Directed by Kathryn Bigelow and screenplay by Christopher Kyle from a story by Louis Nowra, K-19: The Widowmaker is the story of a Soviet nuclear submarine crew dealing with reactor leak in the sub as a captain and officer try to deal with the situation and each other. Based on a real-life incident set in 1961 during the Cold War, the film is an exploration into the inner-politics between two officers and how they try to defuse an incident that would nearly spark World War III. Starring Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, and Peter Sarsgaard. K-19: The Widowmaker is an engaging film from Kathryn Bigelow.
The film is a simple story about a Soviet submarine crew in 1961 during the Cold War as it revolves around a new nuclear submarine where its crew and captain are under the command of a new captain who is trying to fulfill the duties of the state as he puts himself and crew at great risk during a test run. When its nuclear reactor starts to leak and radiation emerging into the submarine, two captains begin to figure out what to do as tension emerges between the two captains as well as its crew. It’s not just a film about the submarine crew trying to defuse a situation that spark World War III but also the idea of duty as Captain Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) and Captain Mikhail “Misha” Polenin (Liam Neeson) try to find a balance over who they should be loyal to.
Christopher Kyle’s screenplay, with additional work from Tom Stoppard, does have a traditional structure as well as a study into the personalities of the two captains. Polenin treats his crew as if they’re his children and always help them in whatever as he will make sure they get the job done. Vostrikov is a more by-the-books individual who uses his rank to maintain control as he holds drills to see if the crew meets his expectations. This would add tension between Vostrikov and his crew who are loyal to Polenin as things get more complicated when the original doctor is killed as he’s replaced by a base doctor who knows nothing about radiation sickness. Another troubling circumstance is the addition of a new nuclear reactor officer in Lt. Vadim Radtchenko (Peter Sarsgaard) who had just graduated from the academy.
The mission was supposed to be a test run which was successful but Vostrikov’s ideas to test the submarine would have some serious repercussions when the radiator leaks. This would cause Vostrikov to be lost as two of Polenin’s officers plot a mutiny in order to get Polenin in control which would add to the drama of the film. Yet, it would create some major complications as it’s clear that Polenin isn’t just the film’s conscience but also a man who knows the importance of duty no how much he disagrees with Vostrikov. Especially since Vostrikov is under a lot of pressure from his superiors to deliver as he was given little time to get the ship ready as he tries to gain the trust of his crew.
Kathryn Bigelow’s direction doesn’t really do anything new as far as what’s been expected in a film set mostly in a submarine. Yet, she does manage to infuse a lot of style into the claustrophobic setting of the submarine which is still very engaging as it’s often cramped and there’s a lot that goes on. Bigelow’s use of tracking shots, hand-held cameras, and steadicams to capture the movements of a submarine as well as the sense of chaos showcase the pressure that isn’t just mounting on Captain Vostrikov but also his entire crew. Even as there’s a nuclear reactor in that submarine as it’s the most fragile thing on the submarine where Bigelow reveals how it would leak through some visual effects as it’s one of the few sequences that requires visual effects along with some scenes in the submarine. A lot of these moments not only showcase the submarine as a character in the film but a very fragile character that is being pushed too the limits as it serves a symbol of world that is in the cusp of complete terror.
Bigelow also knows when to give the suspense and drama a bit of a break for a scene where the crew play football outside of the sub and on an ice block along with a scene where the sub is stopped as they’re seen by an American helicopter where the crew moons it. The film also includes an epilogue which not only plays into the fall of communism but also what the two captains and its surviving crew have lost as they ponder the sacrifice of those who saved them. Overall, Bigelow crafts a very compelling film about two captains dealing with the idea of duty during the Cold War.
Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography from the use of lights in the submarine as well as the blue lights inside the reactor room along with some naturalistic shots of some exterior scenes in the day and night. Editor Walter Murch does fantastic work with the editing with its use of rhythmic cuts to play into some of the action as well as some jump-cuts and some slow-motion moments to play into the drama. Production designers Karl Juliusson and Michael Novotny do amazing work with the look of the submarine and its many compartments as well as its port and some of the base buildings where the superiors are at work.
