Black Sea
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Starring: Jude Law, Jodie Whittaker, Ben Mendelsohn
115 mins; Class 15;
KRS Releasing Ltd
“I’ve been working on submarines for nearly 30 years. I lost my family to this job,” says submarine captain Robinson (Jude Law) tersely to the corporate flunky who’s just told him he and many of his colleagues are being let go.
His pleadings about his 11-year service to the salvage company are to no avail. “Recession,” responds the flunky uncaringly.
And so, the when the despondent Robinson is told of a sunken World War II German U-Boat laden with Nazi gold sitting at the very bottom of the Black Sea off the coast of Georgia, he jumps at the chance of captaining the expedition, imagining his chances of reuniting with his family if he, literally, strikes gold.
Sourcing a mysterious investor to fund the expedition via go-between Daniels (Scoot McNairy) and bringing together a disparate crew of seasoned – and one inexperienced – Russian and British submariners, Robinson sets sail.
It is never a good idea to put 12 men, of different nationalities, personalities and temperaments on a submarine on a hazardous mission – even if it promises a multi-million dollar reward. Needless to say, the cramped conditions and tense atmosphere lead to clashes, some of which turn violent, making the job that much more dangerous.
Our sympathy with the protagonists slowly ebbs away as they travel fathoms deeper to a terrible fate
And the deeper they go, the more unbearable the tension becomes. This is thanks to Kevin McDonald’s tight grip on proceedings as he exploits the claustrophobia to the hilt, causing the characters’ – and our – nerves to slowly start fraying.
The search for untold riches becomes a quest for survival when, inevitably, things start to go horribly wrong.
The director does not only create an impossible atmosphere around the characters courtesy of the oppressive submarine, but also powerfully illustrates their inner fears and phobias.
Law leads the large ensemble, and displays remarkable dramatic chops – and a strong Aberdeen brogue – as the charismatic Robinson, an intrinsically decent man whose misfortunes at home and at his job lead him to do bad things. He is excellent as the man trying to keep his crew together the expedition begins to south.
Law leads an ensemble of characters that are a little archetypal – yet all the main characters are well-drawn, thanks to the strong performances including McNairy’s untrustworthy Daniels, whose true agenda is unknown.
Ben Mendelsohn is veteran diver Fraser, keen to follow Robinson as long as it suits him, yet his volatility proves an added danger. The tough and taciturn Russian (Grigory Dobrygin) becomes an unlikely ally when things get really tough and Tobin (Bobby Schofield) is young and green.
Black Sea is a tautly written claustrophobic thriller, which starts out as a cry against corporate callousness but soon becomes a moral about the evils and perils of greed.
Our sympathy with the protagonists slowly ebbs away as, one by one, they turn on each other as they travel fathoms deeper and deeper into the black sea and into a terrible fate.