ra (documentarfilm) – Wikipedia
Go out is a Norwegian-Swedish documentary by Lennart Ehrenborg. In 1969 and 1970, the film accompanied the Norwegian research travelers, archaeologists, anthropologists and ethnologists Thor Heyerdahl on two expedition trips with a papyrus and a reed boat over the Atlantic. The film started in Germany as a two -person television on April 9 and 12, 1971.
The intention of Heyerdahl, since his adventurous Kon-Tiki-Pacific ride in 1947, a well-respected, albeit not undisputed research traveler, on this Atlantic trip from Morocco to Barbados in the Caribbean, it was possible to prove that it would be possible with a twelve-meter boat To cross the Atlantic Ocean from Papyrus. The departure took place on May 25, 1969 in Safi Moroccan. The boat “RA”, which was awarded the title to the film and was baptized in honor of the Egyptian sun god, was a replica on board an replica of ancient Egyptian role models, like the equipment on board. Heyerdahl used clay vessels to store the required food. The background and meaning of this daring passage Heyerdahl was to prove that theoretically the Egyptians of the antiquity – millennia BC, could have discovered the American continent. “Almost all experts thought that was impossible. The reed boat turned out to be surprisingly robust – and yet the experiment was out of control, ”as the SPIEGEL 2019 reminded in a review on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of this experiment. [first]
From the beginning, this trip was highly controversial among experts: It was assumed that the boat built by locals in Egypt, for which a total of twelve tons of papyrus was needed, could impossible to cross the crossing of the Atlantic, which is known for its rough sea. Heyerdahl deliberately put together his team from all over the world to underline the intercultural painting of his mission and to demonstrate a free cooperation between people from nationalisms and ideologies. Heyerdahl’s companion came from the United States (the navigator Norman Baker), the Soviet Union (the doctor Juri Senkewitsch), Mexico (the storage manager Santiago Genovés), Egypt (the underwater expert Georges Sourial), Italy (the cameraman and photographer Carlo Mauri) and the Chad (the papyrus expert Abdullah Djibrine). Other passengers were the monkey Safi (named after the starting point in Morocco), which should only serve the distraction, as well as a cage with chickens and a duck. The peaceful, peopled intention of the daring mission was underlined by sailing under UN flag.
As Ehrenborg’s film shows, this first “RA” ride was not under a good star: First you fought with a persistent windless, then one of the rudders broke early. Other rudder breaks on the high seas meant that these only control systems had to be patched up constantly. “In the end, as a big problem there was also a detail on the ancient Egyptian drawings” as the mirror reminded of the same place, “from which the designers could not make themselves rhyme – and therefore left it away: it was a rope that was from the top of the Hecks to the middle of the ship was tensioned. Only when the rear on the lake got out of shape and sagged that Heyerdahl recognized the stabilizing function. ”Before the second trip of the twelve tons weighed RA, this error was eradicated. In June and July 1969, the “RA I” came in the heavy lake, which led to the most severe damage on the ship, which the “RA” did not appear to be seaworthy. When the second seeruder also broke, the crew on board was finally unable to maneuver. On July 18, 1969, Heyerdahl dropped the experiment. The risk was too great, and finally the RA I sank into the floods of the Atlantic. The team was taken up by an American yacht and brought ashore.
Heyerdahl had had a second papyrus ship built until the second expedition launch in May 1970, almost exactly a year after the failed first expedition. This “RA II”, this time built by Indios from Lake Titicaca, who have extensive experience with the construction of reed boats, no longer had the weaving errors of the first ship. This trip is also part of the documentary Lennart Ehrenborgs. The new boat was three meters shorter, lighter and more stable than the first “RA” was built. After more than 6000 kilometers and 57 days, the team reached Barbados – without even a “single papyrist angel off or broke”, as Heyerdahl later underlined.
- Heyerdahl, who acts as a narrator in the original version and brought Ehrenborg Go out In 1972 in the category of best full-length documentary, an Oscar nomination.
- The film received awards in 1971 at festivals in Trento (“Nettuno d’Oro”) and Milan (festival price). [2]
- At allmovie.com it says “Thor Heyerdahl’s adventure in Kon-tiki and in The Ra Expeditions Proven that it is possible, and now the idea is no longer considered unusual. Strangely enough, Heyerdahl’s reputation has not become more respectable in the meantime. Nevertheless, this documentary is entertaining and illuminating about his journey in a rough papyrus raft from Morocco in the Caribbean. As the film … shows, there were considerable doubts that Heyerdahl and his eight -member crew would survive, let alone that they would make it to their destinations. ” [3]
- Leonard Maltin called the film “an exciting documentation” and “a successor to” Kon-Tiki “” [4]
- ↑ “Now we are really shipwrecked” . Reportage in the mirror of May 29, 2019
- ↑ Go out In the Swedish film database
- ↑ Kurzkritik On allmovie.com
- ↑ Kurzkritik in Leonard Maltins 2015 Movie Guide. The Modern Era. New York 2014
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