Le Crabe-Tambour (1977) - full transcript
A dying French naval frigate captain tries to make a last rendezvous in the winter storm-tossed seas off the Grand Banks, with "le crab tambour," a French war hero he had betrayed twenty years earlier. "Le crab tambour" the drummer crab" was a boyhood nickname for the handsome young Alsatian whom the film depicts proving his courage, first in the war in French Indochina, and then again in the "Generals' Revolt" in Algeria. Courtmartialed because friends like the French naval captain were afraid to risk their own careers by testifying for him, the exiled "crab tambour" and his trawler, The Shamrock, is now a legend among the Grand Banks fishermen.
Drummer-Crab.
My name's Pierre.
I'm 50.
I'd chosen my own life
and then...
I let go
I'm afraid of myself.
I got back in line.
Cast off aft!
Bearing 215!
Steady on 215!
Helm port 5!
Ahead 2!
Ahead 2 carried out!
Bearing 217!
Helm port 10!
Capt. Taking over!
Helm port 25!
Helm amidships!
Helm starboard 25!
Helm amidships!
She's yours.
I'm sorry, sir.
Never say sorry to a superior.
Yes, sir.
Bearing 218!
When you take over, say so.
24th January.
17:05 hours.
The 'Jaureguiberry' sails
for Newfoundland.
Coffee in the chart room, Doctor!
Reveille!
I took part in a bugle-charge...
in '48...
on the river.
A wounded Frenchman
was howling on the radio.
The Viets died silently,
holed up like cats.
You know Wilsdorf?
We called him 'Drummer-Crab'.
We won't make it!
Push!
Sir, the radio's out
of order again!
No more of that shitty pernod!
Probably.
Sound the charge!
Never learnt it.
Sound... something cheerful!
Reveille! You got nothing else?
Better than 'Lights Out'!
I could play a medley.
Go ahead. You're great!
Well... not too bad!
He played it all!
Double rations,
Combat, Lights Out,
Chow... Everything!
We made it just in time.
They ran when
they heard the bugle.
Taste it! This one's good!
Shitty as ever!
You get used to it.
Have some, Trumpet.
It's no good?
Sure it is!
Beacon light on the port beam!
A bad bugler...
As a civilian,
Bocheau played the hunting-horn.
I found him one in Saigon.
Beacon light, port quarter!
The captain dislikes idle
talk on the bridge.
Old Crab! No talking
on your bridge... OK!
No more Drummer-Crab
and his cat!
Or hunting-horn on the river!
Clamps!
How'd you get in the Navy?
I'm French... political refugee.
I slugged a guy back home.
Now he's prime minister.
The captain would like you
to lunch with you, sir.
Changing course!
She's top-heavy but OK.
The Nigger of the Narcissus.
I meet your political
refugee, your...
Nigger of the Narcissus.
Bongo Ba!
He was a garbage-man!
I don't know how he was
drafted into the Navy.
He said he was an expert
dug-out paddler!
He's an expert at swearing!
He wants to re-enlist but can't.
He's illiterate.
You can go.
I heard you on the bridge.
I know your friend...
I found him in the Maldives.
Not a derelict!
He still had both masts...
but no rudder.
He'd hit a cyclone
in the Bay of Bengal.
Launch the dinghy!
What do you want?
Come for me tomorrow.
He talked about you a lot.
The opium...
I told him to carry it.
I should've been with him.
He'd said...
One day we'll have to leave
Indochina forever.
We'll sail home on a junk.
After 4 months at sea...
things'll be better.
Venerable Huong asked
him to dinner.
He was a mad prophet who...
had sided with the French.
Wilsdorf had once rescued him.
Drummer-Crab came
to our skies...
and washed his armour
in our river.
Like the sun,
he blinds our enemies.
Decapitated!
The old gal
gave'em cigarettes...
to make'em seem alive!
That night we decided
that when we left...
we'd sail home.
4 months at sea and...
things'd be better.
He wanted to head for Singapore
and the Sunda Strait...
In '53, Wilsdorf stayed
in the delta...
I went to Muong Lai...
on the upper Black River.
My radio man heard
It. Wilsdorf...
is reported missing,
presumed dead.
Shit!
Not say 'shit'!
You OK, sir?
We'll get out of this, boys.
A captain!
After the war,
he was freed and I saw him.
He said at once...
now we must find our junk!
He'd survived captivity
quite well.
Some beriberi,
malaria and dysentery...
3 months later he seemed
to be in shape...
but he'd changed.
He's a pal!
We met on the China Sea.
He may smuggle a bit...
Suberb!
Our junk!
Not for me...
He bought it...
and I didn't go.
Why?
Farwell, old Europe! Go to hell!
As we said in those days.
But what to do?
Sure... leave the Navy...
But I did know...
I didn't want to go.
Yet you came back.
Yes... last year.
Babourg...
Not like in '48!
We showed them! Remember?
That bitch of a river!
The 'Midshipman'...
the one with a black cat...
that guy...
Your friend...
who commanded our 'fleet'!
He had a Kraut name...
Drummer-Crab!
The bastard!
Who's on watch?
- Babourg!
- Who?
Sorry, sir!
Quartermaster Babourg!
I'll take command at noon.
Meanwhile you'd better...
We're not pirates, are we?
Right, sir!
And those.
We're not head-hunters, either.
Thank you.
See you later, gentlemen.
You heard him?
Cuc, gimme a beer!
He's an innocent...
Cuc, the hashslinger's daughter...
was hot for him.
Fill'em up again!
It's a big day!
Don't run off! Stay!
What had we called
the old madman?
The Venerable Huong!
Remember?
You drink much! Much too much!
You always ballbreaker!
Breaking my balls again!
It's dead as death in the place!
Leave me alone!
You're fed up with my tales!
So am ll!
It's all over and done with!
Beat it! Fast!
Before it's too late!
Or you'll be done for!
You asked to rejoin
the Navy Medical corps.
Yet a good private
practice pays well!
Very!
Three stripes at your age!
In the Maldives, Wilsdorf spoke
of 2 friends: You and his cat.
Dirty cat...
I felt abandoned.
The devil leaped off
just before the ambush...
when I was captured...
presumed dead...
Take him!
He's my conscience.
All black and not very
pretty to see!
An incorruptible too!
Once freed, I found him
settled at the base's kitchen.
Old rat! Deserter!
Prophet of doom!
18 knots... Tell me when
you spot it on radar.
A yacht's in trouble.
A trawler's close to it.
You saw him again?
Excuse me.
22 knots...
The yacht's capsized.
They've picked up 3 but
a woman's still missing.
It's too much...
But there's that woman...
What woman?
From the yacht.
The sea's too much
at this speed.
We could break something.
You saw Wilsdorf again?
I'm going up on the bridge.
Don't wait for me.
You'll see him soon.
He has a fishing trawler...
The 'Shamrock'.
He's called the 'Alsatian" here.
Doctor, I forgot...
On my bridge,
no idle talk, please.
Wreckage spotted in sector 130.
