Reviews

As an ex Merchant Seaman I was really interested in this movie : I personally have been involved in a stowaway search on leaving Kingston Jamaica where one person was found. We managed to get him ashore though as we were in territorial limits. On another ship I was on the stowaway was found and we could not land him anywhere due to passport/nationality issues. In fact he stayed on for a year as an almost "honorary" crew member and worked for his keep. Africa is notorious for stowaway pickups. There is a great scene in the beginning of the film when the bulk carrier enters the African port : her size dwarfing all. The crew pop ashore for a little intercourse and inebriation. So far normal. The drama starts when the stowaways enter the vast cavernous holds of the ship. Joss Ackland is brilliant as the Captain with a drink problem being harassed by his Nemesis Suchet right on form as the Companys representative on board. The stowaway search is classic but we did not have guns. I question the use of guns in this film. This ship seemed to have a vast armoury. In my experience guns at sea are severely restricted due to customs regulations., also having a dog on board was odd.Anti Rabies laws especially in Europe restrict carrying of animal severely. Anyway Pertwee is brilliant as the embittered Mate. The horror which follows the discovery of the victims is unbearable : the grim metallic background of the ships holds and a feeling that there is no where to hide adds to the drama.Some of the freighters crew are not into the murder and those who get involved are gradually sucked in to a world of violence from which there is no escape.The chase through the ship especially the engine room scenes are "edge on the seat" : the feeling of extreme claustrophobia abounds. The feeling of metal pressing in and death being only a gun barrel away. The film is brutal : my girlfriend had to give up watching it during the shooting and beating scenes. While this goes on Suchet in the comfort of his well appointed cabin gets drunk unaware of the mayhem 3 decks below. Its a tense film, flawed in parts but the real message is that we can all get sucked into violence like this. Slowly and surely. Think of the train drivers who took Jews to Auschwitz, the clerks who worked out those train timetable. I always remember someone who had visited Dachau concentration camp at the end of the war and he said that one of the S.S. Guards had put a bird-table outside the camp crematorium. This film is like that : ordinary people suddenly finding themselves in a world of unstoppable violence!

There was a point in this film when I wished I was in a Yurt in the Gobi desert staring at the night sky. It made me think about the meaning of existence : birth life and death and how we in the West have been softened/weakened in a mire of plutocratic decadence. The kids in the film had a brilliant innocence, they loved their animals and realized their importance in their society/economy. The little camels struggle reflected their struggle in this harsh desert environment.The birth scene,and normally I'm quite squeamish, enthralled me. It would do a lot of spoilt western kids/adults a lot of good if they could experience a bowl of Yak butter tea in a Gobian Yurt instead of a big Mac and Fries!!!!!

What are the hidden messages in this film? At first it gives an impression of just being another "Raiders of the Lost Ark" clone but perhaps there is a deeper message within. The Horse Hidalgo is a mustang and as such represents modern America: a cocktail of different races.The rider is the new America, brash, swaggering with a past.The good Arab is represented by Omar Sharif: the bad Arab his nephew represents Saddam Hussein/Osman Bin Laden. Sharif has a fascination with all things Western and embraces elements of western culture. His daughter has a deep desire to be emancipated and embrace western ideals but the old Arab culture is holding her back. In the background we have the duplicititous Englishwoman who represents the "Old Europe" who is trying to frustrate Americas ambitions ( the Horse race).In the end good prevails over evil.New America has come out on tops.Some hearts and minds have been won over. The gift of a colt revolver to Omar Sharif is symbolic of American Military Aid? Anyway apart from that it was a very enjoyable film.