Costume designer Marit Allen does nice work with the look of the uniforms the crew wears to play into the sense of importance as well as who they are as they‘re loyal to each other. Visual effects supervisors Bruce Jones and John Nelson do terrific work with some of the visual effects such as the submarine under the sea as well as the scene where it breaks into the ice. Sound designer Pat Jackson and co-sound editor Larry Schalit do superb work with sound to play into the atmosphere of the submarine as well as its sirens and such inside the sub. The film’s music by Klaus Badelt is wonderful for its Russian-based orchestral score filled with vocal choirs and heavy string arrangements along with some pieces of traditional Russian folk music and the Soviet anthem that is played in the film.
The casting by Ross Clydesdale, Mali Finn, and Mary Selway is brilliant for the ensemble that is created as it features some notable small performances from Joss Ackland as the defense minister Marshal Zolentov, John Shrapnel as Admiral Bratyeev, Christian Camargo as the senior reactor technician Loktev, and Donald Sumpter as the submarine’s new medical officer Gennadi Savran who has no clue what he’s dealing with as he was a last-minute replacement. Steve Nicolson and Ravil Isyanov are terrific in their respective roles as torpedo officer Yuri Demichev and political officer Igor Suslov as they would be the one to plot the mutiny against Vostrikov. Peter Sarsgaard is excellent as the reactor officer Lt. Vadim Radtchenko who comes in at the last minute unaware of the situation he’s facing as he deals with his inexperience and inability to help his crew.
Liam Neeson is amazing as Captain Mishna Polenin as he is the film’s conscience as a man who is beloved by his crew as he deals with Vostrikov and the chaos of the submarine. Finally, there’s Harrison Ford in a superb performance as Captain Alexei Vostrikov as a man who has to ensure the success of his mission at great risk as he becomes torn between his duty to his superiors and doing what is right for himself and his crew.
K-19: The Widowmaker is an excellent film from Kathryn Bigelow that features top-notch performances from Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson. While it may not have a lot of originality, it is still a captivating film about a submarine crew and its two captains trying to prevent World War III from happening as well as delving into the theme of duty. In the end, K-19: The Widowmaker is a superb film from Kathryn Bigelow.
Kathryn Bigelow Films: The Loveless - Near Dark - Blue Steel - Point Break - Strange Days - The Weight of Water - The Hurt Locker - Zero Dark Thirty - The Auteurs #29: Kathryn Bigelow
© thevoid99 2014
Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 9/4/05 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.
Based on the novel by John Le Carre, The Constant Gardener is the story about a British diplomat who tries to figure out what happened to his wife where he discovers about illegal business practices involving pharmaceuticals in Africa by his own government. Directed by Fernando Meirelles and screenplay by Jeffrey Caine, the film is about a man dealing with his wife's loss and how he tries to help uncover into why she was murdered in Africa. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Bill Nighy, Danny Huston, Donald Sumpter, and Pete Postlethwaite. The Constant Gardener is a phenomenal thriller from Fernando Meirelles.
The film is about a quiet British diplomat who learns about his the murder of his activist wife as he tries to figure out what happened to her. Yet, he goes into a journey into figuring out why she was murder as in Kenya as it relates to the illegal business practices relating to pharmaceuticals. The story is largely told from the the eyes of this diplomat named Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) who is quiet individual who often escapes into being a gardener. The death of his wife Tessa (Rachel Weisz) forces him to asks questions as he asks those in his government about what happened forcing him to go to Kenya himself. Even as it involves a top political official in Sir Bernard Pellegrin (Bill Nighhy) where Quayle begins to piece out the things his wife was trying to uncover as it involves illegal testing on Africans where he eventually meets a doctor in Marcus Lorber (Pete Postlethwaite) whom he met some time earlier as Quayle realizes it's a bigger thing that concerns Africa as a whole.
A lesser director or someone more commercial would've tried to get away from a lot of the social commentary of the film to go more into the romantic subplot of the movie while trying to make it more appealing for a mass audience without being too preachy. Director Fernando Meirelles and screenwriter Jeffrey Caine refused to polish any of those ideas. Caine's adaptation of the Le Carre` novel gives the story a wonderfully stylish thriller that has a bit of romance and suspense as well as some insightful social commentary. What is going on in Africa with its poverty, people dying from disease, and being used as guinea pigs for drug testing is truly disgusting. The way Caine told the story was giving the film's first act a non-linear structure of flashbacks even a bit of that in the second and third act.
The structure of the story is wonderful where the first act is Justin's relationship with Tessa and dealing with her activism. The second act is him grieving and realizing what she was trying to do. The third is him finally realizing his own role and the sacrifices he's making. This is some great storytelling with a lot of dangers about pharmaceuticals where things can go wrong in the side effects. Even in the social commentary, we see things where Meirelles captures every awful that is going on and at moments, we see Tessa and later on, Justin trying to do what is right for one person where maybe, that little moment can change someone's life.
