Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich

It is the presentation, more than the film itself, that is the selling point for Louis de Rochemont III’s 1958 semi-documentary about the journey of a large Norwegian sailing ship—the titular windjammer—and its crew of student seamen from Oslo to America and back again, with stops in Madeira, Curacao, San Juan, and Port of Spain in Trinidad. Windjammer is a pleasant, colorful travelogue, complete with a kaleidoscope-inspired visit to New York City, as well as occasional dance sequences and songs. Along the way, there are also a few moderately exciting moments of bad weather and underwater diving, as well as exercises involving U.S. Navy ships and an encounter with another student sailing vessel—a German windjammer that later sank in a hurricane. Windjammer was the only film made in a three camera-and-projector process called Cinemiracle, the National Theatre chain’s answer to the popular Cinerama format. This Blu-ray edition features a meticulous reconstruction and remastering by David Strohmaier and the Cinerama Restoration Team, recreating the in-theatre experience (insofar as possible) by employing the so-called SmileBox format, which approximates the curved-screen effect of both Cinerama and Cinemiracle. Extras include a "making-of" documentary by Strohmaier, featurettes on the remastering process and the Christian Radich at a 2010 tall ships festival, slideshows, and an illustrated booklet. Windjammer is not a great film, but it is historically important as part of the industry’s answer to the increasing penetration of TV in the 1950s and it is well worth seeing in this superb restoration. Recommended. (F. Swietek)