Film "Against the Sun"

categoria: film che trattano il tema della sopravvivenza

"Against the Sun"

Tre aviatori dell’US NAvy partiti dall’USS Enterprise per un errore del pilota non riescono a tornare verso la nave e sono costretti ad ammarare; riescono a salire su una piccola zattera, ma non riescono a portare a bordo niente.

Harold Dixon, Gene Aldrich, and Tony Pastula sopravvivono 34 giorni  in pieno oceano senza acqua, cibo e con pochi attrezzi, con i quali riescono a fabbricare ami, un’ancora galleggiante con cui contrastare i venti contrari, bevendo solo l’acqua piovana e mangiando i pesci che riuscivano a pescare. Il pilota, a memoria ricostruisce la mappa di quella porzione di oceano e tenta di tracciare la rotta verso le isole cui vento e correnti li indirizzano. I tre marinai devono affrontare gli attachi degli squali, resistere alla tempesta, la fame e la sete prima di approdare all’isola di Pukapuka, dell’arcipelago delle isole CooK nel Febbraio del 1942.

La storia della loro impresa è stata prima raccontata nel libro The Raft di Robert Trumbull, e poi nel film Against the Sun‬ in 2015.

Uno degli attori è Tom Felton, noto per la sua partecipazione ai film della serie Harry Potter, nei panni di Draco Lucius Malfoy.

Un articolo su un giornale americano che narra la vicenda:

HOW 3 U. S. NAVY FLYERS LIVED 34 DAYS ON A RAFT

PEARL HARBOR, T. H., March 10 ().

A gripping story of battles with sharks and of suffering from hunger and thirst while stark naked and halfcrazed came today from three navy flyers who survived 34 days in stormy South seas on a raft smaller than an ordinary bed.

From the time their land plane was forced down on the Pacific until Gene Aldrich, 24 years old, a radio man of Sikeston, Mo., mouthed thru parched lips the startling words, "Chief, I see a field of corn," the three lived a story that would tax the imagination of a fiction writer.

The cornfield Aldrich thought he saw was a coconut grove.

"Chief"is Harold Dixon, 42, of La Mesa, Cal., aviation chief machinists mate and pilot of the plane belonging to a ship in an American naval force.

The third flyer is Anthony J. Pas- tula, 24, of Youngstown, O., aviation ordnance man.

Travel 1,000 Miles on Raft.

They traveled at least 1,000 miles on a rubber life raft to a tiny South sea isle and later were picked up by navy craft. They now are at Pearl Harbor and almost fully recovered.

The navy announced their rescue last month.

Dixon now is partially deaf. When an albatross alighted on the raft, Aldrich fired a pistol too near Dixon's ear. Dixon jumped into the sea to retrieve the bird and Its flesh helped keep the men alive.

It was on the night of Jan. 16 that Dixon decided to set his plane down -- ?tb sea while enough gas remained to keep the plane under control.

Men Unable to Save Rations.

The plane sank quicker than expect. ed and the men were unable to save the rations, water, or instruments. While floundering In the water they Inflated the rubber life raft, Its In. side dimensions only 28 Inches by 80 Inches. Into this precarious haven the three crowded for the perilous days ahead.

The raft was not equipped with oars and for some time the trio just drifted. Later Dixon's shoes were 'rigged so that they could be used as hand oars.

He told of shooting a big leopard shark which came so close he merely held the pistol against the shark s head. He related that still later he st ruck another shark with his bare fists.

Lose from 20 to 50 Pounds.

The men lost from 20 to 50 pounds each In the long ordeal.

They rigged a sea anchor from a life jacket, using it whenever winds were adverse. They used their under- clothing as sponges when it rained. After the cloth was saturated, they wrung it out to fill a small container with the precious water.

The sea was smooth during the first part of the trip. Later, when they finally sighted land, they were In the midst of a hurricane. Time and again they were tossed Into the ocean, only to climb back. The last few day s they did not have a stitch of clothing and were sunburned so badly it took weeks to heal.

Stabs Fisf with Knife.

Their total food hardly would make more than one good meal, but Dixon insisted coffee and cigarets were missed more than the food. On one day Aldrich stabbed a fish with his pocket knife and they chewed the raw flesh. They said it was like chewing rubber.

The albatross was next on the menu. They only ate a part of It. On the seventh day Aldrich stabbed a four foot shark.

"We ripped the shark open with pliers," Dixon said. "We ,had read about vitamins in shark liver so we ate that first. We also ate two sar- dines found in the shark s stomach. And the next day we began on the shark itself.

Pick Up a Coconut.

On the 21st day we picked up a coconut.

"On the 28th day I dived for an albatross that came close to the raft but took a belly-buster and missed.

"Things looked pretty bad the 33d day. We found ourselves periodically in a daze.

"On the morning of the 34th day Henry [Aldrich's nickname] said he saw corn. It didn't take long to de- cide It was an Island.

"We tried to paddle all day and finally staggered ashore at dusk to an unoccupied shack. The next morn- Ing, island natives on beach patrol saw us, gave us kernels of coconuts and sent for help. They carried us to the governor s house:'