Sea of ​​Love - melody of death

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Movie
German title Sea of ​​Love - melody of death
Original title Sea of ​​Love
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1989
length 112 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Harold Becker
script Richard Price
production Martin Bregman , Louis A. Stroller
music Trevor Jones
camera Ronnie Taylor
cut David Bretherton
occupation

Sea of Love - Melody of Death is an American thriller in the neo-noir style of the director Harold Becker from the year 1989. In the film starred Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin .

action

Two similar murders are a mystery to the New York police. In both cases, the male victim is lying face down on the bed with a bullet in his head, and at both crime scenes, Phil Phillips & The Twilights' Sea of ​​Love is spinning continuously on a record player.

Detective Frank Keller and his colleague Sherman soon discover something else in common. Both men had previously posted contact ads in rhyme form - a finding that cannot prevent a third murder, but has consequences for the further investigation strategy. The investigators themselves run such an advertisement in order to meet with the women who responded and to compare the fingerprints secretly taken on the occasion with those found at one of the crime scenes.

In this way, Keller makes some new casual acquaintances in a restaurant and finally meets the self-confident and seductive Helen Cruger, who, however, quickly realizes that she is not interested in him that no fingerprints remain on a glass of her. Shortly afterwards, the two meet again by chance, and a relationship develops as a result. However, this is constantly characterized by mutual irritation and mistrust. In addition to a starting pistol in Helen's handbag, which Frank initially believes to be the murder weapon, and Sea of ​​Love in her record collection, possible clues keep cropping up that could burden the single-parenting lover after a very short marriage. Helen's obviously disillusioned attitude towards men, coupled with her magnetizing erotic charisma, casts Frank under its spell and confuses him increasingly. The policeman can't manage to love Helen and suspect her at the same time. His tendency to drink too much and conflicting behaviors also complicate the relationship.

After he has thrown Helen out of the door due to alleged evidence of her perpetration, ex-husband Terry forcibly breaks into Keller's apartment. The giant overpowers Frank and forces him to lie down on the bed and demonstrate how he had sex with Helen - an approach that is reminiscent of the murder cases investigated. So the perpetrator is determined. Frank manages to free himself at the last second and the decisive fight ensues, ending with Terry falling out of the window and mortally injured. It turns out he had secretly tracked his ex-wife Helen, who had replied to personals from the later victims, and killed the men after the dates.

Some time after being thrown out of Frank's apartment, Helen is still offended and avoids Frank. He has not had any alcohol for a few weeks, can now understand her disappointment and makes another attempt at advances. To the sounds of Sea of ​​love - this time interpreted by Tom Waits - she agrees to try it again with him.

criticism

Although Pacino was nominated for the Golden Globe for his role as a policeman torn between love and professional duty , Sea of ​​Love was not received with enthusiasm at the time. This is particularly because the course of action does not always appear plausible. Nevertheless, the impression of a film that is entertaining at a high level dominates. This is particularly due to the fact that until shortly before the end it remains unclear whether Ellen Barkin is a murderer. After The Big Easy , it was another film for her that focused on her erotic charisma. That she was able to meet this requirement is also proven by the fact that Sea of ​​Love is often labeled erotic thriller .

The film got a 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes , based on 25 reviews.

Trivia

Two years earlier, Ellen Barkin and John Goodman played together in a film, in the thriller The Big Easy .

Lorraine Bracco shot scenes as Al Pacino's ex-filmmaker for this film , but these scenes were cut out of the final version. Nevertheless, her name appears in both the opening and closing credits. In the "Yankee - Opening Scene" Samuel L. Jackson has a brief appearance.

Although the film is set in New York, much of the film was shot at Kleinburg Studios in Toronto .

Awards

  • 1990 - Nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor - Drama
  • 1990 - Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Picture

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sea of ​​Love - Melody of Death at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
  2. ↑ Tony Reeves: Sea Of Love film locations. (No longer available online.) In: website movie-locations.com. The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations, archived from the original on December 13, 2013 ; accessed on November 17, 2013 .