The Riddle of the Sands (1979)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Tony Maylam

Writers:

John Bailey (screenplay)
Erskine Childers (novel)

Release Date:

1979 (UK)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

In these shifting sands, men can disappear without a trace . . . and their secrets with them.

Plot:

In the early years of the 20th Century, two British yachtsmen (Michael York and Simon MacCorkindale)...

Plot Keywords:

England | Baltic Sea | Invasion | 1900s | Boat

Cast

Michael York	...	Charles Carruthers
Jenny Agutter	...	Clara
Simon MacCorkindale	...	Arthur Davies
Alan Badel	...	Dollmann
Jürgen Andersen	...	Von Bruening (as Jurgen Andersen)
Michael Sheard	...	Boehme
Hans Meyer	...	Grimm
Wolf Kahler	...	Kaiser Wilhelm II
Olga Lowe	...	Frau Dollmann
Ronald Markham	...	Withers

Runtime:

102 min | Germany:98 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U | Iceland:L | Australia:G | Norway:15 | USA:PG

Company:

National Film Finance Consortium

Trivia:

Alan Badel was cast as Dollman when the originally cast actor withdrew from the project.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: During the scene when Clara is frying Arthur's egg, some twenty minutes or so into the film.

Movie Connections:

Version of Das Rätsel der Sandbank (1987) (TV)

A Modest Film With Modest Ambitions

The Riddle of the Sands seems to be symptomatic of the British film industry of the 1970's and 1980's. A small cast of characters in an enclosed setting (despite being set mostly at sea, the claustrophobia is palpable)dealing with big problems in a small way. Other films of the time like The First Great Train Robbery and A Nightingale Sung in Barkley Square are similarly set-up.

However, the actors all give realistic performances and Simon MacCorkindale serves the film well as a man not entirely comfortable with words or with himself. His scene with Jenny Agutter making breakfast is a small delight of understatement and embarrassment.

Agutter herself, one of the delights of British Cinema of the time (Equus, Walkabout), is both pretty and believable as always. Her gentle attempt at a German accent is also acceptable.

The story however fails to engross at times, being paced a little too leisurely and suffering from a lack of visual diversity. There are only so many shots of slow moving yachts and open seas that one can bear.

Still, the lack of ambition ensures that the film has a feel of realism and there are no annoying matte lines or blue screen artifacts to dissuade us from the view that this is a real story.

I did not like the film the first time I saw it, but I am sure that it will grow in the memory.