Here's a review of a new Harrison Ford movie...
K-19: The Widowmaker
movie-reviews.colossus.net
United States/United Kingdom, 2002
U.S. Release Date: 7/19/02 (wide)
Running Length: 2:15
MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Mature themes, disturbing images)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Seen at: Ritz Five, Philadelphia
Cast: Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Peter Sarsgaard, Christian Camargo, Joss Ackland
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Producers: Kathryn Bigelow, Edward S. Feldman, Sigurjon Sighvatsson, Chris Whitaker
Screenplay: Christopher Kyle
Cinematography: Jeff Cronenweth
Music: Klaus Badelt
U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures
K-19: The Widowmaker is a war movie without a war, or at least without a hot war. Like Crimson Tide and Thirteen Days, the film uses the backdrop of a potential nuclear holocaust to generate a powerful sense of escalating tension. And that's not the only common ground. As with Crimson Tide, the majority of the movie takes place in the belly of a submarine with the threat of mutiny in the air, and, as with Thirteen Days, the events depicted herein are based on a nearly catastrophic incident from the 1960s.
Most submarine pictures, including the greatest of the sub-genre, Das Boot, use the claustrophobic setting of the submerged vessel as an opportunity to ratchet up the suspense level during battle scenes. Indeed, there are times during Das Boot when the tension is almost unbearable. However, in K-19, there are no battles - neither of the sub-to-sub nor the sub-to-surface variety. The movie finds other ways to fray our nerves, such as setting up a situation in which there is a leak in the boat's nuclear reactor, and, if the men can't find a way to repair it or get off the ship, they will all die of radiation poisoning. And, as long as the reactor is non-functional, their engine is down and they can't move fast enough to reach a safe harbor.
Harrison Ford, whose stern demeanor is perfect for this part, is Captain Alexi Vostrikov, the man brought in to command the flagship of the Soviet submarine fleet, K-19. It's 1961, and the USSR is convinced that America is planning a first strike. By situating K-19 off the North American eastern seaboard, the Soviets believe they can nullify the United States' superior weapons advantage. Vostrikov has a difficult assignment. K-19 has been rushed into action, so all of its systems are not in perfect working order. And the crewmembers, except for one officer, Vadim Radtchenko (Peter Sarsgaard), are loyal to the former Captain, Polenin (Liam Neeson), who remains on board as the Executive Officer. When Vostrikov's fondness for taking seemingly unnecessary chances creates unrest amongst the crew, rumbles of a mutiny begin.
K-19 contains a number of scenes that are obligatory in any submarine movie - a dive to crush depth, an uncontrolled rise to the surface, and exercises that presage real emergencies (in particular, fire fighting drills). The strained relationship between Vostrikov and Polenin is as important as any other aspect of the movie. Their interaction undergoes a number of shifts and changes, some of which seem motivated more by a necessity of the plot than by an element of one or both of their personalities. Nevertheless, they progress from wariness to open distrust to respect - a fairly common arc in movies of this nature.
K-19 also offers a fair dose of politics circa 1961. The film does a good job recreating the sense of global paranoia that existed during that time - how the Soviet submariners were expected to give up their lives rather than accept help from "the enemy" because the Americans could not be allowed to examine K-19. Better to die a "noble death" for the sake of the USSR than to follow the path of a traitor and surrender. This is the choice Vostrikov and Polenin recognize they may have to make once the crippled reactor goes critical on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean.
A significant portion of the running time concerns the sometimes heroic, sometimes cowardly efforts of the crew to repair the reactor. Doing so requires teams of men to be exposed to naked radiation for 10-minute intervals without radiation suit protection (there are no suits on board). It is a fatal prospect, and the death is neither quick nor painless. Once Radtchenko sees the condition of the first two men after their time by the reactor, he panics. Unable to go in, he is replaced by another man who suffers horrible radiation burns in his place.
From a pacing and structural standpoint, K-19's greatest weakness is the ending. Not only does it dally for too long as the result of a superfluous epilogue, but it seems determined to tack on a "feel good" moment where one isn't really appropriate. There is nothing in the movie's final ten minutes that adds anything of substance to what has previously transpired. Otherwise, however, the film is well paced. For two hours, there won't be much checking of watches.
It is interesting to note that the director of K-19, which most people would consider to be a "man's movie", is a woman. Of course, Katherine Bigelow is no ordinary female filmmaker. Her resume, which includes titles like Strange Days and The Weight of Water, is devoid of anything remotely resembling a "chick flick", and she was once married to James Cameron. Her cast accomplishes what they're supposed to do. Ford and Neeson give effective, restrained performances, and Peter Sarsgaard does just enough with his character to earn our sympathy.
K-19 will not go down in the annals of cinema as one of the great submarine stories, but it is an engaging and exciting narrative of Man confronting the Demons of his own fear and paranoia. This isn't so much a tale of the fight against nature, but the fight against a dangerous technology that is imperfectly harnessed and understood. It also causes us to reflect on the follies of human rivalry. And, even though the era of K-19 has long since passed and the Cold War has faded into the history books, Man has not changed, and those Demons still exist in this world, although in a different form. K-19 may not have been designed as a cautionary tale, but, amidst the action and suspense, it serves that purpose.
© 2002 James Berardinelli |
