K-19 - Showdown in the Deep
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | K-19 - Showdown in the Deep |
| Original title | K-19: The Widowmaker |
| Country of production |
United States , United Kingdom , Germany , Canada |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2002 |
| length | 132 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Kathryn Bigelow |
| script | Christopher Kyle |
| production | Kathryn Bigelow, Edward S. Feldman , Sigurjon Sighvatsson , Chris Whitaker |
| music | Klaus Badelt |
| camera | Jeff Cronenweth |
| cut | Walter Murch |
| occupation | |
| |
K-19 - Showdown in the Deep (original title: K-19: The Widowmaker , English for "K-19: The Widowmaker") is a film from 2002 , which refers to historical events from the Cold War era .
It tells the story of the Soviet nuclear submarine K-19 , which has been kept secret for decades . The film places great value on authenticity and shows the technical and organizational shortcomings of the technology that was put into service too early. The background theme is also the criticism of the political systems in East and West. The film fell short of expectations commercially.
action
During the Cold War , the Soviet frigate captain Alexei Vostrikov received the order in June 1961 to test the launch of a missile from the Arctic ice with the new nuclear submarine K-19 and thus to certify that the Soviet armed forces were ready for action in the United States demonstrate.
But even during the construction of the K-19, a series of sometimes fatal mishaps caused a bad omen among the crew, which was made up of very young, 20 to 25 year old sailors. Personal conflicts, including Vostrikov's antipathy towards his Polish First Officer, are causing tension on board.
The missile test succeeds, but the accident happens on the 18th day at sea. 70 nautical miles west of the American radio station on Jan Mayen Island, there is a leak in the primary cooling circuit of the second reactor . The uncontrolled chain reaction threatens not only to destroy K-19, but also to burn out the reactor, which raises fears of a nuclear catastrophe.
Six men on duty were able to provisionally cool the reactor with severe radiation. Due to the lack of radiation protection suits, they have to work with simple acid protection suits and are thus exposed to a lethal dose of radiation . In the end, they manage to make makeshift repairs to the cooling system and thus save the reactor from meltdown . Meanwhile, the surfaced boat is being watched by an American destroyer and a helicopter.
However, the repair was only partially successful; shortly afterwards the weld seam tears open again, and this time the reactor officer enters the reactor chamber to touch up the defective weld seam. The captain lets the boat submerge during the repair, as the reactor threatens to overheat and a nuclear explosion would also destroy the American ship that came to the rescue, which could possibly result in World War III. The reactor officer manages with the last of his strength to repair the cooling system. Then the captain lets the heavily contaminated submarine surface again. At the moment when Captain Vostrikov decides to accept the help offered by the Americans to evacuate his crew and sink his submarine, a conventional Soviet submarine appears at K-19, which picks up the crew and the submarine Takes boat in tow.
Proceedings are being opened against Captain Vostrikov before the military court because of the events . He is acquitted, but is no longer given command of a submarine.
28 years later, in 1989, under the influence of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the creeping disintegration of the Soviet Union , the survivors come together at the grave of their dead comrades to commemorate them on the anniversary of the disaster.
Relationship to reality
- The film was based on a true story, but largely does not correspond to reality. The commander of the first rank captain was Nikolai Vladimirovich Satejew and not Alexei Vostrikov, played by Harrison Ford . He also did not replace Mikhail Poland, played by Liam Neeson , but was already the captain years before the departure. The incident with the replacement for the drunken reactor officer is made up, just like all the other characters have fantasy names and their actions are heavily embellished: There was no on-board doctor who was run over by the truck and therefore no seasick replacement. A fire broke out during welding work in the dock, but depending on the source, two or three sailors died instead of five as in the film. The five other deaths mentioned by the Polish woman after the doctor's accident were made up, except for one, and Polish woman could not have known anything about this person at the time, as this incident only occurred two years after the ship was christened and thus shortly before the first departure.
- In the film it is a shipyard worker who smashes the champagne bottle on the bow; in reality it was a man and the ceremony took place at the stern. In fact, as is customary in the Soviet Union, women were involved in the construction of the boat. Six shipyard workers inhaled toxic fumes in an accident and were seriously injured.
