It
is the Red October of German U-boats. U-235 was commandeered by the Allies in
hopes it could slip through the Axis naval blockade. Unfortunately, they know
it has gone rogue in Sven Huybrechts’ Torpedo U-235, which releases
today on VOD.
Belgian
resistance leader Stan is not inclined to take prisoners, but it will be hard
to blame him when we learn his full backstory. His daughter Nadine is part of
his rag-tag team, but the rest of their family was killed by a nasty piece of
SS work. As a result, he has earned a rep for ruthlessness that has made him a
pariah amongst the Belgian command-in-exile. However, that makes his squad
perfectly expendable for this high-risk mission.
Stan
and his men will pilot a U-boat loaded with uranium from the Belgian Congo
across the Atlantic to supply the Manhattan Project. According to the original
plan, captured old-line Naval Captain Franz Jager was supposed to give them
several weeks of intensive training and then cut them loose. However, they all
find themselves diving for survival when local informers turn them in to the
National Socialists.
In
many ways, U-235 is like a throwback to old Euro war movies that were
filmed in Yugoslavia with vintage military equipment rented from Tito. That’s
actually a good thing. This is a lean, unfussy film that clearly enjoys the
traditional conventions of the submarine movie. Huybrechts milks the claustrophobic
setting with gusto, while not overdoing the predictable conflicts between the
Belgians and Jager. In fact, the German captain’s motivations are reasonably
believable. (Still, whenever we see a phonograph record in a sub film, we know
with absolute certainty someone will accidentally play it at an inopportune
time.)
As
Stan, Koen De Bouw looks a good deal like Das Boat’s Jurgen Prochnow,
which doesn’t hurt. Likewise, Thure Riefenstein could pass for a young Thomas
Krestchmann as Jager, which also definitely works. Plus, most of Stan’s crew
look suitably hard-nosed and weathered.
Basically,
U-235 is an unpretentious riff on The Dirty Dozen and virtually every
other submarine movie that came before it, but Huybrechts and his cast always
take care of business. They pull us into the film and through the unlikely
narrative. Recommended for fans of old school war films, Torpedo U-235 releases
today (5/19), via Epic Pictures.
