Howard (James Cosmo) is a widowed sailor living alone on the coast of Ireland and struggling to care for himself. His daughter, Grace (Catherine Walker), hires Annie (Bríd Brennan) to help out around the house. Though Howard initially rejects this imposition, Annie’s charm and gentle care win him over, and the two fall in love. Annie’s large and loving family welcomes Howard into their lives, but these new relationships only serve to illuminate the depth of pain and hurt between Howard and Grace, who is facing challenges of her own. Grace’s resentment tears at Howard and Annie’s otherwise idyllic seaside love story. This windswept drama deftly balances a universal family saga with a tender and timeless romance.

For in-depth thoughts on My Sailor, My Love, please see my colleague Andrew Fukui’s review from its original theatrical release here.

Video Quality

My Sailor, My Love comes to DVD with a 480p transfer that holds up well for the format. Compression artifacts are a minuscule part of this transfer without being a significant eyesore. Colors have a bit of vitality to them, especially in the vegetation and sunny locales. Black levels should be stronger, but there is only a slight amount of blocking. The cinematography of the film captures the sumptuous locales with an ideal delicacy. Skin tones appear to be natural, and there are some welcome facial details present, especially in close-ups. This DVD offers a solid amount of detail from the environments to the clothing. This presentation delivers within the limitations of a DVD. While we would love it if a Blu-Ray release materialized, this movie is worth a look however you can view it.

Audio Quality

The DVD comes with a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which brings the film to life within the limitations of the format. Dialogue is balanced and clearly comes through without being clipped by the score or any sound effects. Directionality is deftly rendered so that sounds originate from all the natural spots. This is more of a reserved outing, but some moments stir things up within the locale. Environmental sounds are a vital part of the soundscape which adds a dynamic touch to the proceedings. There is a slight loss of power without a lossless track, but it holds up well overall. The disc includes optional English SDH subtitles.

Special Features

County Mayo Film Premiere: A 25-minute television special that takes a look at the village that served as the setting for the film and the premiere that was held to celebrate the film.

“The Last Great Love Song” by Finbar Furey: A three-and-a-half-minute music video is provided that utilizes clips from the film.

Theatrical Trailer: The two-minute trailer is provided here.

Final Thoughts

My Sailor, My Love is a gentle, thoughtful story that captures the complexity of the human experience. The way in which this story shows the value of connection in its various forms gets to something very poignant that imprints on you and lingers long after the credits have finished rolling. The performances are grounded and effective across the board, especially the standout turn from Catherine Walker. This is a beautiful, simple story that can easily get overlooked in a flashy cinematic landscape, but it deserves just as much attention as any star-driven effort. Music Box Films has released a DVD featuring a pretty good A/V presentation for the format along with a couple of special features. Recommended

My Sailor, My Love is currently available to purchase on DVD and Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the DVD.

Disclaimer: Music Box Films has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.