Paris: The economic crisis has
left almost a milion jobless...
and more are expected.
Beijing: Chou En-lai says
a nuclear war is...
inevitable and the world
must prepare for it.
Saigon: North Vietnam troops
in the mountains...
are moving toward Ban Methout.
After heavy fighting
the South Vietnamese have...
given up the key post at Ban Ho.
A monkey swiped my watch there.
I'd left it on a rock
while I went for a swim.
Special Announcement!
This is the captain.
We're ending our search.
The woman was found dead.
We'll head
for the fishing banks.
Heading west...
Heading for the Crab...
Your Drummer-Crab!
Why do you think
he asked for sea duty?
His 1st in 12 years
since Algiers coup!
Was he involved in that?
No, not him!
He was totally against it!
I thought you mentioned
it on purpose.
What?
Your bugle calls!
Wilsdorf... You know Wisldorf?
The old man was listening!
You mean...
that was an innocent remark?
You didn't know... he wants
to see again the man who...
Fisheries Officer to the bridge!
Not that routine again, Chief!
The man who...
who what, Chief?
What's up there to upset
a man's heart so?
Nothing.
Less than in this glass.
Why'd he want to see him?
Buy me another cognac
and I'll tell you a story.
The story of a man who saw
what he wanted to see.
I can see it comin'!
It's your crazy priest!
Not crazy! A bit disturbed!
Holliness plus wine!
Algierian red wine!
I know... 'cos I was
choirboy in Bigouden!
Bigouden is France's chin.
Look at the map!
The eagle's head jutting
into the Atlantic.
Cotes du Nord... Brest...
Crozon Peninsula...
Raz Point...
and that's Bigouden country.
Mohamed Ali and the prophets
can sock at it...
it won't budge!
You should see the winter
storms go at it!
One afternoon...
15 years ago...
An angel of God appeared
to me in a dream.
He said:
Soon a sign will cross
the heavens.
Fear not, but take your lambs...
and follow the sign!
All the Bigoudens
believed his vision.
Don't laugh!
We believe in Ankou.
Ankou is the angel of death,
men of little faith!
When you shiver that way,
for no reason...
the old folks say
it's Death passing by.
It passes by again and again...
one day it stops.
I prefer your gravedigger tales.
Stop talking foolish and...
learn to sail, landlubber!
You don't know Bigoudens!
They're stubborn but...
have souls like children.
They believed in his vision...
and a sign really appeared.
A huge arrow...
a white streak in the sky,
the finger of God,
pointing East!
Each clean day,
they saw the sign.
But God wanted to test them.
Morning, it pointed east, but...
afternoon,
it pointed west, so about face!
They marched and re-marched,
singing hymns and drinking wine.
Marching parches the throat!
Doctor, keep that cognac!
Well.
Finish with your
crazy vision-seer.
If you can!
Not crazy! Bit disturbed.
Good reflex!
So you don't believe in signs?
Poor lad...
But look at you!
You're watching a radar
screen for a beep...
a 'sign' that'll give
the helsman his heading.
And you're following
and old crab who
watches the sea all the time!
No bar-room philosophy!
You've lost the
end of your story!
At last they got...
they reached Orly airport.
Ridiculous!
And the 'sign' Chief?
It was the 1st NY-Paris flight,
by Boeing 707.
East in the morning,
west in the evening.
Look to the heavens,
man of little faith!
Kids today are ready
to walk all over us!
It's not funny story.
True, they never got to Orly.
But they walked and walked.
One by one they deserted him.
The 7th day, on a sunken road,
they found our old priest dead.
2th February,
1st contact
with the trawlers on the Great Bank.
I got a guy who was hurt today.
May not be much,
but it's bad knee.
I want him to see the doctor.
I'll send over a dinghy.
I got my catch, so
I'll head for you before the
dinghy's up.
And give you my mail,
it'll take 5 minutes.
But then you'll be done with the 'Vidal'!
32 trawlers in the St Lawrence
Gull in a 12-mile radius.
German.., Spanish...
Newfoundland...
St Pierre and Miquelon...
here's the 'Jutland'.
The 'Jos. Brother' at the tail.
3 or 4 by the Whale's Pool.
Your friend's 'Shamrock'
is somwhere
near the Labrador ice floes.
You've met him before?
Where are you 'Jaureguiberry'?
Very close to you...
port side of the "Greenland'.
Know him long?
2 years. After his pardon,
he became a fisherman.
Everyone here knows his cat...
Mr My-Conscience!
A common fisherman,
The captain insists
I see about Bongo Ba.
Our 'refugee'!
He wants to sign
on with a trawler.
The Alsatian will take him.
Bongo Ba won't have to hoist
garbage cans anymore!
He gave it to me.
He had 6 of them
on the 'Shamrock".
1 think he made
them while in prison.
A bottle of wine
is full of dreams.
But with a ship in it...
all sails flying!
Sailors in prison
put ships in bottles!
Keep it. It's a present.
Tell your captain, I'll take his back.
And tell him...
nothing.
Why didn't the capt...
see Drummer-Crab himself?
They had words in Algeria.
During the coup in 1961.
Then he testified for him at his trial.
It was a painful incident.
It's not for me to discuss.
Anyway, he was tried in private.
15 days now,
helping the trawlers,
mail, fresh food, spare parts...
patients... the routine...
the mailman's rounds,
Cast off forward!
They'll be sucked up
the stern ramp!
Angry fishermen blockaded
Atlantic and Channel ports.
Phnom Penh: Barges
of food and munitions
were halted by a Red Khmer
blockade on the river.
Doctor,
your patients are on board!
Bengazi: Palestinian terrorists are
still hoding the Japanese Boeing.
Your 1st ship?
No. My last. It's too tough.
I found a land job
at Concarneau.
Before, I was
on the 'Shamrock', the old scow.
The Alsatian,
his black cat. My Conscience.
He put eyes on the bow,
like on a junk!
And vets
from Indochina and Algeria in his crew.
He says cod fishing is
like sub-chasing during the war!
A real nut!
The captain would like you
to lunch with you, sir.
Doctor,
I asked you to lunch with me,
because even though
I got by the medical exam,
but I
can't fool you for too long.
I'm sick.
This is my last command.
From what Wilsdorf said,
I think you'll help me.
Cancer?
- Lungs?
- Yes.
You know, if the metastasis
isn't slowed,
painful suffocation
awaits you at the end.
I know. All I want
is to command this ship.
We lack the proper medicines aboard.
I have them. My family doctor.
Family doctor.
Tell me more about Wilsdorf.
His brother was
killed in Algeria during 60s.
I was at the funeral.
You knew his brother?
A sergeant,
served twice in Inodchina.
As an Alsatian, forced
into the German Army in 1942,
Yes, an old soldier.
Died like a soldier.
Lord, speak the word only,
and this soldier
shall be healed.
For I have superiors and
I have men under my orders.
I say to one 'Go',
and he goeth.
To another 'Come" and he cometh.
Jesus replies 'Go'
'Let it be done to you
according to your faith'.
