This is the most incredible story I have ever seen in a feature film. It defies summary. And the film is a brilliant success because it was directed by Christian Jaque, and hence not a moment lacks suspense. He also jointly wrote the amazing script. The film starts with a small French fishing boat two miles off the coast of Norway. It does not seem at first to be particularly exciting, despite the fact that we watch and learn as the men carry out their duties on a fishing boat, which, let's face it, is not something familiar to many, so seeing how they heave a net over the side and all that sort of thing is interesting. But one wonders if this is going to be only a film about men on a fishing boat and bore us stiff. However, there are about a hundred surprises ahead. We have already had a narrator telling us about amateur shortwave 'ham radio' operators, how they often hear things that main channels miss, and how they are spread all over the world. One of the characters a bit later on says: 'Shortwave is tricky.' That's for sure, for after the boat's main radio fails a ham set on board turns out to be crucial. The boat is named the Lutece, which is French for the original name of Paris, which was named Lutetia in Roman times. (It is ironical that in the dialogue Paris is once referred to also by its slang name of 'Paname'.) But the boat is from Brittany and eleven of the twelve crew are Bretons. The twelfth man is a Moroccan named Mohamed. We see the men having their dinner, and one of them pulls out a smoked ham he has brought aboard and starts handing out slices of it to all the crew. All eat it heartily except Mohamed. He is criticised for saying no and replies: 'Surely you know that Muslims don't eat pork.' And this will later turn out to be a central and unexpected element of the plot. After a short while, members of the crew become suddenly extremely ill, they cannot see or hear properly, and they are confined to their bunks in agony. It turns out that they have all contracted the deadly disease of botulism, except for Mohamed, because he did not eat the diseased pork. But this is just the barest beginning of a fantastic saga spread across the entire globe, with countless desperate situations of almost unbearable intensity. This is a real edge of the loo seat film. One is repeatedly frozen with anxiety and dread, and Christian Jaque piles on the tension relentlessly. With everyone on the boat but one in the process of dying from botulism, with a broken radio, and being too far out at sea to make it to shore to save themselves, it suddenly occurs to them to try to use the shortwave radio just in case anyone might be listening, to call for help. The only person who hears the call is a Frenchman in the countryside of Togo, a small country in West Africa next to Ghana. He sends for a doctor several hours away to diagnose the illness remotely over the radio, so that they know it is botulism. A serum exits which could save them if injected into them, but how can it be obtained and how can it reach them? They are now anchored stationary in the middle of the ocean and give their coordinates. This is when the drama really begins. The most fantastic network of ham operators all over the globe join in this mission to save the dying sailors. (Hence the film's title, which translated means IF ALL THE GUYS IN THE WORLD. The film has also been known as RACE FOR LIFE. Jean-Louis Trintignant makes an early appearance in this film.) Many individuals, one of them entirely blind, go out on missions to procure and then to send the serum, by a series of flights and journeys so complex and extraordinary as to leave one breathless with astonishment. At one point the serum has been transported by a Polish plane to East Berlin and an American officer has to enter the heavily guarded communist district to fetch it and return, and is arrested in the process. There are very dramatic and ominous scenes at night at the notorious Brandenburg Gate which separated the Berlin sectors at that time. The climax of the film is so fantastic that it outdoes even what comes before it in the film. I cannot describe it because it would be a spoiler to do so. But believe me, if you are a nervous person, you will need tranquilisers after seeing this. I have no hesitation in saying that this is one of the most astonishing films ever made. It is available in a restored version from French Amazon, but without foreign subtitles. (The full version is 112 minutes. Do not get the shortened version.) For English subtitles it can only be obtained on the internet from Movie Detective.
