FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.
Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
Jonathan C Maidentrip is a beautiful documentary about Laura Dekker's year and a half voyage to be the youngest person ever to sail around the world. Dekker, who is Dutch, set sail from Gibraltar in 2010 and made the journey in a year and half, finishing a few months after her 16th birthday. Her route took her to St. Martins, Panama, the Galapagos Islands, Austrailia, the Cape of Good Hope, and back to St. Martins.This movie is amazing first because of the premise--that a girl, 14, would even try such an amazing task. We learn that Laura is no ordinary girl--from an early age she loved sailing, and in fact would sail all over Holland by herself by the age of 10. In 2009, only 13 years old, she sailed across the English Channel from Holland and back by herself. When it became known that she intended to sail around the world, Dutch authorities attempted to remove her from her father's custody to keep her from making the trip. After a court victory, the way was cleared for her.As we follow Laura on her journey, what we realize is that, however young she is, this is a remarkable person with a vision. The trip becomes something of a work of art--she photographs it all herself-- and so is really a sort of view of the entire world through her lens. Additionally, we get to know a story of her tumultuous past and how her voyage potentially can liberate her, and the story is compelling. Laura is involved in an immense but joyful struggle to see the world, show us her experience, and even fully create herself as a person. It is an amazing story.
llsee When I first heard of this film, I expected it to be a family friendly tale of another precocious teen. But, it is different. I vaguely recalled hearing of this story, but watching it was fascinating. This is more than the story of a sail around the world, it is the story of a teenager, maturing into a young woman. The Laura Dekker we see at the end of this film is a more mature, self-confident and introspective person than the teen we met at the start.This film is not an instructional video on sailing around the world, nor is it an inspiring tale to encourage others to follow her example. But it is a fascinating character study of one young woman, who seems to have been born to make this trip.I checked the 'spoiler' box, but come on... It is a real life story, how can there really be any spoilers? She survived the trip.
Windsun33 I actually watched this reluctantly because someone wanted to see it, and ended up loving it. Not for the plot - there really is no plot (documentaries do that at times) except for her voyage, and the events leading up to it. To me it was just amazing that a young girl could do such an adventure alone, while others of her age were much more worried about how many followers they had on Twitter. Much of the photography sucks (not like a cell phone is a real professional camera) - but that also adds to the feeling of realism, and pushes home the fact that there were no followers, no camera crews around - she was totally on her own. Unlike so many of the pseudo-documentaries this one is not filled with fake drama.
clarkj-565-161336 Just saw this at Hot Docs in Toronto last night. If you want to know what sailing around the world is like, this is the movie for you. Not so long ago, we didn't have the technology to make filming a journey like this so easy. We are shown a pretty complete set of film documenting the various legs of the journey, from sunny becalmed days, to hair raising stormy seas rounding South Africa.I guess like everyone I wondered how someone so young could make such a journey. We follow the back story of Laura's life as she spends her first 5 years at sea around New Zealand and as a very young girl helping her single dad restore their boat, the Guppy. When you see her on the boat sailing, you immediately grasp that this person is at one with the boat and with the sea and any doubts disappear. The boat is exactly made to order, everything in its place, strong, simple. Restoring and basically rebuilding the boat from scratch was probably the best thing for someone undertaking such a journey. You must be totally aware of absolutely everything on a boat, how it works, and how to repair it.This doc reminded me of a film I saw about the Golden Globe race in 1968, called Deep Water. Laura refers to Bernard Moitessier and how he fell in love with the sailing and forgot about the race he was on, continuing on into the south pacific.The animation sequences showing the path of the boat on various charts of the world are very imaginatively done, you get a real sense of the journey. What a way to see our beautiful planet and all the various life forms.
