The Long Voyage Home (1940): Fog, Fumbles & Fond Memories

So, watched The Long Voyage Home again last night (yeah, insomnia strikes in June too). John Ford behind the wheel here – old school legend, but still… I can never quite predict if he’s gonna hit you in the gut, or just give you a weird craving for black coffee and cheap cigarettes. The film’s got John Wayne of all people, doing a Swedish accent. Swede as a stereotype, thanks a lot Hollywood. Still, he’s got heart. Or at least shoulders. Can’t believe Thomas Mitchell is here too, sipping whisky and mumbling existential stuff into his beard.

It’s like: fog, sailors, suspicion, and that constant humming of the ship. Feels almost like when I took the Västan to Åland as a kid – all that mist, grownups giggling and shouting in Finnish, and me trying not to puke on the deck. There’s always talk about “isolation at sea” in these flicks, but you only get it when you’ve been stuck with strangers in a storm and everyone’s pretending they aren’t scared. Makes Ford’s way with shadows and faces pretty familiar, honestly. Not every scene lands, and I swear some of the dialogue is so melodramatic they could’ve sold it at Dramaten, but I buy the nervous cigarette fingers and the sad eyes under the sailor caps.

The crew is all “men’s men,” sweating beer and regret. Sigrid in Karlskrona once said all sailors have “salt in the brain” and I think she was onto something, watching these blockheads. But there’s a kind of beauty here – not the city pretty, more the salty, ugly, real kind. The loneliness and loyalty hits home, especially if you (like me) spent one too many nights standing on a pier, trying to look deep.

Maybe it’s dated, but if you catch yourself awake at 2am with too much on your mind, give this old boat a try. Just have coffee and crispbread ready.

watch the full movie on Mavshack Movies on YouTube

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