THE DEEP/ DJUPIO
Iceland, 2012, 95 minutes, Colour.
Olafur Atli Jonasson. Joi Johansson.
Directed by Baltasar Kormakur.
The Deep is based on a true story. It is set in and Iceland town and on the sea in the north of the country. a group of fishermen go out on the ship, the ship capsises and the crew are thrown overboard and, except for one, drowned.
The film establishes the town and the men, the family relationships, camaraderie, going out to sea. It also establishes life on the boat, and the relationship between the men.
However, most of the early part of the film shows what happens to one man when he goes into the sea and, despite the cold, he survives for some time before a rescue.
The second part of the film is about the treatment of the man, his being taken to England for tests, the puzzle of all concerned that he could have survived in the water so long – but, the point is made, that he was a large man, quite fat, and this enabled him to stay alive longer than the average person.
He returns home to his ordinary life but many see him as a hero because of his survival.
The film was co-written and directed by the prominent Icelander director, Baltasar Kormakur who directed films like 101 Reykjavik and Jar City. In later years he worked in the United States on such films as Contraband (remake of 101 Reykjavik), Two Guns and Everest.
1. The film based on a true story? Ships in Iceland? Accidents? Survival? Tests?
2. The atmosphere of Iceland, the village in the North, the details of life there, the town? The men, fishermen, drinking? The sequences at sea? The sequences in the hospital, tests in England? The musical score?
3. The title, the emphasis on the sea, the sea versus humans, survival in the deep?
4. The establishing the characters of the men, the different backgrounds, from the South and the North, the interactions? Planning to go to sea, the role of the authorities, the captain? Fishing?
5. At sea, the work, the weather, the storm? The ship capsising? The men into the sea?
6. The response of the men, the cold, trying to survive, mutual encouragement?
7. Gulli, an ordinary citizen, on the boat, his work, with the others, in the sea, his attempts to support others?
8. The detail of his being in the sea, in the depths, surviving in the cold, the wet, the long time, his being recovered? The flashbacks and their role in his survival? His swimming and surviving? His prayer, his promises to God – and later trying to keep them when he survived?
9. The authorities surprised at his survival, sending him to England, the doctors and nursing staff, the tests, his recovery? The speculations as to how he had survived? His being fat, his weight?
10. His return home, to an ordinary life, people responding to him as a hero, acclaim, the little girl? His going to console the family of his friend who died, interactions with his wife? The discussions with the priest and the contrast between their characters?
11. An Icelandic story and the Icelandic perspective?