True. Let it be done to
us according to our faith.
In the rightness of our choice.
It took him 12 hours to die.
His belly torn open.
He led some native
troops in Djebel Amour.
After the Eastern front in '45
his brother told him.
'I fought hard for those Nazi pigs'.
'I always hoped Germany would lose'.
"But each time we had to fight
I did my best to win'.
"Because it meant
survival to me and my buddies'.
'We can't do as we wish'.
Wrong! I'll do only
what I think fair.
Bullshit.
Man's choice lies between 2 goods,
not good and evil.
We must choose.
Maybe you think he was
an innocent one?
El Majnoun, as the Bedouns names
him after they captured him...
the conqueror of Arabia.
It happened this way.
Leave it with me.
In the Maldives I had
his rudder fixed but
it broke in the Red Sea.
The junk was too old and rotten.
He was captured by some rebels.
Some Dankalis on a dhow.
Don't!
Each thing has its season.
A time to be born
and a time to die.
A time to plant
and a time to reap.
A time to kill
and a time to heal.
A time to weep.
A time to laugh,
a time to mourn.
A time to cast stones.
A time to gather them.
A time to love, a time to hate.
A time of war and
a time of peace.
He was their slave
carrying water in goatskins.
The Danakils tribe
waged war on the neighbours.
They loved to fire at rocks.
Very bad shots!
One day their target was
a white stone on a black rock.
Missed again!
The navy paid his ransom,
5 old rifles, 300 silver thalers.
The price of your friend!
Imagine him as a native chief!
¥Yfter his brother's burial,
he told me:
He wanted to be buried
where he died.
I'll replace him out there.
Then came
the putsch of generals in Algiers.
And all the rest.
Engine room!
Do you want to take over?
You're managing very well.
You can push the chip.
Yes, sir. I've posted lookouts.
The mail buoy's cast off!
Get it or my old lady"ll be mad!
We've sighted the flame!
Astern 2!
25 to port!
Astern 2 carried out!
0 ahead!
Stop!
Bouy made fast!
Ahead 1, both engines!
Engines at 90 rpm! Course 120!
What are you up to?
Nothing, sir.
Then set course
for the Flemish Cap.
12 knots. No needs to cover
us with ice in this heavy snow.
Helm 15 a-port!
Steady on 120!
Both enigines, 195 rpm!
Eh, Doctor?
Eh, Chief?
Good... but be careful!
Doctor, I'd like to see you
in a moment.
Come in. The captain's
waiting for you.
Know the parable of the talents?
The last parable,
before Judas' kiss.
Peter's denial, the crucifixion.
The most terrible of all.
What hast thou done
with thy talent?
Give me an intravenous shot.
You're killing yourself.
I'm only asking you for a shot.
Your medic can do that.
All of this is unimportant.
The ship is what counts.
The ship?
The ship.
Men without a ship...
we're not worth much.
So... whatever you've
decided to do, do it quick!
Death's not so terrible.
I've already died once...
Almost.
Why had you wait so long
before returning to sea duty?
I didn't intend to go
to sea again but...
I must...
do one thing before I...
Why are you staring at me?
Your family doctor's
prescription isn't
the greatest.
No sermons!
They won't do any good.
It'd put me in a bad temper.
So you've already died once?
I don't like to talk about me.
It's... that short.
Relieve the watch!
I've stood guard all my life.
A sentry...
I did what I thought fair.
Only once... l...
Doctor, nothing is certain ever!
There's no lifeline.
You can slip and fall anytime.
Even He did!
Remember his last moment?
Why hast Thou forsaken me?
You know that.
It's in all the books.
Your friend never slipped?
You can't argue or say a word,
except no.
3 months after
he was freed he told me...
'I'm afraid of me. Inside me
I've found everything I hate'.
'A dog ready to live
at any cost...'
"Pavlov's slobbering dog'.
They wanted him to sign
an anti-war manifesto.
A prisoner keeps
his trap shut! Period.
Even if their reasoning isn't idiotic!
The commendant of
prisoner-camp said to them:
"Goodbye...
and good luck to you'.
It sure wasn't in his handbook.
He stood stiffly, staring at me.
His eyes seemed...
to be sort of
glistening.
But what can you see
in dark eyes?
Then
he stepped forward.
It happened that way.
It is hard to say no...
or refuse a hand.
You must understand that,
a lot of buddies died
of hunger or despair.
Because of that commendant.
A lot!
Do you have a bible, Chief?
Why? You killed a patient?
The captain mentioned
the parable of the talents.
It's a bit hazy in my mind.
That parable!
Our old priest pounded
it into our skulls!
He who doeth not make frow
that given him by the Lord...
shall be cast into darkness.
What's the captain say?
Nothing.
Sure, he's not a talker.
What hast thou done
with thy talent?
He asks himself that?
Everyone does... one day.
Yes, no doubt.
His bout with Drummer-Crab
sticks in his craw.
Even in Indochina you heard
of the putsch and all that.
Your pal
was in it all the way. Some hesitated.
For our Captain, no problem!
Discipline!
You can picture him!
The Navy is forever loyal to
the Republic. Period.
We were both at
Mers el-Kebir at the time.
So the day I saw...
a big oaf arrive
with a black cat...
Take me to the chief of staff.
They spent over an hour alone.
No one knows what
they said but...
your friend must've shaken his beliefs.
The Old Crab
gave me a good laugh.
He didn't arrest him,
as he'd meant to do.
So when was Wilsdorf arrested?
A year later,
because of his cat.
The wanted-list said:
"often has a black cat'.
What really happened at the trial?
It was held in private but...
the story got out.
One of the guards, a Breton.
He runs a bar in St Pierre,
"The Joyful Cod'.
He was seated by the accused.
At the end of the testimony,
served under me in
Indochina and Algeria.
It Wilsdorf took the place
of his dead brother.
I met him and he said to me:
I'll do what I think fair'.
Sir...
At Mers el-Kebir,
you gave me your word that
however the putsch ended,
you would resign
from the Navy as well.
I resigned.
You gave me your word
as an officer?
Yes.
He said nothing more.
Neither did your friend.
Maybe he saw he'd killed
the Old Man.
10 minutes later
they gave him 20 years.
I thought you knew it
all that when you said:
"You know Wilsdorf?"
Why didn't the captain resign?
He did! I know!
But the Navy said no!
They all jumped on him.
The admirals, veterans of
the Free French Navy,
even the General God Almighty.
- Withdrew your resignation!
- Why?
Raison d'Etat!
(Reason of the state)
You can't let officers
resign because of
their moods! And above all,
not our captain!
Especially him.
Don"t judge him, Doctor!
Who are you to judge?
That's how the old crab
had his talent stolen.
3th March.
We're into the straits
of St Pierre and Miquelon.
It's 15 degree Fahrenheit!
I take over.
Bridge to engine room!
Forward 2!
Stop!
Astern 2!
Stop!
Astern 1 a-port!
Astern 1 signalled!
Stop!
Engines, helm and
gyro... terminated!
Heard that?
