DVD Review: A Day At The Beach (1970)
It's a rainy day, so it seems appropriate that I'm watching a film about a rainy day, specifically the obscure Roman Polanski flick that is A Day At The Beach.
Polanski didn't actually direct the movie, he backed out leaving the role to first-time director Simon Hesera, but he did do the screenplay, an adaptation of a 1962 book by Danish author Heere Heeresma. I'm guessing it was a seriously depressing book - this is one of the most downbeat movies I've seen in a very long time.
Set in Denmark, it's essentially a story of a young disabled girl, Winnie (Played by Beatie Edney, probably better known as Heather MacLeod in the original Highlander flick) and her 'uncle' (quite possibly biological father) Bernie (Mark Burns), who takes her out on a rainy morning for that 'day at the beach'. it all sounds innocent enough - until we discover Bernie is both an alcoholic and something of a rogue, not averse to the odd temper tantrum either, although Winnie thinks he's wonderful. Well, she's a child, you tend to overlook deficiencies in others.
So what should be a happy time at the beach (albeit in the pouring rain), becomes nothing more than an excuse for Bernie to drink as much as possible with the money he's been given to keep Winnie amused. Like I said, seriously depressing, but there's always the possibility of happy ending isn't there? Well, isn't there? You'll have to discover if there is for yourself.
Yes, A Day At The Beach is a dark film, but that doesn't mean it's a bad film - it's actually very watchable as Bernie and Winnie discover the charms of the Danish seaside in the early 70s - taking in cafes, a gift shop (run by a very camp Peter Sellers, listed in the cast as 'A. Queen' would you believe), several bars, the seafront and the inside of a bubble car. But as the pair pass through each place, the film gets ever more darker as Bernie's attention shifts away from Winnie and onto his next drink - at times leaving her in that previously-mentioned bubble car, playing hide and seek as evening falls (as he nips into a bar), tangled in some old fishing boat netting and just wandering on a dark beach as he finds himself at the bottom of a hole in the sand. No, he's not a classy drunk.
A few shades of light and dark are also added by the motley assortment of characters they meet along the way - Sellers of course, plus a ' jobs worth' deckchair attendant, the local gangster, a poet and his wife and the bar and cafe owners. More dark than light in truth, but interesting nonetheless.
Which leaves me with a film I can hardly recommend as a 'must watch' but would certainly recommend to hire. It's strange, it's odd and it's dark - but for a rainy afternoon, it's just the thing - if only to remind yourself that your day could be going far, far worse.
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