Meirelles' ability to give the story not just a genre-bending style in the storytelling but his raw approach of directing gives the film some intense reality. Shooting on location in Africa, Meirelle captures everything from the landscapes, deserts, to the shanty towns and villages where all those poor people live. With his regular cinematographer Cesar Charlone, the film is shown just as it is without any kind of visual effects or artificial lighting. The scenery in Africa is very epic in its look while using all the people as extras where hopefully, he and the people involved probably gave them some kind of hope in this amazing film.
Even in some of the most intense moments, Meirelle does what is necessary, even in something like he death, he does what a wise director would do. Even in why Justin finds comfort in the gardens he's in that is really metaphoric to what Tessa is doing. Meirelles' directing is truly a remarkable step up from what he achieved in his 2002 film City of God. Charlone meanwhile, in scenes in London and Berlin goes for a grainy, monochrome hand-held style of shooting to give the movie a realistic, dreamy look while his African photography style is exquisitely amazing.
Editor Claire Simpson brings in wonderfully-paced, stylized cutting approach to the film in its 130-minute running time where it doesn't feel very slow. Plus, the non-linear style of the movie doesn't lose itself once the story keeps going. Production designer Mark Tidesley also does well in capturing the authenticity of what Africa looks like from its villages and the surroundings of the rich lifestyle where the government lives as does costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux. Finally, there's the exquisitely harrowing, dramatic film score of Alberto Iglesias who brings in the intensity style of a thriller as well as the intense drama of Justin's anguish over Tessa's death. Also there is a great soundtrack of nice African music in the background.
Then there's the film's cast with some wonderful standout performances from the African actors and extras in the film, notably the children who Justin and Tessa would try to help as the audience can hope have a nice future in these troubled times. The film also features some great performances from Archie Panjabi, Anneke Kim Sarnau, Gerard McSorley, Donald Sumpter, Rupert Simonian, and Richard McCabe as the sympathetic, caring allies that Justin and Tessa have while trying to protect each other from their own government. Hubert Kounde is also excellent in the role as Arnold who might be suspected of wrongdoing but we see that he's a wonderful companion with Weisz in his knowledge of Africa while trying to be her partner in helping people.
Pete Postlethwaite is brilliant as a doctor who does all he can to help poor villagers and Africans while taking on children as his assistants as a man who is doing the right thing while living in fear of the knowledge he holds about Tessa's death. Bill Nighy is brilliant as the slimy Bernard Pellegrin who is doing everything he can to cover up his business while giving dark threats to what he wants to do. Nighy deserves a lot of credit for playing a villainous diplomat, especially recently in the recent TV film The Girl in the Café, that was written by Richard Curtis and directed by David Yates, where he plays a mild-mannered diplomat who is under pressure too in trying to save the world. Danny Huston is also excellent in his role as a shady diplomat whose intentions for Tessa is being conflicted with his own political desires. Huston brings a lot of emotional intensity and complexity to a character that could've been done more in a traditional style of writing but there's something more human about in it in Huston's portrayal.
Rachel Weisz gives her most passionate and intense performance as Tessa with a combination of power, spark, warmth, and sadness. Also playing with a prosthetic labor-suit, Weisz brings in a realism and attitude to a great character that has no limits and is very free. In her scenes with Fiennes, we see the warmth that she brings and her frustrations into his lack of support. Ralph Fiennes is extremely brilliant as the mild-mannered turned passionate fighter Justin Quayle. Fiennes brings in a lot of restraint and subtlety early on while struggling with the idea of his wife supposed infidelities and her activism. Fiennes brings a lot more development to the role as he does all he can to help out despite his lack of power and strength.
The Constant Gardener is a superb film from Fernando Meirelles with the amazing performances of Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz. It's a thriller that raises questions into the world of pharmaceuticals as well as how those are profiting from it while ignoring something that could help the world. It's also a film that isn't trying to be heavy-handed in its message though it is balanced by the human drama about man's devotion to his wife. In the end, The Constant Gardener is a marvelous film from Fernando Meirelles.
Fernando Meirelles Films: (O Menino Maluquino 2) - (Domesticas) - City of God - (Blindness) - (360)
© thevoid99 2013
