but love thee better after death").Puritanism shows in the first half:George's brother makes Anna realize she is not really the welcome in the house.The woman says that "they were punished because they lived a life of sin".

The main problem lies in the fact that the "living dead" should not have been "seen " by the others.François Ozon did not fall in the same trap.People who liked this movie should try and see his work too.

It is certainly slow paced by today's standards but is an interesting piece of cinema folk horror harking back to ideas in The Monkeys Paw by Jacobs. As others have noted there are some good moments. The soundtrack doesn't always work (the jaunty, groovy music expressing the good times only made me giggle). It is certainly a film of it's era. If remade, it would make a good short film.

Some of the reviews below seem a little confused...the main male character is Hugh, not George who is the puritanical brother, and Hugh is not a lighthouse keeper but works at the Jersey airport with another character Colin, who comes into play later in the story. Though the lighthouse does play an important part as a representation of themes in the story.