In 1984, when a fishing boat capsizes off the coast of Iceland, Gulli, the lone survivor, spends several hours in the near-freezing North Atlantic waters. His inexplicable – some would say miraculous – survival makes him a media magnet and a scientific curiosity; he is poked and prodded by incredulous experts in an attempt to understand how he could have survived such an ordeal. But it is the immense sadness of his experience that stays with Gulli; he fundamentally rejects the notion that he is somehow remarkable: ‘All I did was save my own life,’ he says; ‘wouldn’t anyone have tried that?’
Based on real events, director Baltasar Kormákur (Contraband, JDIFF 2012)’s account of the tragedy captures in Gulli an Everyman in an extraordinary situation. Through recounting the fisherman’s simple actions, The Deep becomes a moving chronicle of the human spirit.
Doha Tribeca Film Festival
