The film does not deserve a rating of 5/10 and is saved above all thanks to the good acting of the actors and the excellent interpretation of Favino, Commander Todaro; I give the screenplay a much, much lower rating because you can't see scenes like those in the film:
-- The recipe for french fries in one of the final scenes is one of the most unlikely things to imagine, given the circumstances; and there is no shortage of parmesan, gnocchi, pizza and mandolin either
-- the description of the living conditions of the people on board as worse than those of the slaves who worked in the lead mines in Roman times
-- the scene of a sailor praying and fighting with another who shows him a blasphemous object
All this nonsense is described and on the contrary the passion and pride of being a submariner is not described, a deadly, avant-garde weapon for those years. Submariners are highly specialized technicians in their sector, prepared, with nerves of steel, capable of adapting, improvising and solving difficult and complex situations. Not everyone is able to work and live in a submarine and of all the various sectors and technical departments of the highest level of a submarine: sonar, radio, weapons, engines, electricity, navigation, route, attitude, etc. The only one considered in detail and almost exclusively is that of the kitchen, as if the submarine were in essence an underwater restaurant
It is said that only Americans are capable of making good war films, perhaps arrogant and superficial films, but which highlight the audacity, courage and preparation of the soldiers There is none of this in this film, and in the end perhaps the main merit of the film is precisely that of highlighting the ugliness and stupidity of war, of every war
The film completely lacks the tension, audacity and courage that you expect in the scenes of a war film and this is a real shame because, in my opinion, one of the "missions" of cinema is precisely to emotionally and completely involve the viewer; so I reiterate that this is a theater work more than a film; and it's a shame because the idea was good, that is to recall a military event that actually happened; in the credits we read that of the 112 submarines that had been launched since the beginning of the war only 19 returned to their homeland, and so it is clear the film was intended to be a tribute to Italian submarine sailors.
- A twenty-year-old sailor who light-heartedly goes to his death to free the submarine from a mine and acts as if he were going to meet his girlfriend
- Another sailor with a mangled leg who stays on deck because he wants to see the ship sink
-- The recipe for french fries in one of the final scenes is one of the most unlikely things to imagine, given the circumstances; and there is no shortage of parmesan, gnocchi, pizza and mandolin either
-- the description of the living conditions of the people on board as worse than those of the slaves who worked in the lead mines in Roman times
-- the scene of a sailor praying and fighting with another who shows him a blasphemous object
All this nonsense is described and on the contrary the passion and pride of being a submariner is not described, a deadly, avant-garde weapon for those years. Submariners are highly specialized technicians in their sector, prepared, with nerves of steel, capable of adapting, improvising and solving difficult and complex situations. Not everyone is able to work and live in a submarine and of all the various sectors and technical departments of the highest level of a submarine: sonar, radio, weapons, engines, electricity, navigation, route, attitude, etc. The only one considered in detail and almost exclusively is that of the kitchen, as if the submarine were in essence an underwater restaurant
It is said that only Americans are capable of making good war films, perhaps arrogant and superficial films, but which highlight the audacity, courage and preparation of the soldiers There is none of this in this film, and in the end perhaps the main merit of the film is precisely that of highlighting the ugliness and stupidity of war, of every war
The film completely lacks the tension, audacity and courage that you expect in the scenes of a war film and this is a real shame because, in my opinion, one of the "missions" of cinema is precisely to emotionally and completely involve the viewer; so I reiterate that this is a theater work more than a film; and it's a shame because the idea was good, that is to recall a military event that actually happened; in the credits we read that of the 112 submarines that had been launched since the beginning of the war only 19 returned to their homeland, and so it is clear the film was intended to be a tribute to Italian submarine sailors.