Divided into three chapters, Gregoris Rentis’s documentary follows Yorgos, Costa and Victor, three private maritime guards at different stages of their seafaring journey. All hailing from Greece, the men are hired as part of counter-piracy security measures for shipping companies, whose boats traverse so-called High Risk Areas. The film, however, is not interested in macho heroism but rather, observed in a state of perpetual waiting, the men come off as passive figures, not agents of control.
Just recruited, Yorgos is adapting to his new unmoored reality, in which daytime drills give way to nightclub outings in the evening. Meanwhile Costa, who is at the peak of his career, seems more at ease with the transient nature of his life. Still his days are also disrupted by phone calls from loved ones, including a girlfriend who laments his absence. For the middle-aged Victor, who is in charge of training new recruits, this life is a young man’s game; he longs to transition to a more anchoring line of work that will keep him closer to his wife and son.
Operating within a masculine space, the camerawork lingers on the male form – as they take a shower or engage in practice hand-to-hand combat. It’s very much reminiscent of Claire Denis’s Beau Travail, with sensual imagery and an air of homoeroticism that subverts the militarised atmosphere. At the same time, such visual experimentation also obscures the larger sociopolitical contexts surrounding the existence of these mercenary corps; it’s apparent in the film that, while the majority of the security hires are Caucasians, the domestic staff onboard are mostly non-white workers. The thorny subjects of race and class hierarchies are here somewhat overlooked in favour of abstract imagery.
• Dogwatch is released on 9 February on True Story.
