The sea in front of us
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The sea in front of us |
| Original title | The Mercy |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2018 |
| length | 102 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | James Marsh |
| script | Scott Z. Burns |
| production | Scott Z. Burns, Graham Broadbent , Peter Czernin , Nicolas Mauvernay , Jacques Perrin |
| music | Jóhann Jóhannsson |
| camera | Eric Gautier |
| cut |
Jinx Godfrey , Joan Sobel |
| occupation | |
| |
Before us the sea (Original title: The Mercy ) is a British drama film directed by James Marsh from 2018.
action
At a boat show, British businessman and recreational sailor Donald Crowhurst hears a speech by the famous circumnavigator Sir Francis Chichester . On behalf of the Sunday Times newspaper, the latter announces the Golden Globe Race for single-handed sailors around the world, in which no stopovers are allowed. Prizes are available for the fastest competitor and whoever first arrives back in the British Isles. Crowhurst, who more or less unsuccessfully produces an electronic navigation device for sailors, the Navicator , is enthusiastic about this idea. He surprises his wife by registering for this competition. Crowhurst approaches the entrepreneur Stanley Best and wins him as a sponsor, among other things, for the construction of a new boat, the Teignmouth Electron trimaran . As security, Best has a corresponding mortgage entered on the Crowhurst house. Crowhurst also wins the journalist Rodney Hallworth and his assistant Wheeler as press agents.
The competition is designed so that there is no fixed start date, but all participants must have started by October 31, 1968. Crowhurst plans to launch in September. However, various adversities and technical problems delay the departure until October. Crowhurst has to keep visiting its sponsor Best for new grants. The work on the new boat turns out to be more difficult than planned. It looks like Crowhurst has to take part in a boat that is impossible to circumnavigate Cape Horn or face the " Roaring Forties ". Shortly before his start, Crowhurst had doubts and his feeble attempt to cancel participation was stifled by Best. Because if Crowhurst didn't start, the boat, his company and the house would pass to his creditor.
After all, Crowhurst has to start with this boat, which is actually not quite finished. He discovers that water is constantly entering one of the trimaran's floats. Various other inadequacies make him increasingly doubt the success of his project. Navigation errors in the meantime also hinder his progress so that he no longer sees any chance against his competition, which consists almost exclusively of experienced sailors. He realizes that he cannot turn back, because then he would lose everything. So he decides to falsify his position information transmitted by radio. He reports exaggerated Etmale , once even from 243 nautical miles (450 km). In addition, he begins to keep a false log book as “proof” of the fake route. To avoid the constant inquiries about his current position, he switches off his radio.
The ingress of water into the floating bodies increases, so that Crowhurst finally illegally calls the Argentine coast in order to be able to repair the damage. Back at sea, Crowhurst learns that all competitors except Robin Knox-Johnston and Nigel Tetley are out.
Finally, after 312 days, Knox-Johnston was the first to return home. However, the price for the fastest circumnavigation of the world has not yet been awarded.
Crowhurst reports the circumnavigation of Cape Horn, although he has never been there. He learned over the radio that he was about two weeks behind Tetley in the race. Given Crowhurst's current position, there is a possibility that he could overtake Tetley and win the fastest prize. This carries the risk of checking your logbooks and discovering the forgeries. So Crowhurst lets his boat float on the Atlantic with no sail to give Tetley the opportunity to come in before him. In the case of a participant who has not won either of the two prizes, according to his calculation, the logbooks will probably not be checked.
At Crowhurst's mind begins to cloud over. He has hallucinations, keeps brooding and neglects more and more. When he learns that the Tetley in front of him has overturned with his boat, Crowhurst realizes that victory as the fastest single-handed sailor can no longer be taken from him. Eventually he destroys his radio and thus cuts off the connection to the rest of the world. Crowhurst is going insane and has no way out. His wife appears to him, to whom he confesses everything, and he says goodbye to her. The next day he throws his ship's chronometer overboard and leaves the boat. The Teignmouth Electron is found at sea and towed into a port in the Dominican Republic . Rodney Hallworth finds the logbooks on board.
The now double winner of the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race Knox-Johnston donates his prize money to the bereaved relatives of Donald Crowhurst.
criticism
Carsten Beyer from Kulturradio.de ( RBB ) evaluates the meticulously researched film as the "attempt to save the honor of a man who has gone down in sailing history as a failure and cheat." The result is a "detailed and beautifully photographed adventure film", the but had some hangers.
Others
The film was released in Russia under the title Gonka weka (The Race of the Century), under which Soviet director Nikita Orlov had made a film about Donald Crowhurst in 1986.
Web links
- In front of us the sea in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official page for the film
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for Before Us the Sea . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 175550 / K).
- ↑ Drama “Before Us The Sea” Kulturradio.de, March 27, 2018, accessed on October 21, 2018