A dying mariner, full of regret, is looking for his longtime colleague somewhere on the high seas.

A dying French naval frigate captain tries to make a last rendezvous in the winter storm-tossed seas off the Grand Banks, with "le crabe tambour," a French war hero he had betrayed twenty years earlier. "Le crabe tambour" "the drummer crab" was a boyhood nickname for the handsome young Alsatian whom the film depicts proving his courage, first in the war in French Indochina, and then again in the "Generals' Revolt" in Algeria. Courtmartialed because friends like the French naval captain were afraid to risk their own careers by testifying for him, the exiled "crabe tambour" and his trawler, The Shamrock, is now a legend among the Grand Banks fishermen.—Thomas Lipscomb <[email protected]>

There are at least three narratives in this film. The first is a depiction of everyday life on a frigate bound for the Grand Banks: rigorous discipline and repetitive chores, with beautiful scenes of the vessel in rough weather. The second narrative is that of the extraordinary fate of the "Crabe Tambour" (played by Perrin), a character closely modelled on the real-life Pierre Guillaume (aug.11,1925-dec.3,2002), a headstrong French naval officer who served in Indochina and Algeria. In Indochina, he served in a "Dinassaut", a fleet of light vessels in support of the Army river strongholds; After Dien-Bien-Phu he was a main participant in the ferrying to safety of Vietnamese catholics fleeing communism. In 1961, Guillaume plunged head first into the Algiers ´´Putsch of the Generals''. The putsch fizzled, but Guillaume went on to join OAS, a clandestine paramilitary organization seeking to overturn the Fifth Republic and restore Algeria to the status of French territory. Guillaume was caught and tried, later pardoned. Through flash-back anecdotes, the film depicts some of these and other adventures. The third narrative is that of the personal story of the ''Commandant'' (a grade equivalent to US Navy Captain) played by Rochefort, a dedicated and competent naval officer with an unblemished record of devotion to duty - except for one instance, which ruined his chances of reaching the top of the Navy. The unspoken opposition-admiration between Perrin and Rochefort hinges on the different paths followed in a time of crisis, when honor and duty were at odds. The film is thus a meditation on what it means to serve in the military.