
At the center of “My Sailor, My Love,” the film debut in English for Finnish director Klaus Härö, is a pale blue story of love gone bad and a chance for romance that comes at too late a stage in life. Even though it tries to deal with an overdone theme of intergenerational trauma, it often neglects the more interesting angles of the family drama in favor of an overly sentimental twilight romance.
Härö starts his film portrayal by depicting group therapy, where women creatives open up to each other in regard to their life traumas. When it’s Grace’s turn (Catherine Walker) to share her story, she remains quiet unable to express what is bothering her to join the group. Now the film changes to a moving panoramic shot of Irelands coastline, which follows Graces car to an empty house next to the ocean.
Here we are introduced to her grumpy father Howard (James Cosmo) who is a widowed sea captain, and spends his day telling children stories. It is his birthday but he hasn’t even bothered to clean the dirty laundry he left behind in the basin. Grace’s brothers return from their trip and like every other time, they do not help Grace with the celebrations. Howard refuses to eat a piece of the elaborate chocolate cake which Grace gifted him. It is evident that Graces issues derive from a lack of healthy relationships within the family.
Grace posts an advertisement at the local pub for a cleaner out of desperation. She hires the outspoken elderly woman Annie (Brid Brennan) who is delighted by the offer. After Annie begins to cook, clean and discuss her grandkids, the disgruntled Howard insults her and Annie decides to leave.
But Howard is able to persuade her once again through his apology and flowers.
The rest of the film oscillates between the disintegration of Grace’s life as she loses her job and husband and, the core melodrama, the growing relationship between Howard and Annie. Grace and her husband engage in calm, controlled arguments instead of lashing out in rage. Fragments of lives shows Annie and Howard’s romance soaking into one another. Fully normal behavior and attitude from a mature person.
The soft strokes pursuing romance narratively didn’t yield the desired results as it came off as juvenile. While Annie and Howard were apple picking, they both reached out for the same apple, and their hands brushed against one another. The over stylization of this moment was not done tastefully, which given the rest of the films direction, is a major concern. What exactly does Annie sees in him aside from a mediocre notion of basic chemistry between two people and his uncanny ability to amuse her grandkids? It would be more appropriate to say he is charming as both characters have such indefinite histories and personalities, with no development whatsoever. The small hints of charm that comes with his subtle calibrated acting compliments what barely exists inside the character.
At least Grace has a more textured personal development that is gifted to her character which unfolds slowly.
Initially, it appears that Grace is just a woman who is overprotective and controlling over her father’s life. Later she doesn’t hide her jealousy as Howard seems to enjoy his relationship with Annie as well as becoming a part of Annie’s huge family with her ex-military father and siblings. However, we eventually understand the rising tensions that exist between Grace and Howard are the result of neglect and abuse over the years. The pain of a unique kind of wound that can only be inflicted by a parent on their child.
Walker has the most difficult role here. They must display Grace’s emotions, especially her rage without distancing the viewer. She employs mainly nonverbal cues; fabricating during her overly constricted breathing to overcome years of suffering. In the beginning, her rough words come out in sentences complete with gasp, exclusively when poor company sits around to listen to her. She has known how to do this for a long time, just like tiptoeing through a field riddled with land mines. It is something familiar to all of those in an abusive family dynamic. The first few seconds she lets a tad bit more insight into her mind than intended, every person in the vicinity feels like losing all the stagnant air inside their lungs.
My sailor, My Love’s sing leakers also capture the parts of Grace’s life where her suffering tended to take a understandable toll on herself and others around her. For example, Grace relative’s ability to bond with the other women in group therapy, co workers, and even her husband display how deeply Grace was affected by her pain. These moments are the best part of the movie.
Nevertheless, it seems as though some parts of the movie had to loop back to enabling Grace’s story to be healing which Grace’s more complex story to the side for far too long. This is in preference of the more robotic romantic moments where Annie and Howard’s tale revolves. While my sailor, my love wraps up in the fluffiest fashion achievable, at least, my sailor, my love managed to save the emotional climax for Grace. It’s a pity that the directors lacked the courage to portray her tale throughout the rest of the movie.
For more movies like My Sailor, My Love (2022) visit 123movies