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Black Sea

Black Sea

Movie · 2014 · 19 people

Kevin Macdonald directed the 2014 submarine thriller and adventure film Black Sea from a script by Dennis Kelly. It is a co-production of the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia and runs about 115 minutes. It reached cinemas in the United Kingdom on December 5, 2014, in the United States on January 23, 2015, in Germany on January 29, 2015, and in Turkey, as Kara Deniz, on April 24, 2015.

The story follows Robinson (Jude Law), a submarine captain forced out of the salvage company where he spent years. Gold is said to lie in a sunken German submarine from the Second World War at the bottom of the Black Sea. Robinson assembles a crew and descends in a cramped submarine. The harsh conditions feed fear and mistrust, and as tension rises the men turn on one another and learn that their worst enemy is themselves. Alongside Jude Law the cast includes Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, David Threlfall, Konstantin Khabensky and Grigori Dobrygin.

Macdonald won an Oscar for the documentary One Day in September and also directed The Last King of Scotland, State of Play, The Eagle and Marley. Keeping the tension up in a single setting, and showing how claustrophobia changes behavior, are the central challenges of the subgenre the film belongs to.

DirectorKevin Macdonald
Production companyFocus Features

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Grigori Dobrıgin Grigoriy Dobrygin Film actor · 40 years old Morozov Jude Law Konstantin Habenski Scoot McNairy Karl Davies Jodie Whittaker Daniel Ryan Tobias Menzies Michael Smiley David Threlfall Sergey Kolesnikov (oyuncu) Sergei Puskepalis Sergey Veksler Ben Mendelsohn Bobby Schofield Atilla Şendil Atilla Şendil Actor · 63 years old Bahtiyar Engin Bahtiyar Engin Actor · 61 years old Yıldıray Şahinler Yıldıray Şahinler Actor · 58 years old Bülent Emin Yarar Bülent Emin Yarar Actor · 65 years old

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Through different eyes

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

A cramped submarine, a wartime wreck on the seabed and gold: it is hard to find a better set-up for tension. The danger comes not only from the sea but from the crew itself, which adds an extra edge to everything. Anyone expecting big explosions may find it a little slow; the thrills here come from confinement and mistrust. One for fans of thrillers where characters clash head-on.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

The real test of a single-setting thriller is turning claustrophobia from scenery into the engine of the story. Kevin Macdonald, with the eye of an Oscar-winning documentary maker, seems to choose narrowing the space over dressing it up, and Dennis Kelly's script generates conflict from within the crew rather than from outside dangers. That is the right call, but the familiar shape of the gold-hunt story can make expectations about who will turn on whom just as familiar. Robinson, carrying the anger of a captain pushed out of his company, is the film's center of gravity. Viewers who know the genre's classics may find nothing new, yet it is a well-built, disciplined genre exercise.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The real story behind the film is economic: a captain pushed out of the salvage company he worked for over many years, and the crew he puts together. The treasure hunt looks less like an adventure fantasy than the last resort of people shoved outside the system. Gold lying in a German submarine from the Second World War also suggests how the dark legacy of the past can become bait for present-day desperation. A co-production joining the UK, the US and Russia is interesting in itself. Yet the film uses this background as fuel for suspense rather than exploring it, leaving the class reading to the viewer.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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