Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Sea Gull (1968)
Director: Sidney Lumet
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Basically an actors' film, for which Lumet has assembled a distinguished cast, found a marvellous lakeside location in Sweden, and vaselined the lens to give an air of autumn melancholy. That the result is sometimes dull and almost always unsatisfactory, despite excellent performances, is thanks partly to the traditional English-speaking failure to play Chekhov for comedy and let his tragedy take care of itself (hence the miscasting of Mason as a darkly brooding Trigorin, the over-intensity of Warner's Konstantin); and partly because the prerequisite of any Chekhov cast is a sense of familiarity bred of a lifetime together (so how come Signoret's Arkadina, with an accent you could cut with a knife, has the impeccably English Harry Andrews as a brother?).Author: TM
Cast & crew
Director: Sidney Lumet
Producer: Sidney Lumet
Cast: James Mason, Vanessa Redgrave, Simone Signoret, David Warner, Harry Andrews, Ronald Radd, Eileen Herlie, Kathleen Widdoes, Denholm Elliott, Alfred Lynch full cast
Duration: 141 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
London Children's Film Festival
Read our exclusive reviews of films playing at the 2009 London Children’s Film Festival
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Michael Haneke discusses 'The White Ribbon'
Dave Calhoun met with Michael Haneke in Munich to mull over the details of his Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now