Only 6 orders! I counted them!
The's our old Man!
No one else manoevers that way!
Funny!
Usually fishery doctors
are very young.
Docotr, your patients.
You're doing OK.
You're in good hands!
How are you?
Fine, Doctor.
Don't stare at me!
It's all over, sir.
Don't put me ashore.
I ought to.
I should have.
If you die aboard,
I'll be in trouble.
Doctor... you're
only the messanger.
When a soldier came to kill Archimedes,
he was making geometric
figures in the sand.
All he said was:
Don't spoil my circles.
One day you'll sign me out,
Never mind... I know...
You're only His messenger.
Meantime...
Don't spoil my circles.
They've got
great Irish whiskey!
The Joyful Cod.
You still have Irish whiskey?
We'd like you to tell us about...
the 'Accused'.
Accused?
Him!
I saw him 2 years ago.
He came in one night
with some guys.
At first I thought...
It can't be!
But it was him!
I'd asked around.
He danced.
Only waltzes!
He held my wife too close.
I saw him!
I wasn't sure he recognised me.
He didn't see to give
a damn about me.
Gotta go easy in this business!
So the cat did it on my bar!
He pissed on the towel
I dry glasses with!
But... the trial?
Very dignified, sir.
Except... he seemed to be amused.
I was sure he'd be guillotined.
Shot.
Guillotined! He was a civilian.
He resigned after the putsch.
The indictment said so.
He expected it too.
Ever been at an execution?
Try to... empty your
bladder before...
Thanks... I'll remember that.
It's true.
Quite true.
Reporters were waiting outside.
Took pictures when he
got in the prison van.
I kept the article.
That's me on the picture!
A lady reporter wrote...
"He passed by me, with
his cold killer's smile!”
She wanted him guillotined.
Everyone did.
May I ask you to dance?
He was so charming.
Well-mannered too.
A smooth talker!
I could tell he liked me.
Last year, he didn't come in.
If you see him at
sea, tell him...
That's enough, Mr Ernest!
We sank 3 ships before,
Admiral Doenitz... kaput!
The battle of Atlantic again!
1941... A dark year.
Admiral Doenitz won.
The Corvette Mimosa sank.
Not in '41.
Not in '41! We sank 3 before...
Convoy S.C. 78.
8 December 1942,
7 pm.
A US frieghter 'Donald
Sutherland' loaded with ammo,
The... I forget...
an oil tanker...
That's enough, Mr Ernest!
Lemme alone!
An English ship...
Lady Collins...
No survivors!
A US cargo filled
with munitions...
No survivors.
We trailed it.
On the sonar.
Can't hear...
the Sea-Corona, 12,000 tons...
He loved red wine too!
His crazy priest again!
Not crazy! A bit disturbed!
By a calvary, one of 3
unbelievers got a drunken idea...
You're drunk.
- Hide...
- This'll be a good one!
There's no Saviour! No Christ!
No sin! No heaven!
Nothing! It's all lies!
Joker...
Hey, you guys! I'm cold!
Help!
But the 2 others had run off
into the night...
terrified by such blasphemy.
Next day the police came...
You'll have a customer tonight.
Man overboard from
the 'Belle Normande'...
down the stern ramp.
She's in sector 163
at 120 miles.
Then change course.
The Shamrock's just 60 miles away.
Change course!
Yes, sir... Helm at 160.
Another reprieve, Doctor!
He just... slipped.
I can still see his eyes.
He drank a lot.
True.
A bit crazy!
At times he'd do...
a trick he learnt
a Holland in the Navy.
Alcoholism... They're worn out.
Rotten weather but lots of fish!
Hauling the net in,
Yorick the fire-eater...
slipped and felt.
All hands!
26 March...
St John's, Newfoundland...
To pick up more mail
and food for the trawlers...
And unload patients.
No sermons!
You're only His messenger!
The message is...
4 months at the most.
In 2 months we'll be home.
Why do you call
him Drummer-Crab?
Drummer-Crab...
On the river he had a habit
of calling everyone crabs.
Old crabs, poor crabs...
good and bad crabs...
Nothing but crabs!
His father called him
and his brother 'crabele',
little crab.
When he'd eaten well, he'd go...
So his father called him
Drummer-Crab.
We'll meet him in the North.
Will you..
Excuse me I have a lot to do.
Sunday prayer in 15 minutes!
It's cold and barometer's dropping!
We'll see the Alsatian
in 30 hours.
Poor doctor...
What's wrong?
Nothing. I'm just watching you.
We were nice and warm here.
Now the man with black cat.
What hast thou done
why thy talent?
You drink too much.
I should examine your liver.
The captain's interested in
only 1 person. The rest...
He's very sick.
Sure...
I bet the other one...
your friend doesn't give
a damn all that.
I prefer your Bigouden
tales, Chief!
My tales?
Here's one you don't know.
About Gwen!
Gwenael was his real name.
He believed what was in his
head more than reality.
You're afraid!
You're afraid of your shadow!
A low of 980 milibars
centered on Cape Race.
High seas becoming very high.
Winds 7 to 8...
east and northeast.
Visibility 5 miles.
The Shamrcok is
only 8 miles off.
8.5, sir.
The beep there, at 220.
It's best we transfer
the mail with a buoy.
OK... Someone wants
to talk to you.
It's Pierre.
Pierre who?
Hold on...
Play Reveille!
Pierre! What the hell
are you doing here?
I'm ship's doctor.
You OK?
Farwell, Old Europe! Go to hell!
Hey, I'd say you ran
out on our Viet pals.
They need doctors now.
I was thrown out.
You brought Mai Li?
You're married?
She's dead.
Assassinated...
last year.
Sorry... See you soon, Pierre.
Give me the fisheries officer.
Let go buoy!
Buoy cast off!
I'm heading north for Greenland.
Thanks... and happy sailing!
So long, Pierre!
'Shamrock' - message received.
Happy sailing... Goodbye.
Farwell, captain.
It's you, sir.
I rather expected you.
I wondered if...
ll wanted to say farewell...
That's all.
I've nothing else to say.
I know you're...
No... You're right...
There's nothing more to say.
We're going home.
Sir, they're signalling.
W... E...
Farewell...
He keeps repeating farewell.
Our reply, sir?
Message received.
Too many men on the bridge!
I expected you.
I think you can rest now.
You did what you wanted to do.
What did I do?
You know what I mean.
You're full of pride.
So you just stood up
before Wildsdorf...
like at the trial.
It's why you took this sea duty.
Lie down, sir.
I'll take this ship home.
14 April... 9:30...
heading home.
Close the door to the wind.
Close that door!
It's over, Doctor.
Are you afraid?
Does that help?
It's all I can read.
I'm tired.
Phnom Penh is a dead city.
Saigon is flooded
with refugees...
with troops outside its gates.
Captain's announcement!
This is the captain.
Accordingly to Art. 21 of
the Naval Regulations.
The Second-in-command is now...
in charge of
the 'Jaureguiberry'.
