K-19: The Widowmaker
Encyclopedia
K-19: The Widowmaker is a movie released on July 19, 2002, about the first of many disasters that befell the Soviet submarine of the same name. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow
. The screenplay was adapted by Christopher Kyle, based on a story written by Louis Nowra
.
The movie cost $100,000,000 to make, but gross returns were only $35,000,000 in the United States
and $30,500,000 internationally. The film was not financed by a major studio (National Geographic was a key investor), making it one of the most expensive independent films to date. It was filmed in Canada
, specifically Toronto, Ontario; Gimli, Manitoba
; and Halifax
, Nova Scotia
.
launches its first ballistic missile nuclear submarine
, the K-19
— nicknamed "The Widowmaker" due to the many deaths that occurred during its construction. The ship is led by Captain Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford
), aided by executive officer
Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson
). Polenin and the crew have served a number of years and missions together but Vostrikov's appointment is shown to be aided by his wife's political connections; her uncle is a member of the Politburo
. During an early inspection, Vostrikov discovers the officer in charge of the sub's nuclear reactors to be drunk and asleep on-duty. Against Polenin's advice that the man is "the best reactor officer in the fleet", Vostrikov sacks the officer and orders Polenin to request a replacement. The new reactor officer arrives direct from the naval academy and has never been at sea. During the K-19's official launch, the bottle of champagne doesn't break when it strikes the bow; the sailors glance nervously at each other due to this renowned sign of bad luck.
K-19 puts to sea for her trials. Vostrikov orders a series of diving maneuvers and during these, asks Polenin to simulate a number of emergencies including fires and flooding while he times the crew's response. He is not happy with their performance. There are a number of minor accidents during these exercises which result in injuries to crew-members. In addition, Vostrikov points out to Polenin that the crew are too slow and slipshod in their reaction and completion of these exercises. The crew begin to grumble about Vostrikov's demanding orders and authoritarian manner, but Polenin silences them when he visits the crew's quarters: "I heard there'd been some complaining. I thought, 'Not from my crew. Not on my boat'." Meanwhile, Vostrikov blames the officers for the crew's under-performance, accusing them of being soft on the men and lacking leadership.
The crew's performance improves and Vostrikov decides to carry out the K-19's first mission, which is to surface in the Arctic and fire an unarmed ("test") ballistic missile. Vostrikov orders the K-19 to submerge to maximum operational depth (300 metres), then surface rapidly at full-speed to break through the Arctic pack-ice which he estimates to be no more than 1 metre thick. Polenin regards this maneuver as dangerous and, during the surfacing procedure, storms off the bridge. After scraping along the underside of the ice, the K-19 finally breaks through and surfaces with no apparent damage. The test missile is launched successfully and the crew are both relieved and exhilarated by Vostrikov's bold maneuver. The crew are allowed some time off during which they play soccer on the ice and a group photograph is taken. Talking privately with Polenin, the sub's political officer
expresses some confidence in Vostrikov, but Polenin asserts that the captain was "lucky today, that's all."
K-19 then receives new orders, to sail down through the North Atlantic and patrol off the US east coast "between Washington and New York." As the K-19 sails southwards a pipe carrying coolant to one of the reactor cooling system springs a leak and then bursts completely. The control rods are inserted to stop the reactor but without coolant the reactor temperature continues to rise rapidly. Polenin and the radiation officer are shocked to discover that back-up coolant systems have not been installed. Vostrikov orders the K-19 to surface so that he may contact Fleet Command and inform them of the accident and await orders. But upon surfacing they discover the long-range transmitter on the conning tower
is damaged and they are unable to contact headquarters — Vostrikov assumes, ruefully, his surfacing maneuver in the Arctic caused the antenna damage.
The officers and crew-members in charge of the reactor discuss options. The radiation officer informs them that if the reactor temperature exceeds 1000° Celsius it will result in a thermonuclear explosion and may trigger the detonation of the sub's nuclear warheads as well. They have about 3–4 hours before this happens. Some suggest sending out a distress call on the sub's short-range transmitter and abandoning and scuttling
the ship. Vostrikov is against this idea. Pavel, the radiation officer's assistant, suggests they can pipe the K-19's drinking water into the reactor to cool it. But they need to set up a system of pipes to transfer the water. Vostrikov approves the plan and the crew work feverishly, cannibalizing the sub to construct the piping system. The final phase requires sailors to enter the radiation-filled reactor room to weld the pipes together. In order to restrict exposure to the deadly, leaking radiation, they require three teams of two, working for no more than ten minutes at a time. Vostrikov calls for volunteers. Pavel and another crewman, Anatoly Zubachev volunteer to be the first team, but Vostrikov has to order others into the reactor. He orders the radiation officer in as part of the last team, to inspect the success of the welds. Polenin and the radiation safety officer then discover the K-19 has no radiation suits, only chemical suits. "They might as well wear raincoats!", exclaims Polenin. Nevertheless, with no other option, he lies to the men and tells them the chemical suits will protect them.
