Rating of
2/4
"The Cruel Sea" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 03/23/12
The Cruel Sea is a seafaring drama set during WWII, following an escort ship and its crew battling German U-boats. It's very much a film of its time; the propaganda element is heavy, the enemy unseen for the vast majority of the time, and it's full of stiff upper lipped officers throwing in with the working classes. For this reason, it seems very dated and the scenes on shore consist of the usual kitchen sink soap opera melodrama. British stalwarts Jack Hawkins and Donald Sinden put in decent performances but it's lacking any real star presence and some ham fisted direction (particularly the voice over flashbacks) damages the film's authenticity. It is interesting to see the nuts and bolts of how such a ship was operated and the battle scenes are believably realistic, but I can't see this being of much interest to any but military historians and the nostalgic.
