Tag: sailing

THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER – Review

Time to put away the toys, the comics, and even the big WWII history book at the old multiplex for this week’s new (but a tad old) release. I say “old” since it springs from a literary classic, one that has inspired so many cinematic adaptations (actually it has left its “mark” on all manner of media). I seem to recall its main character as a possible game show trivia answer as to which fictitious creation has been played by the greatest number of actors (he’s close behind Sherlock Holmes, I believe). So, what’s the “hook” with this? It’s not just a “straight” retelling. No, the filmmakers have taken one chapter of the original novel and have expanded it into a feature film since it’s often just a minute or two in most versions. And so now we’ll get the full “scoop” of how that “king of the vampires”, Dracula. insured that this was THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER.


This terror tale takes us back almost to the beginning of the last century, 1897. as we follow a speeding caravan through a twisty mountain pass on their way to a nearby seaport. That’s where the good ship Demeter is preparing to depart. Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham) is there with his eight-year-old grandson Toby (Woody Norman) to assign the First Mate Wojchek (David Dastmalchian) the task of acquiring more crew members for the journey to London. Several old salts line up for the chance, but none are more eager than Cambridge grad, Dr. Clemens (Corey Hawkins). Wojchek rejects him (“those smooth hands…he’s not been working on the seas”). Then the wagons arrive via that caravan with massive wooden crates that “spook” some recruits. That and a near accident with Toby. prompts Eliot to hire Clemens. The young lad bonds with the doc as they meet the truly “motley” crew, who have dreams of a big bonus if they arrive in England earlier than agreed upon. Ah, but don’t spend that money yet. As the sun sets, strange things occur. The livestock perish, not from rabies but from something that has ripped them apart. When Clements explores the nearby cargo hold, he finds that the crates are filled mostly with dirt. But that’s not as surprising as the discovery of a near-comatose young woman, Ann (Ainsling Franciosi). Clemons attempts to cleanse her diseased blood through several transfusions. But will this weaken him and his shipmates as they discover that the animals were merely appetizers for the night creature that walks the deck under the moonlight? Can they possibly destroy him before his evil overtakes all of London?

For a vampire flick to truly soar (on bat-wings,’ natch) it requires a formidable force for the light, and here, rather than the ship’s captain, it’s the charismatic Hawkins as Clemens. From his first scenes, gambling near the dock, he projects a fierce, steely intelligence as the doctor fighting ignorance on all fronts. But he also has a real charm and warmth, whether bonding with young Toby (almost like a little brother) to his concern for the tragic Anna. Once she’s regaining her strength, Franciosi proves to be a great ally to Clemens as she pushes past her fears and channels her anger over being her village’s “sacrifice offering” to a monster. Cunningham exudes the proper gravitas as Captain Eliot while giving us a glimpse of his desire to be done with sea life. His weary eyes only brighten when he views his beloved offspring. But his other “ship son” is the surly Dastmalchian as the tough, cagey, and ever-alert Wojchek. Perhaps the most colorful of the crew is the entertaining Jon Jon Briones as the ship’s cook whose zealotry and fanaticism are almost as much a danger as the shadowy predator played with sneering animal savagery by Javier Botet.

As I mentioned earlier, screenwriters Bragi F. Schut and Zak Olkewicz have expanded on the “Captian’s Log” chapter of Bram Stoker’s novel. And they “flesh it out” with great imagination, making their crew more than just a transport for the book’s title character. They also do well with tough tasks as they create suspense even though we’re aware of the outcome, much like prequels in an ongoing movie franchise. Along the way they make the usual vampire story tropes fresh, especially in the sequences involving exposure to the sun. Best of all may be their take on the count himself. He has no need to be “wrapped in human skin”, no seducing or deceiving as he appears as a hellish “bat demon” (with perhaps a hint of the classic NOSFERATU vibe), who blends into the shadows before striking like the speed of a cobra. And be warned, no one is safe from his insatiable thirst. Kudos must also go to the costumers and art directors for transporting us back to the turn of that century and making us feel as though we’re on that grimy “working boat”. Director Andre Overdal gives the story a real sense of urgency in the opening port scenes while creating a heavy tone of impending doom. The mood on deck combines the beauty of the pounding waves with eerie foreboding, especially in the cargo hold as the crates become objects of menace. Unfortunately, after we’ve seen several “meals”, the pace slackens and the film’s focus softens (perhaps tighter editing would help). Still, the final showdown is impressive, though the epilogue seems out of sync with the rest of Stoker’s epic. But fans of the horror classics will enjoy this expansion, though the flood of gore isn’t washed away by the sea foam splashed up by THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER.

