Black Sea

Kevin Macdonald's latest film Black Sea is a weird, dark and undoubtedly thrilling submarine film which mixes in elements of the heist genre. It has the feel of a Cold War era action film, but is it an entertaining ride? 

Captain Robinson (Jude Law) works in deep-sea salvage, and has just been made redundant. As he discusses his problems over a drink with his mate Kurston (Daniel Ryan) and a Russian man, Blackie (Konstantin Khabensky), Kurston tells them that in WWII a German U-Boat, supposedly stuffed to the brim with gold, sank in the Black Sea and that whilst some large third-parties were interested in salvaging it, they had become embroiled in political red-tape. Kurston has a plan to salvage the gold, and sends the other two to negotiate a deal with a rich man named Lewis (Tobias Menzies), who can fund the expedition. Before they begin the trip, Robinson finds a young man, Tobin (Bobby Schofield) waiting at Kurston's apartment, who informs Robinson that he's committed suicide. Robinson recruits Tobin in his place and the crew travel to Crimea, where they join a Russian crew and the old Russian sub that they're to use. However, once under way, the expedition doesn't go to plan with the claustrophobic conditions, value of the find, and division between the crew adding to the conflict.

Black Sea doesn't hang about. After a brief establishing conversation, Robinson is already working to get the plan under way, and this pace continues through to the very end of the film. It covers so much ground that it's difficult to believe that it's less than two hours in length. The 'U-boat full of gold' back story is interesting with enough intrigue to work, and apart from a few unnecessary flashbacks that create the illusion of character development, the story - and indeed, the characters - fixate on the events within the submarine. The influence of other sub films like Das Boot are pretty obvious, with scattered references throughout, and the overall feel of the film, the tension and claustrophobia, is reminiscent of some Cold War era features. 

Captain Robinson hints throughout that he sees himself and his crew-mates, as the working class, treated like shit by the companies that originally hired them, and that they deserve the gold more than any of the "bankers" that are also hunting it. In his attempts to maintain an egalitarian mood on board the submarine, he's (ironically) frequently putting people into line, which is really where some of the complications begin. Many of them are out for a larger piece of the pie, and almost everybody on the sub is an enemy at one point or another, as they divide against each other. Another interesting character is Fraser, who seems to be a complete and utter nutter, with some conflicting viewpoints. For instance, after some psychopathic measures on his part early in the film, he argues for the moral choice against Robinson, then proceeds to flip back to his previous persona. Really though, all of the characters are quite well-rounded - enough for this type of film anyway - and the acting all-round is great.

This is ultimately an action film, and it succeeds admirably in creating a claustrophobic, dark, damp atmosphere in-fitting with the setting. There are very few wide shots in the film - all are external to the submarine - and from the very beginning of the film, the audience is right up in the face of the characters. There's a minimal use of CGI for the exterior shots and whilst it isn't 100% believable, it's never distracting. I love the fact that it's set in a rusty old Russian submarine, which is absolutely oozing with character (among other things). 

Black Sea has its faults - mainly with some jarring plot developments and unusual characters, but for what it seems to be setting out to achieve - to be an entertaining, atmospheric thriller - it certainly succeeds. Fans of other submarine films are sure to enjoy this.