- The captain's birthday is also kept secret during the voyage; instead there is diving to the limit, which is mandatory for submarine films, and a rocket launch exercise. Both, like the whole drama of the operation, were invented: At this point in time, the Americans were already using two classes of nuclear submarines with SSBN ballistic missiles and further classes were being planned, with the Soviets there were fewer delays in the construction of the sister ships, and so the K-33 was actually put into service exactly one day after the reactor accident on the K-19 on July 5, 1961. Furthermore, temperatures of around 800 ° C were reached in the reactor core during the accident and almost 1000 ° C in the film. Even these temperatures caused the metal to deform and the control rods for controlling the chain reaction could no longer be regulated. This aspect is also missing in the film. No pipes had to be dismantled for the repair, and the drinking water supply did not have to be weakened, but the cooling circuit of the second reactor could be tapped.
- The inadequate equipment with radiation protection suits and medication corresponds to reality, and also the storage and reuse of irradiated equipment such as acid protective coats and oxygen masks without any cleaning occurred and led to the spread of radioactivity throughout the boat with errors such as open doors and activated ventilation. Nevertheless, much of the behavior of the seafarers depicted and the course of the processes in the film is grossly negligent and does not happen, such as the scenes in which radiation-sick workers are still wearing clothing and jewelry from the repair assignment. In addition, there was neither the fire in the rear torpedo room nor the mutiny and the discussions with the Americans. But there is also a bit of truth to be found there: in 1961 the captain had all handguns thrown overboard except for five pistols for his most loyal officers, thus preventing a possible mutiny. In this context, it is interesting that after the end of the Cold War and a recommendation from Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev , Captain Zateyev was nominated by the Norwegian committee for the Nobel Peace Prize. This proves that Zateyev's character does not agree with the tough hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Vostrikov from the film.
- The production company rented the former Soviet submarine K-77 from a Finnish businessman for $ 200,000 and had it towed from Florida to Halifax for filming .
Awards
- In 2003 the Political Film Society (USA) nominated the film for the PFS Award in two categories.
Reviews
The film easily received mostly good reviews. Rotten Tomatoes received 103 positive and 67 negative reviews. Metacritic counted 17 positive, 16 mixed and 2 negative publications. On the Internet Movie Database page, the weighted average rating of 6.7 out of 10 was determined from 57,246 users.
“Conventional submarine thriller from the times of the Cold War, which comes up with downright grotesque clichés and declines the material according to well-known conventions. What is annoying about it is the undifferentiated apology of military virtues and his reverence for military logic. "
“[...] But the horrific thing about Kathryn Bigelow's minimalist disaster scenario (' Strange Days ') is not the soldiers' fight against radiation death, but the idea that the near-meltdown is true. 'I love intensity,' says the avid extreme athlete Bigelow. And you can see that in their claustrophobic thriller. Even 'K-19' cannot avoid classic ingredients such as suicidal diving trips and bursting weld seams. But the 50-year-old bypasses common clichés, concentrating on the war of nerves of her protagonists and the mortal fear of the men trapped. The survivors of the disaster had to be silent for almost 30 years. It is ironic that an American of all people is building a memorial for them. But it proves that the Cold War has passed out of our heads. At least from those of the filmmakers. "
“Although 'K-19: The Widowmaker' does not even begin to reach the depth of Wolfgang Petersen's genre primus 'Das Boot', it is also not quite as exciting as John McTiernan's 'Hunt for Red October', but despite small flaws the film is convincing Well done, dramatic tension cinema: not a classic, but certainly not a wasted time. "
Web links
- K-19 - show down in the depth in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- K-19 - Showdown in the Deep atRotten Tomatoes(English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Awards. Internet Movie Database , accessed June 12, 2015 .
- ↑ K-19: The Widowmaker on rottentomatoes.com , accessed March 14, 2020
- ↑ K-19: The Widowmaker on metacritic.com , accessed March 14, 2020
- ↑ K-19: The Widowmaker on imdb.com , accessed March 14, 2020
- ↑ K-19 - Showdown in the Deep. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ tvspielfilm.de
- ↑ K-19: Showdown in-depth review by Carsten Baumgardt on film releases , accessed on March 14, 2020