Nominated for four IFTAs, including Best Film and Best Leading Actor, and winner of the Best Supporting Actress award for Sinéad Cusack, ‘The Sea’ is a drama about a man who returns to the sea where he spent his childhood as he tries to accept the deaths of those he loved as a child and as an adult. John Banville wrote both the original Man Booker Prize-winning novel and the adapted screenplay, while Stephen Brown directed the film in his feature debut.
‘The Sea’ premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on 23 June 2013, at which it was an Audience Award nominee. It had its North American premiere at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and closed the Galway Film Fleadh. Now the film will receive its long-awaited Irish release this coming Friday.
The film stars Rufus Sewell (‘A Knight’s Tale’), Bonnie Wright (‘Harry Potter’), Charlotte Rampling (‘Melancholia’) and Natascha McElhone (‘The Truman Show’) as well as Irish cast members Cusack (‘V for Vendetta’), Ciarán Hinds (‘GOT’, ‘Munich’), Ruth Bradley (‘Grabbers’), Mark Huberman (‘Noble’), Fionnuala Murphy (‘Mrs. Brown’s Boys’) and young newcomers Missy Keating and Padhraig Parkinson.
‘The Sea’ was co-produced by Irish company Samson Films with Independent and Quicksilver Films in association with Rooks Nest Entertainment. The film received support from the Irish Film Board and the BAI. David Collins of Samson Films was one of the producers. It is being distributed in Ireland by Eclipse.
It was shot in Wexford at locations including Ballymoney, Courtown, Ballygarrett and Rosslare, the latter of which was the setting of the novel. Post-production was carried out at Dublin’s Windmill Lane.
Irish crew members on the production included director of photography John Conroy (‘Parked’), production designer Derek Wallace (‘Good Vibrations’), line producer Brian Willis (‘The Boy In the Bubble’) and editor Stephen O’Connell (‘Borstal Boy’).
A trailer for ‘The Sea’ can be seen here: