BELOW
US, 2002, 100 minutes, Colour.
Matt Davis, Bruce Greenwood, Olivia Williams, Dexter Fletcher, Jason Fleming, Scott Foley.
Directed by David Twohey.
Another movie in the submarine genre. In more recent years we have had Crimson Tide and U 571. Below is also set in World War II, in the North Atlantic. A submarine picks up three survivors from their attack on a German ship. All is not as it might seem. The captain has died during the attack, one of the prisoners is German while the other two are English - and then the crew start to hear voices and mysterious things go bang in the night.
The authentic war situation gives the film some edge, but it does not generate the tension that audiences would be expecting. Writer-director, David Twohey took on a similar kind of story with his journey to Mars tale, Pitch Black, in which the vehicle travelling through space becomes haunted and the crew gradually diminishes. That film was literally dark and mysterious. So is the world below. Maybe the blend of realism and horror does not quite gell.
The cast looks earnest, Bruce Greenwood as the man in charge, Matt Davis as the hero who, we know, will save the day or, at least, try to, Olivia Williams as Miss Page, a nurse rescued from a hospital ship.
The achievement with this one is not as successful as the intentions.
1. The popularity of submarine films? Claustrophobia, danger? Combined with the sense of the haunted ship? In the context of World War Two?
2. The sea locations, undersea, the sinking of the ship? The interior of the submarine, a sense of confined space? The dangers to the submarine? Special effects? Musical score?
3. The title, the indication of the world of the submarine, normality at the surface, people trapped below?
4. The situation of the submarine, the North Atlantic, the American submarine, the sinking of the German ship? The attempts to get back to the United States? The reality of the story, the sinking of the British hospital ship, the rescue of the three survivors? The issue of the shooting of the survivors in the water, the stance of the captain, the stance of the three officers? The death of the captain, the writing up of the log, the cover-up, what the three officers had to lose in terms of promotion? The consequences and the submarine being haunted?
5. Bryce, being in control, seeming to be a good captain? His attitude towards the men, the officers? The three survivors? The clash with Miss Page? Confining her to cabin? Their not telling him about the German patient? The killing of the German? The seeming haunting of the ship, the depth charges, the sonar? The hooks on the submarine? His growing tension? The dangers, the decisions, his surliness? The log book, his version of the truth? The growing danger, the death of the officers? The confrontation with O'Dell? The surfacing, his not wanting contact with the passing boat? The confrontation with Miss Page, his shooting himself? The other officers, their role on the ship, their work, personalities? Interactions? Their deaths, being afraid, seeing ghosts?
6. O'Dell, the assistant, his not being involved in the killings? His work on the ship, relationship with Miss Page, with Kingsley? Studying the map, wanting to get to England? Wanting to take over the ship, dominated by Bryce? The mending of the ship, the death of the officer, his sense of fear? The finale, trying to contact the British ship? Surviving?
7. Miss Page, the nurse on the ship, surviving, the German as her patient, his being shot? Her being confined, going out, reading the log? The confrontation with Bryce? Her teaming with O'Dell, the help of Kingsley? Getting the hysterical sailor under control - especially after his misbehaviour towards the dead body? Surviving?
8. The British man, his skills, confined, helping with reading the map, his death?
9. The officers and crew, the two men and their putting the stick in the mouth of the dead man, their hearing the ghostly voices? Hysteria, helping to fix the submarine, being slapped by Miss Page? Surviving?
10. The atmosphere of the haunted ship, the sounds, the voices, Benny Goodman starting to play? The hooks on the submarine? The other sailors and their explanations in a realistic and credible way? The sense of the ominous, the deaths of the officers, the lowering of the air, the hydrogen, the deaths of all the sailors?
11. How well did the various ingredients combine - war action, confined submarine life, survival, ghosts? The theme of maledictions and the people who are cursed somewhere between Heaven and Hell - this film as a purgatorial experience for the crew?