The first team enter the reactor and begin welding. Emerging ten minutes later and removing the suits, they are both suffering from severe radiation poisoning
and are carried to their quarters where the doctor attends to them. The second team enters. Meanwhile, on the bridge, the captain, officers and crew monitor the reactor temperature which is climbing steadily. In the reactor room, the second team emerges just as badly poisoned as the first and are carried away. It is time for the third team to go in, but the radiation officer is overcome with fear and cannot bring himself to enter the reactor, despite the urgings of Polenin. Chief engineer Gorelov volunteers to go in his place. They complete the welding and to everyone's relief the reactor temperature begins to fall — the plan seems to have worked. But the submarine is beginning to fill with radiation as the reactor door is now breached, to allow the coolant pipe access. Polenin wants to seek help from a nearby NATO base on Jan Mayen
. Vostrikov refuses to surrender his boat or crew and orders the K-19 to sail towards the USSR, under radio silence, in the hope that they will meet up with another Soviet submarine; Polenin is doubtful this plan will succeed as it relies on luck.
Vostrikov is informed that a helicopter is approaching; he and some of the crew climb out onto the deck, thinking a Russian ship has come to save them, only to discover that it is a US Navy helicopter from a nearby US destroyer. The destroyer is asking if the K-19 requires assistance. Vostrikov orders a reply in the negative; the men on the deck notice a crewman in the helicopter photographing them, and they drop their trousers and bare their buttocks
at him. The helicopter flies away. Vostrikov refuses to allow the Americans anywhere near K-19. The US destroyer follows them at a discreet distance.
The chief petty officer
(CPO) meets with the K-19's political officer in private. The CPO reminds the political officer that he is empowered to remove Vostrikov as captain, if he judges Vostrikov to be jeopardizing the mission. After a few hours and no 'friendly' ship sighted the weld connecting the temporary coolant pipe to the reactor fails and the reactor temperature again begins to rise dangerously. The radiation officer dons a useless safety suit and enters the reactor alone to fix the broken weld. Vostrikov again orders the K-19 to submerge, rather than abandon ship, angering the men. As the K-19 dives some torpedo fuel, spilled when the torpedo was stripped for pipes, ignites and causes a fire in the aft torpedo room. Polenin appears to doubt the captain, but goes forward to supervise the men fighting the fire. When he is gone the CPO and political officer produce pistols, point them at Vostrikov and the political officer announces he is replacing Vostrikov with Polenin as captain of the sub, and to surface immediately. Vostrikov is handcuffed to a ladder. With the torpedo room fire extinguished, Polenin returns and is told what has happened. "Good," he says and asks for the CPO and political officer to hand over their weapons to him. They do so and Polenin immediately orders Vostrikov to be released and the CPO and political officer to be placed under arrest, which they are. Polenin admonishes them for the attempted mutiny and re-asserts that Vostrikov is the captain of the K-19.
Vostrikov then attempts to re-order the crew of the K-19 to submerge, but Polenin interrupts him to say "Don't order them; ask them." Vostrikov explains the situation. If the reactor and the ballistic missiles explode while the K-19 is surfaced, the resulting nuclear blast will destroy not only the K-19 but also the nearby US navy ship and, most likely, the NATO base as well. As the K-19 has not been able to inform anyone in the outside world of her predicament, all the USA, Russia or anyone else will know is that a huge nuclear explosion has destroyed a US warship and NATO base. It could trigger World War III
. The crew appreciate their wider duty and prepare to dive deep and scuttle the sub. But the radiation officer has spent 18 minutes in the reactor successfully fixing the weld, and the temperature begins to drop again as Vostrikov himself and other crewmen drag the fatally poisoned officer from the reactor. Just as Vostrikov orders the men off the boat so that he can scuttle it, they are rescued by another Soviet submarine. Vostrikov wants to move his crew to the other submarine, away from the radiation, but permission is not granted. He moves the crew anyway. Polenin warns him that he will be sent to the gulag
, just like his father, for disobeying orders. Vostrikov smiles and says, "Its a family tradition, isnt it?" Afterwards, in an inquiry of the events, Polenin speaks highly of him. The inquiry acquits Vostrikov of any wrongdoing in the end, but he is never given command of another sub again.
