Problematic, Better Than Expected

Rating: 7/10 (21 June 2003)

I was not supposed to like this film at all. I am not a fan of 'heroic' movies, and Tom Clancy books and films belong for me to the popular science shelves. However, I found 'K-19' to be a more interesting and in some ways better than expected movie. The film is based on the true story of a Soviet atomic submarine, going through an emergency situation in the early 60s. The subject is a good opportunity of asking some questions about the futility of the fate of very young people sent to serve in the Army (whatever Army), about characters reaching the hysteria of heroism, about the fight between discipline and common sense in a military environment. In the 'good Hollywood tradition', it does it but it goes only half way from an artistic point of view. Director Kathryn Bigelow is good in rendering the claustrophobia of the submarine life, and avoids to the possible extent the stereotypes in directing her actors. Peter Sarsgaard has a fantastic scene when doing a young officer terrorized to sacrifice his life to save other's. Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson are as good as you can expect. The problem is in the total absolution the film gives to Harrison Ford's character, and indirectly to the cause the characters were sent to fight for. Yes, they were heroes. Yes, they did their best for what they perceived as a just cause. Does this turn them into models in today's world? The Hollywood treatment for these Soviet era heroes does not help in answering any of these obsessive questions. 7/10 on my personal scale.