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Monday, August 12, 2024

KONVOI / THE ARCTIC CONVOY (2023)

Superior fact-inspired WWII sea thriller, not overblown, not for Michael Bay enthusiasts (see PEARL HARBOR/'01), highlights a too little known episode from 1942 when Moscow had only recently joined the Allies and were desperate for the weapons & supplies coming via sea convoy by civilian Norwegian merchant sailors running modest-sized ships thru German-controlled waters, escorted by British ships.  But when the escort fleet is ordered to drop out, the ships are left on their own and unprotected.  Should they quickly turn back or risk being taken down one-by-one?  In this case, the Captain, mixing patriotism with fatalism, holds course, even without the unanimous support of his crew.  Darkly compelling stuff from director Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken, smartly seasoned, rather than submerged with decent CGI effects, and finding the kind of claustrophobic filming techniques you’d expect in a submarine pic.  A faultless cast of Norwegians (there’s even a female navigator) seem to be putting themselves at risk for real, along with a volunteer Swede as chief gunner.  (A magnificent beast!  Somebody get this actor a Hollywood contract.)  There’s a serious wrong turn at the climax, something of a Hail Mary pass too impossible to hang a suspense finale on.  But this hurts less than you might imagine as the film winds down in touching fashion, beautifully handled.

DB/LINK:  For this sort of action from the POV of an escort ship: THE CRUEL SEA/’53.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-cruel-sea-1953.html

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