Review: 'Black Sea' Goes Into the Heart of Darkness
February 3, 2015
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George Huertas ’15 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer Jude Law in Black Sea. Photo Credit: Alex Bailey/Focus Features.
The title Black Sea is more than just a reference to the location of the film’s submarine. It’s also the realm of darkness that the characters’ souls will be entering. Even before rampant paranoia and self-destructive tendencies take their toll, Black Sea marks a sense of foreboding and dread onboard the sub where most of the film is set. None of the men onboard are there by choice so much as by need. They are tenuously held together under the leadership of Jude Law’s Captain Robertson, a stern but not unfair man who is leading the crew into a hunt for a sunken U-Boat said to hold Nazi gold.
This is not a comforting film. It’s tight, claustrophobic, and dark, and there is rarely a moment’s peace in between shots. Each crewmember brings his own skills and liabilities, with Ben Mendelsohn’s Fraser being the wildest of wild cards, only brought on for his skills as a diver. This despite him being what Robertson calls “a f***ing psychopath.” Jude Law in Black Sea. Photo Credit: Alex Bailey/Focus Features.
From the minute the submarine goes beneath the surface, the tension only mounts more with each successive moment. And with each successive moment, something goes terribly wrong. One could title this film Murphy’s Law: The Movie. Countless arguments are had. There are innumerable problems with the aging submarine. And greed worms its way through the crew members like a demon, possessing everyone as they deem their goals more important than the others.
The heart of the film is Bobby Schofield as Tobin. A greenhorn in submarine diving, Tobin is merely there to provide a lasting source of income for his family. However, his safety is called into question when the aggressive Russian submariners believe that his presence begets a bad omen for the mission. Scoot McNairy in Black Sea. Photo Credit: Alex Bailey/Focus Features.
This is a dark, dreary film, and is upsetting to watch. While there are occasional moments of levity to be had, it’s mostly about the evil that men do when pushed to extreme circumstances. More than anything, this film reminds one of Joe Carnahan’s The Grey, another film about extreme men in extreme circumstances. But whereas that film was about survival against the nature of the world, Black Sea questions one’s survival against the nature of men.
The film isn’t without its rough edges. The pace occasionally feels plodding, and some of the characters feel more like two-dimensional archetypes than fully fleshed out human beings. Still, it’s an intense experience that comes with a recommendation. Overall Grade: B
Great film. I would have selected a more level headed crew regardless of skill. The psycho stabbing lunatic would have ended the voyage abrupt. Smoke inhalation kills you before the fire ever does but in a submarine the oxygen would immediately vanish like a queef in the wind; therefore suffocating the entire crew regardless of the securing off rooms that were flooding, burning, or operated by crew who Scoot wanted dead for capital reasons.
Note,a,question who were,the 3 hidden escapes,suits,meant for in the movie the black sea.
Great film. I would have selected a more level headed crew regardless of skill. The psycho stabbing lunatic would have ended the voyage abrupt. Smoke inhalation kills you before the fire ever does but in a submarine the oxygen would immediately vanish like a queef in the wind; therefore suffocating the entire crew regardless of the securing off rooms that were flooding, burning, or operated by crew who Scoot wanted dead for capital reasons.