K-19: The Widowmaker

The submarine film has earned its own subgenre, frequently marked by a certain set of cliches--an overwhelming sense of claustrophobic conditions, the use of sound effects to indicate the result of deep underwater pressure (and the pinging of radar) and perhaps most often, an attempt at mutiny, or at least a conflict between a commanding officer and one or more subordinates. Films on submarines have been around since the 30s (there is a Wikipedia entry on the subject), but in the last few years we've seen a crystallization of the genre, from Das Boot to The Hunt for Red October to U-571 to Crimson Tide.

One can include K-19: The Widowmaker, which was Kathryn Bigelow's last film before her triumph with The Hurt Locker. It almost put an end to her career, though, as it was a monumental flop. Financed not by a Hollywood studio (National Geographic was one of the investors) the film cost 100 million but earned back only 35 million. After watching it I didn't see it as a bad film, firmly in line with the standards of one of its type, but it also didn't transcend the cliches, and is simply a solid but unspectacular movie about heroism and courage.

Of course, it's about heroism and courage in the Soviet navy. Set in 1961, the K-19 was the Soviet Union's first nuclear submarine. We learn that it was rushed into use (many men are killed during its construction, earning the "widowmaker" nickname). The brass want to put it to sea as soon as possible, but the ship's captain, Liam Neeson, puts his men first. A new captain, Harrison Ford, a no-nonsense guy who rose through the ranks because of an opportunistic marriage, comes on board, though Neeson stays as executive officer. They go into the Arctic Ocean to run drills and shoot off a missile.

Things are tense between Ford and Neeson but go really bad when one of the reactors springs a leak. The untested reactor officer, Peter Sarsgaard, is put to the test, and has a freak out when he realizes that in order to repair it, crewmen will have to be exposed to lethal doses of radiation. If it is not repaired, the reactor will meltdown and a nuclear explosion could be in the offing, triggering a response by the U.S. So there's a lot at stake as the men on board try to repair the leak, while Ford struggles to hold on to his command.

Most of this works quite well, particularly the scenes between Ford and Neeson. Still, after almost two and a half hours, one realizes that we've been watching a movie about a submarine that needs repair--there is no war going on. I do have to hand it to those who put up money for this, though-- 100 million for a film about a nation that was recently seen as our mortal enemy. Is that why the film didn't do so well--there are no Americans with speaking parts (we see only one American at all, taking photos from a helicopter--he gets mooned by the Soviet crew)?

As with all of her action films, Bigelow provides a sure directorial hand, and it looks great, particularly those scenes that indicate just how cramped the quarters are on a submarine. There are quite a few tracking shots through those cramped quarters, which is a fine technical feat. Did anyone, from any navy, actually volunteer to be on a sub? It seems the height of lunacy to me.