Review
by Valeria Reckert
Desperate Crossing “It’s
a story familiar to most of us from school. And in many
ways, the story of the passengers on the Mayflower
is like that of every immigrant who has come to America
to start a new life. Yet the true story of the Pilgrims
is far more complex than the one most of us learned
as children – and also more intriguing. This is
a decades-long epic tale, filled with real drama, tragedy,
and inspiration..” from The History Channel.
Through this review please bear in mind
that I am not an expert on the history of the Pilgrims
and the Wampanoag’s. This is written from a person
who believed what she was taught in school about the
Mayflower and her landing in America. I have
recently watched Desperate Crossing: The Untold
Story of the Mayflower
and it has truly opened my eyes as to the hardships
that the pilgrims encountered just to get here to America.
The story was very revealing into the life they had
before they sailed on the Mayflower and then life on
board the Mayflower.
Starting off with their lives in England and what compelled
them to leave and start a new life. The location shoots
were seemed very true to what it must have been in their
day. The wardrobe also was true to what they must have
worn. At times in the movie the clothing didn’t
seem warm enough.
Meeting with Samoset I was somewhat disappointed though that
my four grandfathers were not mentioned in the movie,
Henry Samson, Richard Warren, Francis Cooke and James
Chilton. That was my only disappointment in the movie.
I highly recommend this film to all to watch. I feel
that too many times Hollywood takes the facts of events
and glamorizes it just to sell the movie. I do not feel
that this movie was done that way. There is a very good
eye opening story here to be heard. This film does include
the first “Thanksgiving” and it does open
your eyes as to what they really must have gone through
to get here. I found myself transported back and at
times felt as though I was there. Some documentaries
seem to drag at times and I did not find that happening
at all in this movie.
Living in Plymouth I was curious about a couple of things
while watching the movie so I sent a few questions to
the Director/Producer Lisa Q. Wolfinger:
Val: “How long
did it take to prepare for the filming and how long
did it take to film it?”
Lisa: “We started
working on the research for the script in January 2005
and have only just completed the project. We shot a
total of a month and a half in the fall and winter of
2006 in Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, Belgium and
England.”
Val: “Are they
descended from any of the Pilgrims that came over on
the Mayflower? If so who?”
Lisa: “I’m
afraid I am not a descendent but I was educated in England
and studied European history so the historical background
to the pilgrim story was very familiar to me.”
Val: “With all
that has been written, filmed, and documented on the
Mayflower and the pilgrims, what compelled them to film
the Desperate Crossing? Why was that part of the story
important for them to tell?”
Lisa: “It was
time to breathe new life into a tired legend and remind
people that it was a true story involving real people.
The voyage of the Mayflower is an iconic moment
in history and deserves to be told in depth. I don’t
think anyone has done it to date the way we have.”
I am now one very humbled and grateful
grand daughter of the pilgrims. To the Director/Producer
Lisa Q. Wolfinger, cast and crew, I personally thank
you for the story you told. You did an outstanding job!
I will watch this again and I give it a very high rating.
Parents, you should have your children watch this for
a better perspective of what happened. I feel it was
superbly done. Thanks for telling the other side of
the story!
THE
HISTORY CHANNEL® three-hour special
on the Pilgrims’ troubled journey and the founding
of the Plymouth Colony
Sunday, November 19 at 8pm ET/PT
Play the Desperate
Crossing Game
Watch the Preview
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