You will obey all his orders...
for the good of the service,
in executing naval statutes,
and observing its laws
for the success of France.
End of message.
Son of a bitch!
15 years...
15 years under his orders.
Good evening, sir.
The radio says Saigon
fell last night.
The Paris express.
It's 3 minutes late.
Attention!
Attention!
Disperse!
Dismissed!
English subs: Rollingpeople
My name's Pierre.
I'm 50.
I'd chosen my own life
and then...
I let go
I'm afraid of myself.
I got back in line.
Cast off aft!
Bearing 215!
Steady on 215!
Helm port 5!
Ahead 2!
Ahead 2 carried out!
Bearing 217!
Helm port 10!
Capt. Taking over!
Helm port 25!
Helm amidships!
Helm starboard 25!
Helm amidships!
She's yours.
I'm sorry, sir.
Never say sorry to a superior.
Yes, sir.
Bearing 218!
When you take over, say so.
24th January.
17:05 hours.
The 'Jaureguiberry' sails
for Newfoundland.
Coffee in the chart room, Doctor!
Reveille!
I took part in a bugle-charge...
in '48...
on the river.
A wounded Frenchman
was howling on the radio.
The Viets died silently,
holed up like cats.
You know Wilsdorf?
We called him 'Drummer-Crab'.
We won't make it!
Push!
Sir, the radio's out
of order again!
No more of that shitty pernod!
Probably.
Sound the charge!
Never learnt it.
Sound... something cheerful!
Reveille! You got nothing else?
Better than 'Lights Out'!
I could play a medley.
Go ahead. You're great!
Well... not too bad!
He played it all!
Double rations,
Combat, Lights Out,
Chow... Everything!
We made it just in time.
They ran when
they heard the bugle.
Taste it! This one's good!
Shitty as ever!
You get used to it.
Have some, Trumpet.
It's no good?
Sure it is!
Beacon light on the port beam!
A bad bugler...
As a civilian,
Bocheau played the hunting-horn.
I found him one in Saigon.
Beacon light, port quarter!
The captain dislikes idle
talk on the bridge.
Old Crab! No talking
on your bridge... OK!
No more Drummer-Crab
and his cat!
Or hunting-horn on the river!
Clamps!
How'd you get in the Navy?
I'm French... political refugee.
I slugged a guy back home.
Now he's prime minister.
The captain would like you
to lunch with you, sir.
Changing course!
She's top-heavy but OK.
The Nigger of the Narcissus.
I meet your political
refugee, your...
Nigger of the Narcissus.
Bongo Ba!
He was a garbage-man!
I don't know how he was
drafted into the Navy.
He said he was an expert
dug-out paddler!
He's an expert at swearing!
He wants to re-enlist but can't.
He's illiterate.
You can go.
I heard you on the bridge.
I know your friend...
I found him in the Maldives.
Not a derelict!
He still had both masts...
but no rudder.
He'd hit a cyclone
in the Bay of Bengal.
Launch the dinghy!
What do you want?
Come for me tomorrow.
He talked about you a lot.
The opium...
I told him to carry it.
I should've been with him.
He'd said...
One day we'll have to leave
Indochina forever.
We'll sail home on a junk.
After 4 months at sea...
things'll be better.
Venerable Huong asked
him to dinner.
He was a mad prophet who...
had sided with the French.
Wilsdorf had once rescued him.
Drummer-Crab came
to our skies...
and washed his armour
in our river.
Like the sun,
he blinds our enemies.
Decapitated!
The old gal
gave'em cigarettes...
to make'em seem alive!
That night we decided
that when we left...
we'd sail home.
4 months at sea and...
things'd be better.
He wanted to head for Singapore
and the Sunda Strait...
In '53, Wilsdorf stayed
in the delta...
I went to Muong Lai...
on the upper Black River.
My radio man heard
It. Wilsdorf...
is reported missing,
presumed dead.
Shit!
Not say 'shit'!
You OK, sir?
We'll get out of this, boys.
A captain!
After the war,
he was freed and I saw him.
He said at once...
now we must find our junk!
He'd survived captivity
quite well.
Some beriberi,
malaria and dysentery...
3 months later he seemed
to be in shape...
but he'd changed.
He's a pal!
We met on the China Sea.
He may smuggle a bit...
Suberb!
Our junk!
Not for me...
He bought it...
and I didn't go.
Why?
Farwell, old Europe! Go to hell!
As we said in those days.
But what to do?
Sure... leave the Navy...
But I did know...
I didn't want to go.
Yet you came back.
Yes... last year.
Babourg...
Not like in '48!
We showed them! Remember?
That bitch of a river!
The 'Midshipman'...
the one with a black cat...
that guy...
Your friend...
who commanded our 'fleet'!
He had a Kraut name...
Drummer-Crab!
The bastard!
Who's on watch?
- Babourg!
- Who?
Sorry, sir!
Quartermaster Babourg!
I'll take command at noon.
Meanwhile you'd better...
We're not pirates, are we?
Right, sir!
And those.
We're not head-hunters, either.
Thank you.
See you later, gentlemen.
You heard him?
Cuc, gimme a beer!
He's an innocent...
Cuc, the hashslinger's daughter...
was hot for him.
Fill'em up again!
It's a big day!
Don't run off! Stay!
What had we called
the old madman?
The Venerable Huong!
Remember?
You drink much! Much too much!
You always ballbreaker!
Breaking my balls again!
It's dead as death in the place!
Leave me alone!
You're fed up with my tales!
So am ll!
It's all over and done with!
Beat it! Fast!
Before it's too late!
Or you'll be done for!
You asked to rejoin
the Navy Medical corps.
Yet a good private
practice pays well!
Very!
Three stripes at your age!
In the Maldives, Wilsdorf spoke
of 2 friends: You and his cat.
Dirty cat...
I felt abandoned.
The devil leaped off
just before the ambush...
when I was captured...
presumed dead...
Take him!
He's my conscience.
All black and not very
pretty to see!
An incorruptible too!
Once freed, I found him
settled at the base's kitchen.
Old rat! Deserter!
Prophet of doom!
18 knots... Tell me when
you spot it on radar.
A yacht's in trouble.
A trawler's close to it.
You saw him again?
Excuse me.
22 knots...
The yacht's capsized.
They've picked up 3 but
a woman's still missing.
It's too much...
But there's that woman...
What woman?
From the yacht.
The sea's too much
at this speed.
We could break something.
You saw Wilsdorf again?
I'm going up on the bridge.
Don't wait for me.
You'll see him soon.
He has a fishing trawler...
The 'Shamrock'.
He's called the 'Alsatian" here.
Doctor, I forgot...
On my bridge,
no idle talk, please.
Wreckage spotted in sector 130.
Paris: The economic crisis has
left almost a milion jobless...
and more are expected.
Beijing: Chou En-lai says
a nuclear war is...
inevitable and the world
must prepare for it.
Saigon: North Vietnam troops
in the mountains...
are moving toward Ban Methout.
After heavy fighting
the South Vietnamese have...
given up the key post at Ban Ho.
