This film is based on a real life drama where an Icelandic fishing vessel sinks and 5 crew are drowned. The 6th member of the crew survives hours in bitterly cold sea and swims miles to an island where he is rescued. The acting is brilliant and a realistic portrayal of the fisherman's ordeal. I also liked the before and after build up of the main character's lifestyle and the setting of Icelandic folk living in basic and difficult conditions but sharing a camaradie and kinship. Scientists were baffled as to how this apparently unfit man survived the extreme conditions and he became something of a celebrity and underwent investigative tests in America and UK. In the end he returned to his old ways of life but I think as a wiser and better man. He was a simple hardworking regular guy who survived extreme conditions through metabolism but also his dogged determination. I found it particularly moving to see footage of the real life person.

From time to time a film comes up that should be seen by anyone interested in a particular aspect of film-making. There have been films that bordered on the banal but anyone interested in or involved with camera work couldn't afford missing. Same with the use of music. Or the art direction. Even casting directors could learn a couple of things from watching certain films."The Deep doesn't border on the banal. It's an honest, cleverly made film with good chances of satisfying a wide range of viewers. But one aspect of this somewhat unexpected film makes it a must: the amazing performance of Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, an American-born actor who has lived and worked most of his life in Iceland where, as we learn from his IMDb page, he is considered a major force of that country's theater. As Gulli, the fisherman who surprises everybody by being the only survivor of a shipwreck under conditions in which no human being could possibly live to tell the story, this truly extraordinary actor comes up with a flawless performance. For anyone involved with acting, especially film acting, his work is an inspiration. I've been an actor all my life. But I could never understand, when it happens, how and when pettiness creeps into the actor's work. How come even great actors sometimes seem to have been possessed by what is ultimately dishonesty, the indiscriminate use of cheap tricks, gimmicks meant to create the illusion of an intensely emotional performance. Some actors are perfectly conscious of doing it. Most are not. It's impossible to detect the moment when it begins.Watching Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Gulli, the survivor in "The Deep" is like attending a Master Class given by a truly great actor. There would be plenty of opportunities to use gimmicks and cheap tricks. But there isn't one single moment when he does it. His performance is one hundred per cent true. It's as honest and natural as the awesome performances great directors of the Italian realism managed to get from non- actors like the lead in "The Bicycle Thief."SPOILERS AHEAD. STOP READING HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THEM.For anyone interested in great acting, two scenes in the film are like solid gold. Watching them is watching the work of a perfect actor. In the hospital, when asked how he found the energy to swim six kilometers in the cold sea, he says that all along he kept talking to the seagulls. We know it's true because we saw it early on. But his recollection of it is very moving, because it's done simply and with tremendous truthfulness.Then there's the scene in which he visits the family of his colleague, one of the first to die, sits on the floor and talks to his two boys. One of them says their mother told them their father was with God. They want to know from him if it's true. The way he handles such a difficult challenge is a great moment in film acting."The Deep" is a good film. But even if it didn't have so many qualities, the dignity, the unyielding commitment of its leading actor to his art would make it unforgettable.

The Review: Based on a true story, The Deep is a very simple, but incredibly moving film. There's nothing really out of the ordinary when it comes to Gulli. He's a chain smoking, hard working man, who lives a rather uneventful life with his friends. It's this seemingly tedious lifestyle that makes the tragic ship accident so much more powerful. When Gulli does his best to rescue his friends, and eventually is left in the ocean alone, it's his rather normal life that shows what a regular person can be capable of to survive.Audiences don't just watch Gulli bobbing around in the ocean for the entire film, although it certainly creates some of the most tense scenes of the movie. When Gulli finally finds his way home, this is where the real challenges start to appear. Hailed as a hero for what Gulli views simply as trying to stay alive, he quickly becomes a science oddity. One scientist convinces Gulli to basically be studied in an attempt to find out how he survived. At first, Gulli almost seems excited to be considered different, but he quickly realizes that it's not important how he survived, only that he did and his friends didn't.When Gulli finally returns to his home, the film becomes intensely emotional. While out in the ocean, Gulli made a number of promises, reasoning with God to give him just one more day. He begins to make good on those promises, and it's impossible to not become teary eyed. When Gulli visits the home of one of his friends who died on the boat, and consoles his wife and children, you'd be better off bringing some tissue with you to stop the waterworks. It's an amazing performance from Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Gulli, and a stunning film from director Baltasar Kormákur.This will stay with you for sometime after viewing.For More Check out www.thefilmpodcast.co.uk

Based on a true story, this is a gripping tale of how an Icelandic sailor survives a sinking. The director really has a firm idea of the values and lifestyles of the sailors on this boat. The psychology of survival is demonstrated in imaginative ways, those choices that must be made in milliseconds and made correctly. The flash back scenes of what happened in the seaside town are done imaginatively. The choice of grayish tones and the weather beaten look of the boats adds to the gravity of the story as well as the impersonal and cold scientific team that handles the enquiry. We are reminded of the simple, but dangerous lives that many people have to live. They do so with dignity.