A lonely British widow living in a seaside town strikes up a romance with an American sailor, much to the disapproval of her son. The pacing of the film is rather lethargic, as there is more emphasis on atmosphere and characters than plot. Unfortunately, the characters are not very interesting. The film also loses points for an unpleasant and unnecessary scene where a cat is dissected. Miles is alluring as the sexually frustrated widow and mother of a troubled, teen-aged son. Kristofferson is the studly sailor of the title. The film is probably better known for a steamy Playboy pictorial featuring the two stars that effectively ended Kristofferson's marriage to Rita Coolidge.

Ever since her husband passed away, the introvert but endearing widow Anne Osborne (Sarah Miles) raises her son Jonathan by herself. Life isn't easy, as Anne feels lonely and clearly needs male affection while her son dangerously gets hooked on the mildly unsettling ideas of a fellow school boy who proclaims to eliminate all adults. When the handsome and charismatic sailor Jim (Kris Kristofferson) arrives in town in his enormously impressive cargo-boat "Belle", Anne finds in him a new lover and Jonathan a new fatherly role model. But when Jim stays to marry Anne, Jonathan feels that he "betrays" the sea and plots a morbid vengeance. I expected a whole lot from "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea", actually. The unusual title as well as the oddly designed DVD-cover always appealed to me and, moreover, the story is adapted from the works of controversial Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. This notorious author, who literally shocked the world with his sudden suicide, wrote perverse tales and had an awkward interpretation on human psychology, and thus I was anticipating a slow-brooding melodrama that is disturbing and beautifully enchanting at the same time. Unfortunately the transition to a remote English sea-town setting and its depressed inhabitants isn't totally successful and, despite remaining to be a stylish & well-made film, "The Sailor..." miserably fails in terms of offering genuine shocks and sheer creepiness. Writer/director Lewis John Carlino hints at several controversial themes (like voyeurism, the Oedipus complex and "Lord of the Flies"-esquire ideas) but never really has the courage to translate them on screen. The two main plots, about the romance between the adults and the boys' peculiar descent into mental insanity, never conjunct like they should, resulting in a rather incoherent film that comes across as absurd and highly implausible. Although the DVD-box guarantees chills, the film sadly never becomes disturbing or even remotely frightening. Nonetheless "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea" remains a curiously fascinating piece of 70's film-making, as the atmosphere is continuously compelling and the acting performances are convincingly emotional. Especially Sailor Jim's extended speeches about the mysteriously untameable sea are downright staggering. Because of his poetic monologues, the sea itself almost becomes an uncredited extra character and you willingly allow him to take you on imaginative journey around the world. Contrary to these mesmerizing sequences are the rather nasty and gratuitous images of the fascist children's cult relentlessly torturing animals in order to revolt against the grown-up world. The supposedly 'startling' climax filmed on a beautiful hillside location overlooking the sea is painfully disappointing. Not having read the novel, I don't know whether or not it's supposed to end like this, but I found it to be an extremely cowardly finale after building up to it so much.

Someday, a good movie will be made about an adolescent boy with growing pains who develops sexual feelings for his mother (a situation that likely occurs in real life more than we care to realize), but this film isn't it. The boy in the movie is sick and scary, and it is impossible to feel anything for him except revulsion.I am puzzled by the positive responses the film has gotten, both here at IMDb and over the years. People say the film is erotic? Only if you aren't very discriminating. True eroticism is achieved only when the viewer can feel some empathy for either the characters or the sexual situation, which I did not feel here. Perhaps a genuine erotic scene could be made in which a boy spies on his mother while she masturbates, but not in this movie. The characters are too much of a turn-off. Scenes seem to exist just for shock effect, including the finale. I felt grubby after watching it, and wanted to take a shower.Yes, I know it isn't all just the movie---it was based on a Yukio Mishima novel, which was set in feudal Japan. Maybe it worked better in that setting, but I doubt it. So, sorry everyone. If you like the film, more power to you, but I am puzzled by your reaction.

I saw this movie when it came out. With no advance info, I was entranced with the story, the beauty of the countryside and village. It proved to be a powerful story, great love story, finally ending in a dreadful surprise outcome. Very psychological story and character study. Watch it, you will be rewarded.Life in the village provided many interesting cameos. A story of how wrong things can go, even in a peaceful Welsh seaside area. Deep feelings from a traumatic loss of a father cause the young boy to develop an unhealthy way of coping with his mother and her new friend. Frightening, beautiful, complicated and well worth a view.