White Squall (1996)

	Also Known As: Lame de Fond
	Year of first release: 1996
	Director: Ridley Scott (Alien, 1492 Conquest of Paradise, Gladiator, Prometheus)
	Actors: Jeff Bridges (Tron, Tron Legacy, The Big Lebowski, True Grit), Caroline Goodall (Schindler's List, Hook), John Savage
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 17.08.2012, DVD, 32" TV
Synopsis: In 1960 a group of teenagers embarks for a trip around the Americas on a school boat. They will also learn navigation, to work as a team, and eventually the dangers of the ocean.
Review: I bought this DVD years ago for 1 or 2 euros, and it is not at all what I thought it would be! I though it was some kind of maritime thriller like Dead Calm. In fact it is based on the true story of the sinking of the Albatross in 1961 probably caused by the rare meteorological event known as white squall (grain blanc). The story of this group of youngs that are going to discover both friendship and death reminds me of Dead Poets Society. The boat trip can be seen as a transition to adulthood, and the separation from the parents. The movie is well done as you would expect from Ridley Scott, althought it was not a big success, similarly to his previous film (1492: Conquest of Paradise), and the characters well played. One thing I could maybe reproach is that there are somme ellipses in the story, and that the reaction of the characters are sometime difficult to understand, but I have noticed that it is often the case with movies that try to be close to a real story (like Mesrine or Che).
Rating: 6 /10