A monkey swiped my watch there.
I'd left it on a rock
while I went for a swim.
Special Announcement!
This is the captain.
We're ending our search.
The woman was found dead.
We'll head
for the fishing banks.
Heading west...
Heading for the Crab...
Your Drummer-Crab!
Why do you think
he asked for sea duty?
His 1st in 12 years
since Algiers coup!
Was he involved in that?
No, not him!
He was totally against it!
I thought you mentioned
it on purpose.
What?
Your bugle calls!
Wilsdorf... You know Wisldorf?
The old man was listening!
You mean...
that was an innocent remark?
You didn't know... he wants
to see again the man who...
Fisheries Officer to the bridge!
Not that routine again, Chief!
The man who...
who what, Chief?
What's up there to upset
a man's heart so?
Nothing.
Less than in this glass.
Why'd he want to see him?
Buy me another cognac
and I'll tell you a story.
The story of a man who saw
what he wanted to see.
I can see it comin'!
It's your crazy priest!
Not crazy! A bit disturbed!
Holliness plus wine!
Algierian red wine!
I know... 'cos I was
choirboy in Bigouden!
Bigouden is France's chin.
Look at the map!
The eagle's head jutting
into the Atlantic.
Cotes du Nord... Brest...
Crozon Peninsula...
Raz Point...
and that's Bigouden country.
Mohamed Ali and the prophets
can sock at it...
it won't budge!
You should see the winter
storms go at it!
One afternoon...
15 years ago...
An angel of God appeared
to me in a dream.
He said:
Soon a sign will cross
the heavens.
Fear not, but take your lambs...
and follow the sign!
All the Bigoudens
believed his vision.
Don't laugh!
We believe in Ankou.
Ankou is the angel of death,
men of little faith!
When you shiver that way,
for no reason...
the old folks say
it's Death passing by.
It passes by again and again...
one day it stops.
I prefer your gravedigger tales.
Stop talking foolish and...
learn to sail, landlubber!
You don't know Bigoudens!
They're stubborn but...
have souls like children.
They believed in his vision...
and a sign really appeared.
A huge arrow...
a white streak in the sky,
the finger of God,
pointing East!
Each clean day,
they saw the sign.
But God wanted to test them.
Morning, it pointed east, but...
afternoon,
it pointed west, so about face!
They marched and re-marched,
singing hymns and drinking wine.
Marching parches the throat!
Doctor, keep that cognac!
Well.
Finish with your
crazy vision-seer.
If you can!
Not crazy! Bit disturbed.
Good reflex!
So you don't believe in signs?
Poor lad...
But look at you!
You're watching a radar
screen for a beep...
a 'sign' that'll give
the helsman his heading.
And you're following
and old crab who
watches the sea all the time!
No bar-room philosophy!
You've lost the
end of your story!
At last they got...
they reached Orly airport.
Ridiculous!
And the 'sign' Chief?
It was the 1st NY-Paris flight,
by Boeing 707.
East in the morning,
west in the evening.
Look to the heavens,
man of little faith!
Kids today are ready
to walk all over us!
It's not funny story.
True, they never got to Orly.
But they walked and walked.
One by one they deserted him.
The 7th day, on a sunken road,
they found our old priest dead.
2th February,
1st contact
with the trawlers on the Great Bank.
I got a guy who was hurt today.
May not be much,
but it's bad knee.
I want him to see the doctor.
I'll send over a dinghy.
I got my catch, so
I'll head for you before the
dinghy's up.
And give you my mail,
it'll take 5 minutes.
But then you'll be done with the 'Vidal'!
32 trawlers in the St Lawrence
Gull in a 12-mile radius.
German.., Spanish...
Newfoundland...
St Pierre and Miquelon...
here's the 'Jutland'.
The 'Jos. Brother' at the tail.
3 or 4 by the Whale's Pool.
Your friend's 'Shamrock'
is somwhere
near the Labrador ice floes.
You've met him before?
Where are you 'Jaureguiberry'?
Very close to you...
port side of the "Greenland'.
Know him long?
2 years. After his pardon,
he became a fisherman.
Everyone here knows his cat...
Mr My-Conscience!
A common fisherman,
The captain insists
I see about Bongo Ba.
Our 'refugee'!
He wants to sign
on with a trawler.
The Alsatian will take him.
Bongo Ba won't have to hoist
garbage cans anymore!
He gave it to me.
He had 6 of them
on the 'Shamrock".
1 think he made
them while in prison.
A bottle of wine
is full of dreams.
But with a ship in it...
all sails flying!
Sailors in prison
put ships in bottles!
Keep it. It's a present.
Tell your captain, I'll take his back.
And tell him...
nothing.
Why didn't the capt...
see Drummer-Crab himself?
They had words in Algeria.
During the coup in 1961.
Then he testified for him at his trial.
It was a painful incident.
It's not for me to discuss.
Anyway, he was tried in private.
15 days now,
helping the trawlers,
mail, fresh food, spare parts...
patients... the routine...
the mailman's rounds,
Cast off forward!
They'll be sucked up
the stern ramp!
Angry fishermen blockaded
Atlantic and Channel ports.
Phnom Penh: Barges
of food and munitions
were halted by a Red Khmer
blockade on the river.
Doctor,
your patients are on board!
Bengazi: Palestinian terrorists are
still hoding the Japanese Boeing.
Your 1st ship?
No. My last. It's too tough.
I found a land job
at Concarneau.
Before, I was
on the 'Shamrock', the old scow.
The Alsatian,
his black cat. My Conscience.
He put eyes on the bow,
like on a junk!
And vets
from Indochina and Algeria in his crew.
He says cod fishing is
like sub-chasing during the war!
A real nut!
The captain would like you
to lunch with you, sir.
Doctor,
I asked you to lunch with me,
because even though
I got by the medical exam,
but I
can't fool you for too long.
I'm sick.
This is my last command.
From what Wilsdorf said,
I think you'll help me.
Cancer?
- Lungs?
- Yes.
You know, if the metastasis
isn't slowed,
painful suffocation
awaits you at the end.
I know. All I want
is to command this ship.
We lack the proper medicines aboard.
I have them. My family doctor.
Family doctor.
Tell me more about Wilsdorf.
His brother was
killed in Algeria during 60s.
I was at the funeral.
You knew his brother?
A sergeant,
served twice in Inodchina.
As an Alsatian, forced
into the German Army in 1942,
Yes, an old soldier.
Died like a soldier.
Lord, speak the word only,
and this soldier
shall be healed.
For I have superiors and
I have men under my orders.
I say to one 'Go',
and he goeth.
To another 'Come" and he cometh.
Jesus replies 'Go'
'Let it be done to you
according to your faith'.
True. Let it be done to
us according to our faith.
In the rightness of our choice.
It took him 12 hours to die.
His belly torn open.
He led some native
troops in Djebel Amour.
After the Eastern front in '45
his brother told him.
'I fought hard for those Nazi pigs'.
'I always hoped Germany would lose'.
"But each time we had to fight
I did my best to win'.
