Der Skipper aka Kill Cruise (1990) Film Soleil Noir

"A riff on Plein Soleil and Knife  in the Water" (Noirsville)

Written and Directed by Peter Keglevic. Cinematography by Edward Klosinski and Music byBrynmor Llewelyn Jones

The film stars Jürgen Prochnow (Das Boot, Dune) as The Skipper, Patsy Kensit (Absolute Beginners, Angels and Insects) as Su, and Elizabeth Hurley (Bedazzled) as Lou. With Grazyna Szapolowska as Mona, and Franz Buchrieser as the owner of the California Bar.

Jürgen Prochnow as The Skipper

Patsy Kensit as Su

Elizabeth Hurley as Lou

This was a pleasant surprise. I had no idea what it was about and I stumbled upon it while looking back through Elizabeth Hurley's filmography.

Story

Even before the titles run we hear a persistent sonar blip. This blip segues into the title theme.  

We cut to a storm at sea. A man Paul in orange foul weather gear is in the water an MOB is attached to him. We can hear over the roar of wind another man calling out.

A sailboat is tempest tossed. We can see that sea anchor is deployed off her bow. "Bella Donne" is painted on her stern.  

Another man, the "Skipper" frantically scrambles in vain, he's only able to get on the radio and send out a man overboard SOS with his position, before being knocked out by the weight of a wave washing into the cabin.

Cut back outside to the fury of the storm.

We see the body of Paul, attached to him is an MOB, but the last we see is the MOB being pulled under the waves, and we then return to just the sound of the sonar blip just before fading to black.

When the lights come back on we are in Gibraltar, looking at the passport of Paul Pillisen. The Port Captain is questioning The Skipper about the accident. 

Here find out that Pillisen was a fisherman who regularly chartered the Bella Donne out of Cadiz for some deep sea fishing. We also discover from two gossiping officials that Pillsen was playing hide the sausage with Mona, The Skipper's estranged wife. 

The Skipper explains to the official that he saw a wave rip Pillsen off the helm and he just had time to throw him the MOB, and radio it in before he himself was rendered unconscious. 

Grazyna Szapolowska as Mona

When The Skipper comes out of the office he meets Mona. Mona obviously thinks that The Skipper may had done ol Paul in, accidentally on purpose. Later out on the steps of the building he again tells Mona that it really was an accident. Mona says nothing and walks away.

Six months later the Bella Donna is still docked in a Gibraltar marina and The Skipper has become a joke, glued to a barstool in a dive called the California Bar. Is the opening sequence of Paul going overboard in the storm haunting him?

The other patrons get a laugh out of asking The Skipper when he's leaving port, and he always gives the same answer "tomorrow."

Franz Buchrieser as the owner of the California Bar

The other patrons get a laugh out of asking The Skipper when he's leaving port, and he always gives the same answer "tomorrow."

"When are you leaving port?"

"Tomorrow"

We cut to the Hotel Waterloo. On a small stone balcony under an umbrella in the rain, brunette Lou and her dog are waiting for her roommate Su a blonde.

Su has been screwing one of the port officials. Su is balling him on his promise to find them a boat on which to depart for the West Indies. 

After every session the official tells her that he's got a hot prospect for them. While he's putting on his pants he tells her he'll, wink, wink, that he'll know more about it tomorrow, implying of course after another game of hide the sausage. Su is of course disappointed, and frustrated.

Su & Lou are expat tarts from the UK, doing whatever and screwing whoever they have to, to get by. Su's goal to leave Europe and get to Barbados. They are currently entertainers doing a singing act.

When he finally leaves, Su calls out to Lou, who comes back into the flop and asks her about what she found out. Su puts on a positive matter of fact air and explains about the promising news. Then she complains that the officer could at least shave, before hopping in the shower.

Night. Rain. In the vicinity of possibly Casemates Square (Gibraltar's "hot" party district in the 1990s), We cut to the exterior of the Hotel Waterloo. 

Our two gals, Su and Lou, in sparkly mini dresses are walking away from the entrance. The dog is in tow on a leash. They are sharing an umbrella. 

We cut to the top of a landing. A stairway street drops to another landing outside a dive called the California Bar. As Su and Lou negotiate the wet steps, Lou makes a remark about using their money to go back to the UK. That gets her a slap from Su, who angrily tells that she's never going back to the U.K.

Lou runs down the steps with her dog, with Su still holding the umbrella calling out for her to wait.

