Movie Review: K-19: The Widowmaker

K-19: The Widowmaker

Allow me to be up front about something: I don't typically like war movies. I'm not much of a fan of military movies, either. Had there been other new movies out this weekend, I might very well have chosen to see one of them instead of K-19. After having spent two hours and ten minutes watching the story of K-19 unfold onscreen, however, I'm going to admit that I'm very glad to have seen it.

K-19: The Widowmaker is largely based on a true story. In 1961, after the US deployed a pair of submarines capable of a first-strike nuclear attack on major cities in Russia, the Soviet Union retaliated with a first-strike sub of its own. In their rush to achieve parity in the Cold War, the Soviets hurried through the design and building of their new sub, and sent K-19 out to launch a test missile and patrol the eastern seaboard of America before it was truly ready for such a mission. When one of the poorly designed nuclear reactors aboard the sub malfunctioned and threatened a meltdown, the crew was faced with a potential disaster far above and beyond any mere scuttling of the sub or local loss of life. Such an incident could have well resulted in World War III. What happened was covered up by Soviet officials and those involved commanded to silence. It was twenty-eight years before the truth was told.

Kathryn Bigelow directed K-19 and gave the story a humanity mere facts couldn't begin to convey. But long prior to any filming, Bigelow was attentive to the details of what actually happened 40 years ago. She was able to interview former K-19 crew members and their families. Once photography did begin, the Cold War being long over enabled Bigelow and her crew to film government building exteriors and interiors on location in Moscow. Producers even procured an actual Soviet submarine they used for some exterior shots of the boat; many chambers of the interior were painstakingly recreated authentically, including every dial and conduit. The special effects are also extremely effective. Although I suspect models were used, I didn't see any obvious clues as to which scenes were real and which were Hollywood "magic". And there's some very judicious use of cameras sweeps over the exterior of the boat and even from behind the screws that are awe inspiring.

Against this meticulously researched background, Harrison Ford plays Captain Alexei Vostrikov, the man charged with taking K-19 out on her maiden voyage and given no options for delays or failures. Ford, who said in an interview promoting the film that he thought as a child that all Nazis spoke with British accents because of the movies he'd seen, insisted on speaking all of his lines with a slight Russian accent. I was prepared to find fault with such a blatant ploy, but Ford did a terrific job. In fact, Ford's entire performance is terrific. Liam Neeson co-stars as Captain Mikhail Polenin. Originally assigned to captain K-19, he is replaced by Vostrikov when his superiors begin to doubt he can maintain the overly ambitious schedule for deployment. (The Irish Neeson's accent, oddly enough, comes across as almost American.)

K-19 doesn't have many kind things to say about Communism, but it doesn't go out of its way to propagandize either the Soviet or the American way of life. The facts of the time were the way they were, and the members of the Soviet Navy dealt with it as best they could. What K-19 does show is that even the enemy is human, with human flaws as well as the capacity for heroism. And, whatever the Soviet government at the time denied, the men of K-19 were, indeed, heros. K-19 is an amazing story of men who deserve to have the world know of their bravery and sacrifice, and the movie does a wonderful job of doing just that.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: K-19 is rated PG-13. There are moments of extreme intensity that will be too much for the younger set, and the plot is such that an understanding is required to get the full impact of the film. To that end, I'd suggest that movie-goers leave the kiddies at home and just take the 14-and-up family members.