Verschollen auf hoher See

This is one of the best films I've seen that realistically describes one of the worst aspects of religious fundamentalism, that of abrogating any responsibility for one's own actions and accepting whatever "God" has to offer. The "Bob" character purposely scuttles his boat in the mid-Pacific to "prove" to his atheist brother that "God" will save them. The brother's wife dies while awaiting "salvation" and the two brothers come near to death. The result on both brothers "faith" is dramatic and can be interpreted by the viewer in one several ways..an affirmation of "God's" power or, in my case, a telling commentary on the dangers of religious extremism.

I saw previews for this made-for-TV movie in Montreal in the 80's and as an armchair sailor was intrigued. I watched it for the swashbuckling and fell in love with it for the plot. The movie was low budget but the plot and dialog were brilliant. I was compelled to read the book, which of course was even better.

Later I spent 8 years cruising the Bahamas and Caribbean, earned my commercial captain's license, and ran charter boats for a living, but this plot still stays with me, and I recount it to people all the time as probably the most captivating sailing yarns I know.

Most maritime survival adventures focus on the strength of human will and cleverness over the elements and that's pretty much it. The better ones combine salty tales with intrigue and fascinating character development. The poorer ones simply recount a the events of a struggle against the sea. Some I have read are hopelessly boring in spite of being true stories of a life-and-death struggle.

This story has the salty intrigue in spades, but it really serves as a brilliant setting for a lengthy and gripping dialog on the paradox of faith. If you're a sailor you'll love it. If you're a theologian, or intrigued by the phenomenon of religion and faith, you'll love it.

It reminds me a bit of C. S. Lewis' "Out Of The Silent Planet", a much more masterly allegory of two characters pitted against each other on the subject of blind faith vs. pragmatic realism in a setting where lives depend on the result. "Lost!" is much simpler, but the dialogs are no less thought provoking and poignant.

In spite of the lackluster title, the writing is simple and very well thought out. The characters and dialogs are believable. In my mind it's a hidden gem because nobody I have ever known has ever heard of it, and yet it was a very formative story for me while I dreamed of cruising. I highly recommend it.

"It is always possible for good men to do good, and for evil men to do evil. But for good men to do evil - that takes religion."

I've seen variations on that quote, and they're variously attributed to Mark Twain or Bertrand Russell. Anyway, it's an apt one to mention in conjunction with this movie.

An atheist and his wife are invited by his religious brother Jim on a sailing trip. The brother is leaving his church, because he got "the call" to do missionary work in Costa Rica. He plans to go by trimaran from Vancouver, Canada - a 2,000 mile+ trip.

On the way, the boat encounters a bad storm. They have trouble getting the radio to work, and Jim seems a little dazed. They capsize and Jim says it's his fault because his love for the boat was overwhelming his love for god, which doesn't sound likely.

The wife seems the worst off, growing delusional at times. Jim still seems a little out of it, and some of his answers to questions seem to be lies. They don't have much food or liquid to drink, and it seems to be mysteriously dwindling. Jim is convinced god will save them, or will whenever the other two accept Jesus as their savior.

It's a pretty good movie, mostly taking place on the capsized trimaran. At times it leaves them to look at what the coast guard is doing, as well as a blind amateur radio operator who got part of a call from the trimaran.

While based on a novel, which I'm curious to read, the movie and video box also indicate this was based on a true story. As with some movies of that kind, the movie ends with some text indicating what happened to some of the people.