We cut to the smoky interior of the California Bar. It's got fluorescent lighting hanging down from the ceiling, a bar along one wall the others festooned with framed images, and other doodads. There is a small bandstand and stage at the end opposite the entrance, the bar and tables are filled with sailors in uniform, tourists, B girls / hookers, yachtsmen, and locals. 

The owner rings a bell and walks to the bandstand where he gets up, grabs the microphone, and announces that he has a special treat for the crowd. He introduces Su and Lou. 

They do a rendition of a popular tune. In a backroom / office we see The Skipper sitting at a table. He tosses a wadded up paper towards a waste basket but misses. However we see a syringe laying in the paper. Is The Skipper a junkie?

The Skippers attention is drawn to the the halfway open door and Su and Lou up on the stage. He gets up and goes to the bar for a beer. 

He makes his way to an empty chair right by the stage. He's enjoying their act. When they finish there is a big round of applause.

The bar owner  starts a chant to "take it off." The rest of the patrons join in. Su gets down off the stage but Lou stays. Su sits back down at their table and looking at Lou yells no. 

However Lou pays her no mind the band strikes up a strip tune and she strips down to her panties to everyone's delight. While Lou gets The Skipper to take up a collection for the show.

Lou's Strip

Back in the backroom Su, counts up the loot The Skipper collected, while Lou puts her dress back on.

It all starts to go Noirsville when the girls mention their desire to  sail away and The Skipper mentions that he has a ship in the marina.

At the end of the night the two girls are flanking the drunken Skipper and are laughing and singing... 

                              "What do we do with a drunken sailor, what do we do with a drunken sailor,                             what do we do with a drunken sailor, early in the morning."

We cut to the next morning on the Bella Donna, and watch as The Skipper awakes to a hangover and sees a left over lipstick from one of the girls. It's implied that there was a little ménage a trois. How Noir is that...

We cut to the landing outside the California Bar where the Skipper is now eating a breakfast croissant. He interrupted by Su and Lou, coming down the stair carrying all their baggage. They plop down at his table telling him they are ready to sail. 

At first The Skipper doesn't take them seriously, however when the California Bar owner overhears their conversation, he sticks his head out of the second story window and laughs. 

. 

Inside the owner tells the girls that the Skipper has been says he's sailing tomorrow everyday for the past six months. This goads The Skipper into action and he tells the owner he's sailing today.

"I'm sailing today"

He storms off towards the marina with the girls trying to keep up behind him. 

We cut to a shot of the customs house and to two officers watching the Bella Donna head out towards the Atlantic. One of the offices (the one who was screwing Su) remarks to the other that they will be back. This is at the 23 minute mark.

What could go wrong?

So the rest of the flick is the dynamics of how the three interact on what should be a four week voyage.

Noirsville

Director Peter Keglevic nicely juxtaposes claustrophobic interiors of the sailboat cabin with agoraphobic exteriors of open Atlantic. 

All three leads are very believable and it's a situation that would be a dream come true for most men that turns slowly into a Noir nightmare. 

As avid Aficio-noir-dos and Noir-istas, you can't help thinking, after watching this, of the similar final fatale voyage of Noir Actor Steve Cochran in his yacht Rouge, and not two but three women. It didn't go well either. 7/10

 

Thorsten-Krings (IMDb)

Well worth watching!

The film had quite bad reviews at the time so when I got it on DVD the plan was to fast forward to the naughty bits. But I found the film so fascinating that I watched it from beginning to end. Being on a yacht with Patsy Kensit and Liz Hurley sounds like your idea of paradise? Well, the washed out skipper of a yacht is duped into a four week trip to Barbados with two young women who make a living stripping and turning tricks in a decidedly seedy Gibraltar. Everything seems fine at first but then the sexual tension rises, the skipper seems to have a dark secret and paradise turns into hell. The film has an overtone of aggressive sexuality from the very beginning that tries to assert itself against the burned out skipper and does so in the end but with disastrous consequences. I liked both the feel of the run down part of Gibraltar and the claustrophobic atmosphere on the yacht. Kensit is great as the slut from hell who becomes more and more unstable throughout the journey. Hurley seems to be the sensible one who turn into a complete psychopath. While the acting is very good my only misgiving about the film is that this change comes too suddenly and does not really seem plausible. I'm not sure if scenes were cut from the film but I certainly do not believe the rumour of a full frontal nudity lesbian love scene (which wouldn't really make sense). The film is also a showcase for Prochnau's acting talents which he unfortunately squandered with later roles as stoch villain. Well worth watching! •