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Four Corners – French Connections (1985)

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An act of war education content clip 1, 2

Original classification rating: PG. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

A docudrama-style recreation shows how French secret service agents might have planted the explosives that blew up the Rainbow Warrior and killed a Portuguese cameraman sleeping on board the ship.

Curator’s notes

by Janet Bell

For a current affairs program, this is powerful drama that sets out to recreate the events that triggered the investigation and subsequent arrest of the French agents who destroyed the Rainbow Warrior. Dramatic recreations can be a powerful tool and Chris Masters and Bruce Belsham use this stylistic device to nail-biting effect.

Teacher’s notes

provided by The Le@rning FederationEducation Services Australia

This clip shows a dramatic reconstruction of the sabotage of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour, New Zealand, on 10 July 1985. Reporter Chris Masters describes in voice-over the location, the conditions and the action as it unfolds. Dramatic music plays over footage of a person rowing an inflatable dinghy to the ship and then a scuba diver slipping into the water. A rapid montage of images of the ship and the sound of an explosion are followed by a police car with its siren blaring as it speeds along a street.

Educational value points

  • The clip re-creates the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior by the French Government, which wanted to prevent the ship from drawing international attention to forthcoming nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll. The bombing resulted in the sinking of the ship and in the death of photographer Fernando Pereira, who had been on board. Previous Greenpeace campaigns against French nuclear tests had resulted in French warship attacks on Greenpeace III in 1972 and 1973.
  • The Rainbow Warrior had docked at Auckland harbour on 7 July 1985 to undergo repairs prior to embarking for the French territorial waters of Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls. The ship was to have been part of a 'Peace flotilla’ demonstrating against French nuclear testing due to commence in the upcoming months. That year France exploded eight nuclear devices under Mururoa Atoll.
  • Various sound elements are used to support the narration, convey drama and build suspense. The music suggests fog horns and there are harbour sounds such as the creaking of metal plates and the movement of chains, and an echoing and ominous drumming. A fade-in of livelier music and animated conversation conveys the idea that there is a party on board the ship. Those sounds fade to emphasise the explosion and police siren.
  • The NZ police concluded that at least seven people, organised by the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE) with approval of the French Ministry of Defence, were directly involved in the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and the death of photographer Fernando Pereira. One operative infiltrated Greenpeace, three or four others carried explosives and equipment to NZ by yacht, and frogmen and a support team laid the explosives.
  • Extensive media coverage, alert members of the public, a police investigative force of 80 officers and the discovery of discarded equipment led to the piecing together of the order of events. Two of the seven people involved, Major Alain Mafart and Captain Dominique Prieur, were charged with murder, arson and conspiracy. In September 1985 the French prime minister admitted French involvement and the minister of defence and the head of the DGSE resigned.