244. Kursk, The Last Mission; movie review
Cert 12A
118 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate threat, disturbing images, infrequent strong language
The poster proudly boasts that Kursk - The Last Mission comes from the same pen as Saving Private Ryan.
That matters little because its budget is much smaller and the director doesn't have the same multi-dimensional imagination as Steven Spielberg.
To be fair, Thomas Vinterberg has a decent track record - I loved The Hunt and was impressed by his adaptation of Far From The Madding Crowd.
But Kursk's standard has more in common with The Commune - another movie which didn't quite fulfil its potential.
The former does have stars among its cast - but neither Matthias Schoenaerts nor Colin Firth is on screen for long enough to lift it from being a good film to an excellent one.
Léa Seydoux gives it her best shot but her character is too similar to many seen before on the big screen.
Seydoux plays the wife and mother left at home while her husband (Schoenaerts) goes on naval manoeuvres in the Kursk.
As everyone who remembers the name knows, the Kursk sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea.
Vinterberg is very clear about where the blame lays for disaster - at the door of the Russian hierarchy which had curtailed funding for investment into the Navy.
Thus, the film revolves around its fleet and emergency craft not being for purpose and the dithering over asking for help in trying to rescue crew who survived the initial explosion on board.
Max Von Sydow is the intransigent naval commander who sees it as a mark of Russian weakness to accept the offer of Britain.
Firth plays the British officer who is frustrated by delays.
Meanwhile, Schonaerts is one of those fighting for his life and Seydoux is the wife trying fruitlessly to press for action to save him and his shipmates.
The Kursk is synonymous with tragedy and mystery. I was not clear whether the makers of this film had gone down a particular route because they had new evidence or whether they simply didn't believe the Russian version of events.
Indeed, it is perhaps its simplistic approach which leaves the movie lacking the edge that such a moment in history deserves.
Or it may just be that the outcome is so well known that the tension seeps away.
Reasons to avoid: Doesn't grab as much as it should
Laughs: None
Jumps: One
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6/10
Did you know? Following the Kursk accident, new President Vladimir Putin put Sergei Ivanov in charge of the Russian defence ministry, the first ever civilian to assume the job, thereby breaking the decades-old tradition of the Red Army under which only top generals in active service were qualified for the office of the defence minister.
The final word. Commodore David Russell: "We should have been there two to three days earlier but our permission from Moscow came too late."
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