L’Île noire

Today, there are about sixty thousand people living off-shore in the North Sea. On the F.G. McClintock oil rig, eighty men and one woman work seven days a week in a hostile environment and in a restricted area, with few recreational activities and little room for moodiness. The film shows the roles played by each person, how tasks are defined down to the last detail, and it observes their gestures, their routines and their silence. We hear them talking about the problems of continuing family life and accepting the transition from “normal” life to these episodes cut off from the world, as well as explaining why they carry on, despite salaries not being as good as they were, in these times of economic crisis with the threat of unemployment. Meanwhile, the stand-by vessel circles tirelessly around the rig ready to come to the rescue in case of accidents…