"Because it meant
survival to me and my buddies'.
'We can't do as we wish'.
Wrong! I'll do only
what I think fair.
Bullshit.
Man's choice lies between 2 goods,
not good and evil.
We must choose.
Maybe you think he was
an innocent one?
El Majnoun, as the Bedouns names
him after they captured him...
the conqueror of Arabia.
It happened this way.
Leave it with me.
In the Maldives I had
his rudder fixed but
it broke in the Red Sea.
The junk was too old and rotten.
He was captured by some rebels.
Some Dankalis on a dhow.
Don't!
Each thing has its season.
A time to be born
and a time to die.
A time to plant
and a time to reap.
A time to kill
and a time to heal.
A time to weep.
A time to laugh,
a time to mourn.
A time to cast stones.
A time to gather them.
A time to love, a time to hate.
A time of war and
a time of peace.
He was their slave
carrying water in goatskins.
The Danakils tribe
waged war on the neighbours.
They loved to fire at rocks.
Very bad shots!
One day their target was
a white stone on a black rock.
Missed again!
The navy paid his ransom,
5 old rifles, 300 silver thalers.
The price of your friend!
Imagine him as a native chief!
¥Yfter his brother's burial,
he told me:
He wanted to be buried
where he died.
I'll replace him out there.
Then came
the putsch of generals in Algiers.
And all the rest.
Engine room!
Do you want to take over?
You're managing very well.
You can push the chip.
Yes, sir. I've posted lookouts.
The mail buoy's cast off!
Get it or my old lady"ll be mad!
We've sighted the flame!
Astern 2!
25 to port!
Astern 2 carried out!
0 ahead!
Stop!
Bouy made fast!
Ahead 1, both engines!
Engines at 90 rpm! Course 120!
What are you up to?
Nothing, sir.
Then set course
for the Flemish Cap.
12 knots. No needs to cover
us with ice in this heavy snow.
Helm 15 a-port!
Steady on 120!
Both enigines, 195 rpm!
Eh, Doctor?
Eh, Chief?
Good... but be careful!
Doctor, I'd like to see you
in a moment.
Come in. The captain's
waiting for you.
Know the parable of the talents?
The last parable,
before Judas' kiss.
Peter's denial, the crucifixion.
The most terrible of all.
What hast thou done
with thy talent?
Give me an intravenous shot.
You're killing yourself.
I'm only asking you for a shot.
Your medic can do that.
All of this is unimportant.
The ship is what counts.
The ship?
The ship.
Men without a ship...
we're not worth much.
So... whatever you've
decided to do, do it quick!
Death's not so terrible.
I've already died once...
Almost.
Why had you wait so long
before returning to sea duty?
I didn't intend to go
to sea again but...
I must...
do one thing before I...
Why are you staring at me?
Your family doctor's
prescription isn't
the greatest.
No sermons!
They won't do any good.
It'd put me in a bad temper.
So you've already died once?
I don't like to talk about me.
It's... that short.
Relieve the watch!
I've stood guard all my life.
A sentry...
I did what I thought fair.
Only once... l...
Doctor, nothing is certain ever!
There's no lifeline.
You can slip and fall anytime.
Even He did!
Remember his last moment?
Why hast Thou forsaken me?
You know that.
It's in all the books.
Your friend never slipped?
You can't argue or say a word,
except no.
3 months after
he was freed he told me...
'I'm afraid of me. Inside me
I've found everything I hate'.
'A dog ready to live
at any cost...'
"Pavlov's slobbering dog'.
They wanted him to sign
an anti-war manifesto.
A prisoner keeps
his trap shut! Period.
Even if their reasoning isn't idiotic!
The commendant of
prisoner-camp said to them:
"Goodbye...
and good luck to you'.
It sure wasn't in his handbook.
He stood stiffly, staring at me.
His eyes seemed...
to be sort of
glistening.
But what can you see
in dark eyes?
Then
he stepped forward.
It happened that way.
It is hard to say no...
or refuse a hand.
You must understand that,
a lot of buddies died
of hunger or despair.
Because of that commendant.
A lot!
Do you have a bible, Chief?
Why? You killed a patient?
The captain mentioned
the parable of the talents.
It's a bit hazy in my mind.
That parable!
Our old priest pounded
it into our skulls!
He who doeth not make frow
that given him by the Lord...
shall be cast into darkness.
What's the captain say?
Nothing.
Sure, he's not a talker.
What hast thou done
with thy talent?
He asks himself that?
Everyone does... one day.
Yes, no doubt.
His bout with Drummer-Crab
sticks in his craw.
Even in Indochina you heard
of the putsch and all that.
Your pal
was in it all the way. Some hesitated.
For our Captain, no problem!
Discipline!
You can picture him!
The Navy is forever loyal to
the Republic. Period.
We were both at
Mers el-Kebir at the time.
So the day I saw...
a big oaf arrive
with a black cat...
Take me to the chief of staff.
They spent over an hour alone.
No one knows what
they said but...
your friend must've shaken his beliefs.
The Old Crab
gave me a good laugh.
He didn't arrest him,
as he'd meant to do.
So when was Wilsdorf arrested?
A year later,
because of his cat.
The wanted-list said:
"often has a black cat'.
What really happened at the trial?
It was held in private but...
the story got out.
One of the guards, a Breton.
He runs a bar in St Pierre,
"The Joyful Cod'.
He was seated by the accused.
At the end of the testimony,
served under me in
Indochina and Algeria.
It Wilsdorf took the place
of his dead brother.
I met him and he said to me:
I'll do what I think fair'.
Sir...
At Mers el-Kebir,
you gave me your word that
however the putsch ended,
you would resign
from the Navy as well.
I resigned.
You gave me your word
as an officer?
Yes.
He said nothing more.
Neither did your friend.
Maybe he saw he'd killed
the Old Man.
10 minutes later
they gave him 20 years.
I thought you knew it
all that when you said:
"You know Wilsdorf?"
Why didn't the captain resign?
He did! I know!
But the Navy said no!
They all jumped on him.
The admirals, veterans of
the Free French Navy,
even the General God Almighty.
- Withdrew your resignation!
- Why?
Raison d'Etat!
(Reason of the state)
You can't let officers
resign because of
their moods! And above all,
not our captain!
Especially him.
Don"t judge him, Doctor!
Who are you to judge?
That's how the old crab
had his talent stolen.
3th March.
We're into the straits
of St Pierre and Miquelon.
It's 15 degree Fahrenheit!
I take over.
Bridge to engine room!
Forward 2!
Stop!
Astern 2!
Stop!
Astern 1 a-port!
Astern 1 signalled!
Stop!
Engines, helm and
gyro... terminated!
Heard that?
Only 6 orders! I counted them!
The's our old Man!
No one else manoevers that way!
Funny!
Usually fishery doctors
are very young.
Docotr, your patients.
You're doing OK.
You're in good hands!
How are you?
Fine, Doctor.
Don't stare at me!
It's all over, sir.
Don't put me ashore.
I ought to.
