Peculiar, poetic, existentialist film, directly influenced by the European art cinema of its era (mostly Antonioni, probably). The biggest irony, no doubt intentional, is that the title figure (Gibraltar is the name of a boat, by the way) not only never appears, but may not exist at all; in any case, it symbolizes the unattainble. The script is sprawling (the film takes us from Florence to an Italian village to Greece to deep Africa to Egypt) but it does have its bright moments. The beautiful, vivacious Vanessa Redgrave disappers in the second half; Orson Welles hams it up in a short cameo. **1/2 out of 4.
Review of The Sailor from Gibraltar
