I love this film and have now shown it to several generations of Year 10 students who all adored it too. This came out before Pirates of the Caribbean yet there are obvious piratey and magical cross references. It would be good if someone can do an official comparison. There are lots of interesting historical references and it's a must see for all Australasian lovers of French and French history. I just wish that I could find the DVD with English subtitles. We are still using a very old video that I taped off SBS. Someone please re release this before my old video falls apart. Thierry L'Hermitte is brilliant as the stiff upper lip naval officer who is changed by love of a stunningly beautiful mixed race islander. It was made a long time ago but is still as fresh as daisy thanks to gritty plot line and interesting characters and amazing scenery.

Alain Corneau is a French film-maker who broached several kinds of film: thriller (série noire), musical movie (tous les matins du monde). Here, he tried his hand at the adventure movie and we can say that his transition to this kind of film is far from being successful. It's clumsily filmed and not very original. The plot is thin and rather trite. Moreover, this story is supposed to be told in a comedy tone, well in this case, where's the humor? It's a movie in which there is no trace of humor or it appears but very slightly. A conventional end doesn't help matters. At the end, Corneau made a flat movie that suffers from a certain over-simplification.

Very few comedy films are as good as those produced by French producers and exported to other countries. This is a fact. I have never seen a funnier film than this, and I'm considered an expert. I don't know about that but I assure you that you will enjoy yourself, as will your entire family seeing this movie when it comes to your area.