3 out of 4

THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER is now playing in theatres everywhere

MAIDEN – Review

Left to right: Tracy Edwards and Mikaela Von Koskull, in MAIDEN.
Courtesy of Tracy Edwards and Sony Pictures Classics.

Surprisingly exciting, with the narrative drive of a fiction film, the documentary MAIDEN tells the epic tale of the first all-women yachting crew to challenge the men in an around-the-world sailing race. With the spirit of high adventure, this documentary follows a young British woman, skipper Tracy Edwards, and her scrappy international crew as they take on the all-boys’ club world of yachting in the 1989-1990 Whitbread Round the World Race. This polished documentary is filled with exciting footage of the grueling, nine-months-long sailing race, as the women shatter assumptions about what women can do, in the fiercely competitive, physically-demanding world of sail racing. The docu also features archival interviews with Edwards and her crew, their opponents in the race, news footage and interview, combined with present-day interviews of Edwards and others.

The documentary’s title MAIDEN is the name of the sailboat that the crew led by British Tracy Edward and her international crew entered in the Whitbread race. It was a clever choice for a name, referencing the all-female crew, the re-built sailing ships’ maiden voyage, and their first-ever challenge to the all-male world of sail racing. The media eagerly followed the women’s attempt to break in to that highly-sexist world, but often with a gleefully expectation of failure. That changed to astonishment, when the determined women upended that pre-conceived notion.

Young Tracy Edwards fell in love with sailing in an era when women were excluded routinely from crews. Edwards talked her way on to her first crew by offering to serve as ship’s cook, although she was a rarity even in that lowly position. Despite the opposition, she managed to learn the craft largely on her own. After being repeatedly being excluded from joining an all-male crew in the era’s hyper-male boys club of competitive sailing, the frustrated young Brit decided to form an all-women crew to compete in the 1989-1990 Whitbread around-the-world sailing race. Tracy Edwards figured there were other women out there who were skilled sailors but who also had been relegated only to the role of ship’s cook.

Boy, was she right! When she put out the call for women to join the yachting crew, highly-capable women sailors showed up from around the world. Despite a lack of funding, opposition from racing officials and fellow yachting crews, false-starts in melding a team, and a crisis shortly before the race’s start, these admirable women came together to get the job done. Through pulse-pounding sailing footage, the docu details the the Whitbread race, a grueling competition, which required the competing crews to cover 33,000 miles spanning the globe in three stages over a total of nine months.

MAIDEN is an inspiring underdog tale, a story of determination and grit against myriad enormous challenges. No one made things easy for this tough team of resourceful women. The thrilling documentary MAIDEN tells their story,in entertaining fashion, in the tradition of tales of high adventure long associated with the sea.

Director Alex Holmes skillfully builds drama in telling the story of this little-known race. The sea-going sequences are undeniably thrilling and watching these young women scramble to meet the force of the sea is exciting. The women faced daunting conditions at sea but hostility in the yachting and sports worlds as well. It is amazing to see the amount of sexism these women, who only wanted the chance to sail, faced in the late 1980s. The documentary includes jarring archival footage of sports commentators and sailing officials disparaging the women and news footage of Edwards diplomatically responding to the attacks.

The press were eager to cover the all-women team, but often with a smug expectation they would fail. The media were happy to put the photogenic Edwards on camera, but this tiny, pretty young woman was also bold and outspoken Edwards, a small woman with an iron will who would not back down.

Media flocked to cover the story, many clearly revealing their sexist bias, peppering their coverage with mocking comments about mused makeup, cat-fights, and silly musings about who would fix the engine. While it sounds odd to contemporary ears to hear Edwards refer to herself as a girl or to decline to call herself a feminist, it is clear her focus is on breaking down barriers to women in sailing and that nothing will stop her, not the sea and not the men in media, sports organizations or the other crews in the race.

But tiny but mighty Edwards and her talented crew had a steel in them that the media didn’t guess but which comes across clearly. The crew of the Maiden set out with the goal only to finish the race, keenly aware that if they did not it would negatively impact women sailors ever after, but they did much more. It wasn’t easy, as the documentary shows, and the women faced both the challenge of finding sponsors, rebuilding a dilapidated sail boat, and public ridicule and more. And then they faced the life-threatening, unpredictable challenges of the sea.

MAIDEN is a tale of determination and high adventure, showing that you can’t keep a good woman down. It opens Friday, July 19, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars