A captain saves 600 lives, gets fired for it, then plots delicious revenge.
The "Astoria", an English luxury liner, collides with a freighter shortly before the end of its voyage and threatens to sink. Captain Mitchell, successful and envied, sets in motion an expensive rescue operation. He manages to avert a catastrophe and bring the passengers and the ship to safety. But the shipowner considers the operation excessive, calls Mitchell a coward and fires him. His career seems to be over. When his friends and his fiancée also make fun of him, he devises a cunning plan of revenge.
Acting
Dieter Mann's restrained fury — you feel the humiliation in his jaw.
Production
GDR-made ocean liner sets that somehow look both cheap and impressively claustrophobic.
Director
Christa Mühl
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
DEFA's rare foray into maritime drama — East Germany had no actual luxury liners, so this was pure aspirational fantasy.
Director Christa Mühl was one of only three women directing features at DEFA in the 1970s; this was her biggest budget.
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