Lawless Actions

An ancient, disintegrating environmental protest vessel chugs out of harbour under cover of darkness. On board a furious argument is going on. The crew are enthusiastic, but inexperienced radicals – mostly road protesters and part-time campaigners. Captain Dale - an uncompromising veteran whose idea of direct action goes way beyond anything his crew is prepared for, looks on these new-age activists with a mixture of sadness and despair. The only crewmember he feels he can trust is his wife - a woman whose simple devotion outweighs her commitment to his cause.

Dale's cause is the protection of the oceans. He has spent the last 20 years hounding vessels involved in practices from oil prospecting to drift-netting – particularly, he’s been dedicated to hunting down the illegal whaling industry and destroying it, by any means. Having received information about one of the few remaining pirate whaling vessels still operating in the North Atlantic, he has scraped together this untrained crew to seek out and expose it.

Jay, Dale’s daughter - a member of the environmentalist establishment and a complete stranger to him – has joined the crew, effectively as a spy. Aware that this once proud campaigner has been ostracised by the mainstream of green politics, and can no longer muster the cash and skilled crews to continue his radical campaigns safely, they want to ensure that he doesn’t damage their own, more diplomatic, political approach to closing down whaling operations. On an un-seaworthy ship, urgently in need of repair, Jay must persuade her father to give up on what he knows to be his final battle, or risk the crew, the ship and himself.

Soon after the ship reaches open ocean, the (chemically aided) euphoric atmosphere among the rest of the crew, is shattered when a crewmember drowns during an action against a drift-net trawler. Dale, however, will not hear of turning back. Things go from bad to worse and the tension on board rises. Fights as well as relationships break out as the crew is forced to confront their reasons for taking on this insane adventure.

The rift between captain and crew grows quickly, but Jay begins to develop a bond with her father. It is hard not to admire his commitment and resolve. It becomes clear that if this is his last fight, he intends to make it count. He plans to sink the whaling ship by ramming it with his own. Both vessels will be irreparable.

On discovering this, Jay is mortified. Dale is planning a terrorist act, which will put his crew at risk, and almost certainly result in his own death. After much soul searching, she sabotages one engine of the ship in a fruitless attempt to force the captain to abort. Dale blames another crewmember for the action – Jay’s new lover who the captain has taken a distinctly fatherly dislike to. He sets him adrift in a lifeboat. The crew responds with mutiny and Dale produces a shotgun. Jay just manages to prevent matters spiralling out of control. She brokers an uneasy peace, but that night, the crew hastily convenes a secret meeting. Deciding that Dale, and his adventure has gone far enough, they take to the lifeboats under cover of darkness.

Finally, the ship Dale is pursuing appears - His final confrontation is approaching but things are not how he planned them - The company running the ship has already gone into liquidation. The captain of the whaling vessel is not some hired minion, it’s the head of the company on a ship now owned by the bank and without permission to sail – this will be his last trip. His ships have been scuttled by Dale over the years, or have rusted in harbour. His business, built up over generations has been driven to bankruptcy. His village is a ghost town, and his way of life is gone. He isn’t out there looking for whales – there’s no longer any point. He’s looking for revenge - a last showdown with Dale.

But Dale cannot accept that it is over - he is determined to make his now pointless stand.

Everything that Jay believes rages against her father's futile violence. As the whaler rounds on them, the battle between father and daughter becomes almost physical up on deck.

It is now that Dale's wife - always the faithful follower -takes matters into her own hands. She rushes to the engine room and attempts to re-start the sabotaged engine - a task for which she has neither the skill nor the knowledge. Up on deck, the fight is interrupted by the sound of the ships engine momentarily sparking, then dying accompanied by the loss of all the ship's electrics.

Dale and Jay rush to the engine room, but they are too late - Dale's wife is dead - electrocuted. The couple drag her back on deck, to revive her as the whaling vessel churns closer and closer.

In the final moment - With Dale and Jay trying to resuscitate his dead wife, and the whaler's ship bearing down upon them, the captain of the other ship suddenly turns aside. He brings his vessel along side, and looks down at the trio on the deck of the stricken ship. For a while, he watches the desperate actions from above. Slowly, he turns his vessel about, and heads off into the distance.

Six months later, after returning home still blaming each other for the death of Dale's wife, and with their clash of approaches still unresolved, Jay visits her father, hoping to heal the rift between them. Forced to watch his assets seized by the courts, and with them, his prospect of returning to sea, Dale has all but given up fighting. He is a different man.

But Jay too has been moved by her contact with her father. He has made her look again at the groups she's involved with, and she is disillusioned with the intrigue and the politics.

As she comes to him now, it is not with sympathy, or with apology, but with a proposal - she has a campaign she wants to set in motion, but needs his experience and skills to make it work…

SHE WATCHES AS HIS TIRED EYES SCAN THROUGH HER PLAN. SHE TRIES TO MAINTAIN AN AIR OF CALM, BUT SHE IS NERVOUS - HIS APPROVAL IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SHE CAN ADMIT TO HERSELF. HE LOOKS UP SLOWLY.

DALE

This is insane.

HE STARES AT HER LEVELLY, BUT HE IS STILL HOLDING THE SHEET OF PAPER. SLOWLY - VERY SLOWLY, THE TINIEST HINT OF A SMILE GROWS - HIS SPIRIT HAS BEEN ENGAGED, HE WILL SAY YES.

FADE TO BLACK.