I should have.
If you die aboard,
I'll be in trouble.
Doctor... you're
only the messanger.
When a soldier came to kill Archimedes,
he was making geometric
figures in the sand.
All he said was:
Don't spoil my circles.
One day you'll sign me out,
Never mind... I know...
You're only His messenger.
Meantime...
Don't spoil my circles.
They've got
great Irish whiskey!
The Joyful Cod.
You still have Irish whiskey?
We'd like you to tell us about...
the 'Accused'.
Accused?
Him!
I saw him 2 years ago.
He came in one night
with some guys.
At first I thought...
It can't be!
But it was him!
I'd asked around.
He danced.
Only waltzes!
He held my wife too close.
I saw him!
I wasn't sure he recognised me.
He didn't see to give
a damn about me.
Gotta go easy in this business!
So the cat did it on my bar!
He pissed on the towel
I dry glasses with!
But... the trial?
Very dignified, sir.
Except... he seemed to be amused.
I was sure he'd be guillotined.
Shot.
Guillotined! He was a civilian.
He resigned after the putsch.
The indictment said so.
He expected it too.
Ever been at an execution?
Try to... empty your
bladder before...
Thanks... I'll remember that.
It's true.
Quite true.
Reporters were waiting outside.
Took pictures when he
got in the prison van.
I kept the article.
That's me on the picture!
A lady reporter wrote...
"He passed by me, with
his cold killer's smile!”
She wanted him guillotined.
Everyone did.
May I ask you to dance?
He was so charming.
Well-mannered too.
A smooth talker!
I could tell he liked me.
Last year, he didn't come in.
If you see him at
sea, tell him...
That's enough, Mr Ernest!
We sank 3 ships before,
Admiral Doenitz... kaput!
The battle of Atlantic again!
1941... A dark year.
Admiral Doenitz won.
The Corvette Mimosa sank.
Not in '41.
Not in '41! We sank 3 before...
Convoy S.C. 78.
8 December 1942,
7 pm.
A US frieghter 'Donald
Sutherland' loaded with ammo,
The... I forget...
an oil tanker...
That's enough, Mr Ernest!
Lemme alone!
An English ship...
Lady Collins...
No survivors!
A US cargo filled
with munitions...
No survivors.
We trailed it.
On the sonar.
Can't hear...
the Sea-Corona, 12,000 tons...
He loved red wine too!
His crazy priest again!
Not crazy! A bit disturbed!
By a calvary, one of 3
unbelievers got a drunken idea...
You're drunk.
- Hide...
- This'll be a good one!
There's no Saviour! No Christ!
No sin! No heaven!
Nothing! It's all lies!
Joker...
Hey, you guys! I'm cold!
Help!
But the 2 others had run off
into the night...
terrified by such blasphemy.
Next day the police came...
You'll have a customer tonight.
Man overboard from
the 'Belle Normande'...
down the stern ramp.
She's in sector 163
at 120 miles.
Then change course.
The Shamrock's just 60 miles away.
Change course!
Yes, sir... Helm at 160.
Another reprieve, Doctor!
He just... slipped.
I can still see his eyes.
He drank a lot.
True.
A bit crazy!
At times he'd do...
a trick he learnt
a Holland in the Navy.
Alcoholism... They're worn out.
Rotten weather but lots of fish!
Hauling the net in,
Yorick the fire-eater...
slipped and felt.
All hands!
26 March...
St John's, Newfoundland...
To pick up more mail
and food for the trawlers...
And unload patients.
No sermons!
You're only His messenger!
The message is...
4 months at the most.
In 2 months we'll be home.
Why do you call
him Drummer-Crab?
Drummer-Crab...
On the river he had a habit
of calling everyone crabs.
Old crabs, poor crabs...
good and bad crabs...
Nothing but crabs!
His father called him
and his brother 'crabele',
little crab.
When he'd eaten well, he'd go...
So his father called him
Drummer-Crab.
We'll meet him in the North.
Will you..
Excuse me I have a lot to do.
Sunday prayer in 15 minutes!
It's cold and barometer's dropping!
We'll see the Alsatian
in 30 hours.
Poor doctor...
What's wrong?
Nothing. I'm just watching you.
We were nice and warm here.
Now the man with black cat.
What hast thou done
why thy talent?
You drink too much.
I should examine your liver.
The captain's interested in
only 1 person. The rest...
He's very sick.
Sure...
I bet the other one...
your friend doesn't give
a damn all that.
I prefer your Bigouden
tales, Chief!
My tales?
Here's one you don't know.
About Gwen!
Gwenael was his real name.
He believed what was in his
head more than reality.
You're afraid!
You're afraid of your shadow!
A low of 980 milibars
centered on Cape Race.
High seas becoming very high.
Winds 7 to 8...
east and northeast.
Visibility 5 miles.
The Shamrcok is
only 8 miles off.
8.5, sir.
The beep there, at 220.
It's best we transfer
the mail with a buoy.
OK... Someone wants
to talk to you.
It's Pierre.
Pierre who?
Hold on...
Play Reveille!
Pierre! What the hell
are you doing here?
I'm ship's doctor.
You OK?
Farwell, Old Europe! Go to hell!
Hey, I'd say you ran
out on our Viet pals.
They need doctors now.
I was thrown out.
You brought Mai Li?
You're married?
She's dead.
Assassinated...
last year.
Sorry... See you soon, Pierre.
Give me the fisheries officer.
Let go buoy!
Buoy cast off!
I'm heading north for Greenland.
Thanks... and happy sailing!
So long, Pierre!
'Shamrock' - message received.
Happy sailing... Goodbye.
Farwell, captain.
It's you, sir.
I rather expected you.
I wondered if...
ll wanted to say farewell...
That's all.
I've nothing else to say.
I know you're...
No... You're right...
There's nothing more to say.
We're going home.
Sir, they're signalling.
W... E...
Farewell...
He keeps repeating farewell.
Our reply, sir?
Message received.
Too many men on the bridge!
I expected you.
I think you can rest now.
You did what you wanted to do.
What did I do?
You know what I mean.
You're full of pride.
So you just stood up
before Wildsdorf...
like at the trial.
It's why you took this sea duty.
Lie down, sir.
I'll take this ship home.
14 April... 9:30...
heading home.
Close the door to the wind.
Close that door!
It's over, Doctor.
Are you afraid?
Does that help?
It's all I can read.
I'm tired.
Phnom Penh is a dead city.
Saigon is flooded
with refugees...
with troops outside its gates.
Captain's announcement!
This is the captain.
Accordingly to Art. 21 of
the Naval Regulations.
The Second-in-command is now...
in charge of
the 'Jaureguiberry'.
You will obey all his orders...
for the good of the service,
in executing naval statutes,
and observing its laws
for the success of France.
End of message.
Son of a bitch!
15 years...
15 years under his orders.
Good evening, sir.
The radio says Saigon
fell last night.
The Paris express.
It's 3 minutes late.
Attention!
Attention!
Disperse!
Dismissed!
English subs: Rollingpeople