Deep Water film review

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DEEP WATER

A posthumous award for sheer bloody-mindedness in the face of adversity should go to Donald Crowhurst, the star of the documentary Deep Water, who forty years ago had the world believing that he was about to become the first man to sail around the globe singlehandedly abd whose fascinating story is brought to vivid life in Louise Ormond's excellent new film.

Crowhurst's story alternates between being hilarious, jaw-droppingly unbelievable and incredibly touching. A not-very-successful businessman, he had a touch of the Walter Mitty meets Captain Scott about him, and when the Sunday Times announced its solo global challenge in 1968, Crowhurst jumped at the chance to make his mark. Despite only having a rudimentary knowledge of boats - a weekend sailor - Crowhurst persuaded a local businessman to back his venture and obtained a garrulous press agent along the way.

At first everything seemed doomed. He took two weeks to sail fifty miles to his starting point on the Devon coast, and when he set off, resplendent in jumper and tie in a boat that he had designed himself, few took his chances seriously in a race that contained the likes of seafaring legend Robin Knox-Johnston. Nevertheless the fact that he was there at the end of the race - and the almost unbelievable manner in which he achieved this - forms an enthralling backbone to this tall tale.

It's no surprise to see the producer of Touching the Void having a hand in this production, as the two films share a mix of contemporary and period footage. Most impressive are the shots that Crowhurst himself filmed on board his mammoth voyage, which help to give the film a greater sense of the solitude and despair he suffered. One of the year's best documentaries and a film that's very hard to forget.

Paul Hurley