No one murdered them - it's the war, the whole bloody war! We've just got to do these things and say our prayers at the end.
The Cruel Sea
(1953)
Perhaps due to distance allowed by eight years, or maybe just because of the focus of the script (life aboard for the
men, and their duties, not the war itself), but for the most part this
adaptation of Nicholas Monsarrat’s novel about a WWII corvette hunting U-boats
is admirably free from both propaganda and classic notions of heroism. Also, 60
years later, it remains a frequently gripping experience; a testament to the approach
taken, given the stodge frequently served up as WWII dramas during this period
and beyond.
Jack Hawkins’s captain (ex-Merchant Navy) and Donald Sinden’s Number One are central, and their performances are
beautifully measured. Hawkins’ captain barely lets the cracks show, meaning
that when he’s affected we ,the audience, are too. Sinden’s more the sensitive,
educated type, and you aren’t initially sure who among the inexperienced young
officers will see the film through. Early scenes are devoted to Stanley Baker’s
bastardly first lieutenant, a used car salesman in civvy street, so it’s a
surprise when he exits the proceedings. Elsewhere, Denholm Elliot (a lawyer in
peace time; the professions of the crew are as much signals of character as
what we see on screen) is pre-occupied by his actress wife’s extra-marital
pre-occupations.
The most powerful scene sees Hawkins decide
to depth charge a suspected U-boat, despite the presence of British sailors
desperately floating in the sea above. The cry of “Bloody murderer!” from one
Hawkins’ crew, and the captain’s subsequent breakdown, are evidence of a script
that is uninterested in steering towards the easy options for its characters.
Repeatedly, Hawkins blames the harsh events that befall them on the “bloody
war”; it’s not something to be glorified. And this appears to be underlined
with the realisation that, over the course of five years, their achievement as
a crew(s) amounted to the sinking of only two U-boats; perhaps not the most
effective of countermeasures against the enemy. Tellingly, Sinden’s character
is unconcerned by his lack of medals since he has Virginia McKenna waiting at
home.
Other scenes deserve a mention; the sinking
of the first boat and subsequent drifting for days in tiny dinghies on the open
sea, all the while losing crewmen to the conditions; the gripping yet mundane
search for a U-boat that Warden is convinced is out there, all the while
accompanied by the hypnotic ping of the radar.
****
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