The Boat

The Boat is a true story of survival of Walter Gibson at sea for a whole month in a small boat meant to carry only 28 passengers but in which 135 people clung on in the hope that rescue will come. Days pass, weeks go on and one by one people start dying in horrendous conditions. Its is a miracle of a story that Walter survives with another Chinese girl Doris Lim. This was about the time when the Japs were invading Singapore, Malaysia and taking prisoners. Its is a simple story, and the narrative is good, fast paced and riveting. Its unfortunate that so many horrors were taking place due to war. But as the title suggests, there is only instance of cannibalism in the entire narrative. Goodreads 5/5 

Black Wind

Black Wind is a thriller from Clive Cussler alongwith his son Dirk Cussler. During the world war II, a Japanese submarine carrying some deadly biological warfare was sunk by US boats. 40 years later, a North Korean businessman masquerading as a South Korean tries to get hold of those biological canisters in order to wreak havoc on the US. His logic - US forces are occupying the DMZ between North and South Korea and therefore preventing a re-unification between the two Koreas on North Korean terms. Enter Dirk Pitt Jr. and his sister Summer, both agents with NUMA, (National Underwater & Marine Agency), they stumble upon this rapacious plot of the North Korean to let loose biological warfare over the American air and soil during the G-20 summit. One thing leads to another, there is a lot of chase all over the place from Phillipines to Japan to South Korea and back to San Deigo. Dirk and Summer's father Dirk Pitt Sr. is also involved in the plot. Nice racy thriller a bit technical with all the nautical adventures but Clive Cussler has managed to keep the narrative flowing smoothly. Rating 4/5 

Babel

Babel is  a 2006 film starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett among others. It is set in four different countries Morocco Mexico, United States and Japan and the movie moves from one setting to another. Brad Pitt and his wife Cate are on a holiday to Morocco, leaving their two kids behind with their Mexican nanny in the US. They are emotionally distraught from having lost their third kid and so their marriage is on a strain. While in the bus, Cate is accidentally shot by a stray shot from one goatherd up in the mountains. The goatherd and his brother were given the gun by their uncle who gave it to them for protecting the herd from wolves. So Brad struggles with his bleeding wife and some emotionally disturbed co-passengers who think it is a terrorist attack and want to leave as soon as possible. Cate is taken to the village of the bus tour guide where there is no hospital but a local veterinary doctor sews up her wound. Meanwhile the nanny in the US has to go to Mexico for her son's wedding but the parents are not back, so she decides to take the kids with her to Mexico, a risky job but they manage to cross the border safely. Out in Japan, a deaf girl Rinko Kakuchi is shown as a rebellious kid and has unnatural sexual drive. She is recovering from the suicide of her mother so uses sexuality as a balm to calm her. She does not succeed any time. Her father Koji Yakusho is equally emotional disturbed and he has given away the gun as a memento to the goatherd's uncle. When the Japanese detective asks him about his wife's death, he says that he shot herself with a rifle, not jumping from the balcony. The connection between these stories slowly comes to the fore. There is one strand which connects all these stories. Absolutely powerful movie directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. The music by Gustavo Santaolalla is simply breath taking. I watched this movie on Amazon Prime Video, unfortunately the movie did not have any sub-titles, which is a major drawback. The acting by the cast is absolutely good. There are so many languages used in the movie - Moroccan, Spanish, English, Japanese, Sign language but there were no sub-titles. The movie is mostly shot on actual locations which is breath taking. Adriana Barazza as the nanny has done a superb role. The Moroccan part of the actors were also extremely good and lifelike.