| Secret Sharer | |
| Director: | Peter Fudakowski |
| Producer: | Tom Waller |
| Starring: | Jack Laskey Zhu Zhu |
| Music: | Guy Farley |
| Cinematography: | Michal Tywoniuk |
| Editing: | Jaroslaw Barzan |
| Studio: | Premiere Productions The UK Film & TV Production Company PLC Secret Sharer sp. z o.o. |
| Distributor: | Premiere Releasing |
| Runtime: | 103 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom Poland |
| Language: | English Mandarin |
Secret Sharer is a 2014 Anglo-Polish romantic thriller based on Joseph Conrad’s 1909 novella The Secret Sharer.[1] [2] It is directed and written by Peter Fudakowski,[3] and it stars Jack Laskey and Zhu Zhu. It was released in the United Kingdom on 20 June 2014.[4]
The film was screened at the CMU International Film Festival[5] the Sedona International Film Festival,[6] and the Carnegie Mellon University International Film Festival.
Reviews of the film were mixed. There was criticism of the storyline,[7] [8] and praise for the cinematography.[9]
In the present day Gulf of Thailand, novice sea captain Konrad (Jack Laskey) tries to master a Chinese cargo ship and its resentful crew, who suspect he has orders from his boss to scuttle the vessel as part of an insurance scam.
The crew abandons ship, and later Konrad finds a naked body clinging to the ship's rope ladder. Pulling on the ladder, he finds a young Chinese woman named Li (Zhu Zhu), exhausted from swimming across from the only other ship anchored in the bay. She whispers "Hide me", and he agrees to give her shelter.
The next morning a search party arrives from the other ship, along with Konrad's crew, looking for a woman they claim to be a murderer.
Konrad takes a risk and does not give Li up. Over the remainder of the journey, he shares his food, thoughts, clothes and cabin with his stowaway, keeping her presence on board the ship a secret from his crew, who would use any excuse to strip him of his captaincy. Konrad sets a course that avoids Chinese territorial waters and puzzles over how to help Li escape to freedom and start a new life.
As the journey progresses and romance grows within the captain's cabin, Konrad begins to win the respect of his crew under Li's guidance. Updated orders come from the ship's owner instructing Konrad to scuttle the ship before an upcoming storm, and promising a large bonus for doing so. Konrad, however, begins to question his mission.
The film's musical score was composed by Guy Farley, a composer and musician who had to date worked on other films including The Hot Potato and Knife Edge.[10] A soundtrack album of the film's music was released Caldera Records in February 2014, several months before the film's release.[11]