21. The Raft (Flotten); movie review

THE RAFT (FLOTTEN)
Cert 12A
98 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate sex references

How would you react if you were cooped up with ten strangers on a raft which was designed just to drift across the Atlantic Ocean?
Yep, long before the days of Big Brother shows, an anthropologist sought to research violence in a very elaborate social experiment.
In the early 1970s, Santiago Genovés had been a passenger on a plane which had been hijacked.
The experience prompted him to seek the reasons for the red mist descending on those not usually predisposed to anger.
Marcus Lindeen reunites the living passengers of The Raft on a replica vessel which has been created especially for his documentary.
In 1973, they had responded to a newspaper advert for what appeared to be an incredibly perilous journey.
They were young, from different backgrounds and countries and, surprisingly, several had family and were deliberately chosen because they had much to lose and, therefore, the pressure would be heightened.
In addition, Genovés appointed women in the key roles including that of captain, presuming that would cause more friction.
Much to his frustration, the opposite effect resulted - he had selected such decent folk that they pulled together as a close-knit loving team.
Lindeen’s film includes narration pulled from interviews with Genovés before his death in 2013.
He gives an honest appraisal of his expectations for the experiment and his assessment of what actually happened.
Meanwhile, there is a very frank discussion among the surviving members of the crew to accompany video footage of them on the original raft.
They reveal their thoughts about  Genovés and his motivations and how they coped on board with heightened emotions, sexual tensions and even the very primitive toilet conditions.
They also give their verdict on whether the scientific experiment was a success or not.
I had not previously heard about the story of The Raft so this film offered discovery on several levels.
It surprised and intrigued thanks to the frankness of the interviewees who all agreed - the trip was a life-changer.

Reasons to watch: Enthralling documentary which reveals much about the human condition
Reasons to avoid: The psychologist isn't around to answer back

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: People ill with sea-sickness but no vomit
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? Because Santiago Genovés had used pseudonyms in the research papers, it took director Marcus Lindeen almost two years to find the seven surviving members.

The final word - Marcus Lindeen: "When I started researching in the summer 2013, Santiago was still alive and died only a few weeks later. His son very generously invited me to come to Mexico to go through his father’s archives.

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