Deep Water
Directors: Louise Osmond, Jerry Rothwell. Cinematography: Nina Kellgren. Film editing: Ben Lester. Music: Harry Escott, Molly Nyman. Producers: Alison Morrow, Jonny Persey, John Smithson. With: Clare Crowhurst, Simon Crowhurst, Santiago Franchessie, Ted Hynds, Donald Kerr, Robin Knox-Johnston, Françoise Moitessier de Cazalet, Ron Winspear, voices of Tilda Swinton, Jean Badin, Simon Russell Beale, archive footage of Donald Crowhurst. UK. 92 min. 2006.
This perfectly titled documentary recounts the adventures of a weekend sailor who attempted in the late 1960s to win a contest by circumnavigating the globe, alone and at record speed. He should have known from the beginning that he wasn’t up to this task—his trip to the starting point, three days for an average boater, took him two weeks—and sure enough, he soon floundered. But instead of heading for home, he decided to fake the full journey by drifting inconspicuously off the Brazilian coast, then slipping in with the other contestants as they raced for the finish line.
Although it sounds crazy, and in ways it was, this scam was almost plausible in the '60s, when communication and navigation devices were relatively unsophisticated. What our hero didn’t count on were the psychological demons unloosed in his mind by months of solitude and fear. His mental disintegration is evident in logbooks and tape recordings that survived the voyage, and directors Louise Osmond and Jerry Rothwell make good use of these in a “Grizzly Man” sort of way. Like that Werner Herzog documentary, this moving masterpiece tells a sad and spellbinding story. It’s a shining example of the psychological, sociological, and dramatic heights a great nonfiction film can reach. – David Sterritt
