Adrift
By Gillian Croft, Square Bum Writers Group
In the 1970’s, when I was a child, my dad started building a 42 foot Ferro-Cement yacht to “sail around the world.” While I rode my bike up and down past piles of rebar in the Rennies shipyard every weekend, my dad become good friends with Richard Sharp who was both managing the shipyard and also building his own yacht, Mayaluga. We were there when Mayaluga was launched, attending the after-party at the Point Yacht Club. My dad went for sails with Richard, but sadly we lost contact with him after he left for the South Pacific.
Two years ago, my dad ventured on his own quest to the South Pacific. Hoping to ask Richard permission to name his new yacht Mayaluga, he was shocked to find out that Richard had been lost at sea. Nevertheless, we were all affected by the story of Tami Oldham Ashcraft, Richard’s fiancée at the time, who survived the worst Hurricane to ever hit the Pacific. Tami came up to launch my dad’s boat in honor of Richard’s memory, and the second Mayaluga made its way to French Polynesia and back.
As someone who knew Richard, and has read Tami’s book, I offer this review of Adrift. I was extremely affected by Tami’s story in Red Sky in Mourning, which touched my life in a very personal way. Richard and Tami, young, adventurous, and desperately in need of money, took a commission to sail a larger yacht, the Hazana, back to the States. While in the middle of the Pacific, the Hazana was decimated by Hurricane Raymond. Richard was swept overboard, while Tami was knocked unconscious in the cabin. When she woke up a day later, she had a head injury, and the realization that she was truly alone, thousands of miles from the nearest land, and outside any search paths or shipping lanes. Tami’s survival was a miracle. The biggest miracle through all of this, though, was Tami’s raw honesty in how she tells her story – she bravely allows us to see her personal struggles, her vulnerability, and the cost to her soul.
As a screenwriter, I was curious to see how Aaron and Jordan Kandell (Moana) would tackle Tami’s story, which presents challenges in many ways. For much of Red Sky in Mourning, Tami is alone on Hazana, which no longer has a motor, a navigation system, or a communication system, and has lost its main mast. Tami describes feeling the presence of a Higher Power, feeling the presence of Richard, and engages in a lot of “self dialogue.” Nevertheless, the internal workings of someone’s mind are difficult to portray on camera. The Kandells masterfully tackle this challenge in Adrift by using both foreshadowing and by keeping the “presence” of Richard alive. Richard (Sam Claflin) describes to Tami (Shailene Woodley) what it’s like to be alone on the ocean, the only person for miles around, and how you might start to hallucinate. The Kandells then allow Tami to rescue “Richard” from the ocean against all odds. Even though I had read the book and knew the story, the Kandells tackled Richard’s “presence” in a natural way that helped me suspend my belief. I felt myself worrying for Richard as if he were a real person, and I mourned his loss acutely for a second time.
Another challenge faced by Aaron and Jordan Kandell was the non-linear nature of Red Sky in Mourning. The Kandells and the director Baltasar Kormákur (Everest) wholeheartedly embrace these flashbacks, using them in the screenplay to build Tami and Richard’s personal story, and to create tension and contrast. Adrift starts by showing Tami alone, blood streaming down her head after the storm, and screaming for Richard. Soon, the love story of Richard and Tami weaves through the present-day events. What makes these flashbacks so successful is that the Kandells gave them a story of their own: a clear beginning, middle, and end. In addition, each flashback is carefully chosen to push the main story along.
Adrift is a richly detailed, visually gorgeous movie that will be talked about for a long time. Kormákur keeps the presence of the ocean constant, as if it were a character, often using split-shots to portray what is happening both under and above the water. The cinematographer, three-time Academy award winner Robert Richardson, builds the story with scenes filmed in a way that makes them rich, sensual, and alive in every way. He infuses the love story with vibrant color, contrasting these happier times between darker shots of the storm and the stark hopelessness of being adrift. A really grim scene, for most sailors who attended this movie with me, was the aerial shot of the boat as the camera panned up and out – Hazana was shown as a tiny, isolated speck on a huge, open stretch of ocean.
Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin were very strong choices for Tami and Richard. Sam very realistically portrays the Richard I knew – his gentleness and sense of humor, as well as his restlessness and push for adventure – and has an uncanny resemblance to Richard right down to his speech mannerisms. Shailene is brilliant as Tami. It’s difficult to be a good actor when the scenes are filmed on rough oceans during bad weather and everyone’s reportedly throwing up. Nevertheless, Shailene brings something “extra” to Tami. She turns Tami into an unashamedly quirky and flawed female heroine whose strength and determination continue to blaze. When Tami celebrates the rainfall by dancing naked on the deck of Hazana, we feel ourselves dancing and celebrating with her.
The most powerful scene in this movie, for me, was the strength with which the Kandells tackled Richard’s death. As Richard sinks beneath the waves, you see the red glow of his EPIRB, flashing on his chest. As it becomes obvious that he no longer has hope, the scene darkens to black. Soon, all you can see is the red flashes of the EPIRB, beating like a heart… which soon stops altogether.
Adrift shines in many ways as a good example of a great movie. Whether you’re a screenwriter looking to study script techniques, or a director looking for examples of good visuals, or even an actor looking for examples of technique, you’ll find what you’re looking for in this amazing tale based on the true story of Tami Oldham Ashcraft, a strong, female protagonist.
