The Deep (film):
For other uses, see Deep. The Deep is a 1977 film directed by Peter Yates based on the novel by Peter Benchley.
While scuba-diving near shipwrecks off Bermuda, vacationing couple David Sanders (Nick Nolte) and Gail Berke (Jacqueline Bisset) recover a number of artifacts, including an ampule of amber-colored liquid and a medallion bearing the image of a woman and the initials "S.E." On the advice of friends, Sanders and Berke seek the advice of lighthouse-keeper and treasure-hunter Romer Treece (Robert Shaw) on the origin of the medallion, who identifies the item as Spanish and takes an interest in the young couple. Sanders and Treece innocently showed the ampule to several people and attract the attention of Henri Cloche (Louis Gossett, Jr), a local drug kingpin, who begins to terrorize the couple. The ampule contains medicinal morphine from the Goliath, a ship that sank during World War II with a cargo of munitions and medical supplies. The wreck of the Goliath is considered dangerous and is posted as off-limits to divers due to the danger of explosions. Treece concludes that a recent storm has exposed her cargo of morphine and unearthed a much older wreck containing Spanish treasure.
Sanders, Berke, and Treece make several dives to the wrecks, recovering thousands of morphine ampules from Goliath and several additional artifacts from the Spanish wreck. Through research in Treece's library, they reconstruct the history of the lost treasure ship, locate a list of valuable items, and learn the identity of S.E., the noblewoman for whom they were intended. Sanders is determined to locate some of the items on the list to establish provenance; Treece wishes to destroy the Goliath to put the morphine out of reach of Cloche; and Cloche interferes with their efforts so that he can recover the morphine for himself. During a running series of conflicts Adam Coffin (Eli Wallach), the only survivor from Goliath, is killed when he triggers a booby-trap while trying to steal the recovered morphine and Treece's friend Kevin (Robert Tessier) is murdered by one of Cloche's henchmen. A climactic battle during the final dive results in the death of several of Cloche's men, the destruction of the Goliath, and the recovery of a gold necklace that provides the needed provenance of the source of the treasure.
[edit] Filming
Many of the open water diving sequences of the film were shot on the wreck of the RMS Rhone in the British Virgin Islands.
The film's poster alludes to an oft-cited clip of the film, in which a T-shirted and braless Jacqueline Bisset swims hurriedly to the surface.
[edit] Main cast
[edit] External links
|
