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Manry at Sea: In the Wake of a Dream (2018)
Pitch Perfect Documentary Plays Like a Feature Movie
This beautifully directed, written, edited and scored feature length documentary film confounds expectations as the backstory of unassuming suburban newspaper copy editor and family man Robert Manry unfolds as he sets out on his seemingly foolish and impossible journey. Set in 1965 before there was GPS, Manry rebuilds a small 13.5 foot wooden sailboat and attempts to sail solo across the Atlantic Ocean to England without any other power. Funny, harrowing, romantic and continually surprising, this movie hits all emotions in a satisfying yet never predictable story of love, courage, adventure, media competition and one everyman's lifelong desire.
Structured like a 3 act movie, the story is told completely in the first person by Manry from recorded lectures and radio interviews, and interviews with his intelligent grounded outspoken loving wife, insightful son and daughter, close brother, newspaper and television cohorts and rivals, and totally amazed witnesses. It stays true to its time period musically and esthetically drawing on a multitude of sources including archival news footage with sync sound, home movies, TV shows, newspaper stories, and photos and film shot by Manry himself and other vessels encountered during his journey, Along with Manry's journey we also experience the fierce and at times comical rivalry between Cleveland's two major newspapers and the local TV station who are in a race to find Manry at sea to get the big scoop interview as the world watches and waits.
The editing is visually creative and tight keeping the movie moving at a fresh but never hurried pace, including the creation of multi-camera editing assembled from a multitude of news sources. The compelling thematic original score creates an epic sonic vista while Basque folk music brings at sea joy and intimacy.
This pitch perfect labor of love is the result of 17 years research by the director and a must see by everyone as its timeless story of dreams and adventure emotionally resonates across all ages and cultures.