A Romanian sailor crosses the Atlantic hunting ghosts—his ship, his friend, and a map to nowhere.
9.050 minSeason 1 • Episode 12
LatestFull Sail is a TV series aired on Romanian National Television (TVR), based on the eponymous novel by Radu Tudoran. The series follow the adventures of two friends, the Romanian Anton Lupan and the French Pierre Vaillant. Anton Lupan tries to find the L'Esperance schooner, which belonged to them, wiyhout knowing that it was a victim of a pirate attack. But he hopes in particular to find Pierre, so they can start on a trip to an uncharted land, which they attempted several times to explore unsuccessfully. He found the ship, but his friend was nowhere to be found. Anton was forced to leave on a trip across Atlantic, to Tierra del Fuego.
Cinematography
Bleak Black Sea ports and Atlantic grays shot like a funeral.
Acting
Ion Besoiu's thousand-yard stare carries entire episodes.
Production
1977 Romanian TV somehow built a convincing schooner—communist magic.
Creator
Mircea Mureșan
Ion Besoiu
Anton Lupan
Ilarion Ciobanu
Gherasim Sotir
Sebastian Papaiani
Ieremia
Jean Constantin
Nadir Ismail Geafer
Cristian Șofron
Mihu
Julieta Szönyi
Adnana
Colea Răutu
Spânu'
Ion Dichiseanu
capt. Pierre Vaillant
Gheorghe Visu
Black Pedro
Aurel Giurumia
Agop/Agop and Haic (Agop's twin brother)
Nucu Păunescu
capt. Iani Kyriani
Ernest Maftei
Mos Andrei
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Radu Tudoran's novel was mandatory reading in communist Romania, making this state-TV adaptation surprisingly subversive in its focus on individual obsession over collective glory.
The L'Esperance was a real decommissioned schooner; crew members were actual sailors from Constanța port, not actors, which explains the authentic rope-work.
RO
