AllMovie

Enjoyable only for specialized audiences, this inventive documentary records the voyage of a sailing vessel from St. Malo, Brittany to the St. Lawrence seaway in Canada. Retracing the 17th-century, watery path of the French explorer Jacques Cartier, on-board poet and writer Michel Garneau limns a poem for each day of the journey. His creative poetry and prose, along with the battles against storms and high seas, icebergs and inclement weather, form a rich body of material for this sea-faring documentary. Garneau stands in front of a college audience at the end of the documentary, reading excerpts from his poetry and chronicles of the sea voyage.