An epilogue shows an aged Captain Vostrikov in 1989, putting on his dress uniform in a small flat and catching a train to meet up with Polenin. It is exactly 28 years after the accident; the Berlin Wall
is shown to be coming down. Vostrikov grumbles about the inconvenience but Polenin informs him this is the anniversary of the day they were rescued. The commanders enter a cemetery where a number of the surviving K-19 crewmen are gathered by a gravesite. We learn that this is the first time the K-19 survivors have met since the incident, they were ordered never to meet or discuss the incident after the inquiry. Vostrikov is visibly moved as he greets the men and informs them that he nominated the men now dead of radiation poisoning
(28 in total) for the distinction of Hero of the Soviet Union
, but was told they were not "worthy" of the title as they died not in battle, but as the result of an accident. The men drink a toast to their deceased comrades.
The producers made some efforts to work with the original crew of K-19, who took exception to the first version of the script
available to them. The submarine's captain presented an open letter to the actors and production team, and a group of officers and crew-members presented another. In a later script, several scenes were cut, and the names of the crew changed at the request of the crew-members and their families.
The most significant difference between the plot and the historical events is the scene that replaces an incident where the captain threw almost all the sub's small arms overboard out of concern about the possibility of a mutiny; the film instead portrays an actual attempt at mutiny.
The K-19
was portrayed in the film by the Juliett-class
K-77
, which was significantly modified for the role. Her Majesty's Canadian Submarine Ojibwa
portrayed the Soviet S-270. portrayed the . The Canadian Halifax Shipyards stood in for the Sevmash
shipyard of northern Russia.
Klaus Badelt
wrote the film's late-Romantic styled score
.
When the film was premiered in Russia in October 2002, 52 veterans of the K-19 submarine accepted flights to the Saint Petersburg
premiere; despite what they saw as technical and historical compromises, they praised the film and in particular the performance of Harrison Ford.
Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Ann Bigelow is an American film director. Her best-known films are the cult horror film Near Dark , the surfer/bank robbery action picture Point Break , the science fiction/film noir Strange Days , the historical/mystery film The Weight of Water and the war drama The Hurt Locker...
. The screenplay was adapted by Christopher Kyle, based on a story written by Louis Nowra
Louis Nowra
Louis Nowra is an Australian writer, playwright, screenwriter and librettist.He is best known as one of Australia's leading playwrights...
.
The movie cost $100,000,000 to make, but gross returns were only $35,000,000 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and $30,500,000 internationally. The film was not financed by a major studio (National Geographic was a key investor), making it one of the most expensive independent films to date. It was filmed in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, specifically Toronto, Ontario; Gimli, Manitoba
Gimli, Manitoba
Gimli is a a rural municipality located in the Interlake region of south-central Manitoba, Canada, on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg. It is about north of the provincial capital Winnipeg...
; and Halifax
Metropolitan Halifax
Metropolitan Halifax , often referred to as Metro Halifax, or Halifax, is the urban part of the Halifax Regional Municipality, a regional municipality that covers a large area of Nova Scotia, including rural areas...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
.
Synopsis
In 1959, the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
launches its first ballistic missile nuclear submarine
Nuclear submarine
A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor . The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" submarines are considerable: nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for...
, the K-19
Soviet submarine K-19
K-19, KS-19, BS_19 was one of the first two Soviet submarines of the 658, 658м, 658с class , the first generation nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear ballistic missiles, specifically the R-13 . Its keel was laid down on 17 October 1958, christened on 8 April 1959 and launched on 11 October 1959...
— nicknamed "The Widowmaker" due to the many deaths that occurred during its construction. The ship is led by Captain Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
), aided by executive officer
Executive officer
An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...
Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
). Polenin and the crew have served a number of years and missions together but Vostrikov's appointment is shown to be aided by his wife's political connections; her uncle is a member of the Politburo
Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Politburo , known as the Presidium from 1952 to 1966, functioned as the central policymaking and governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.-Duties and responsibilities:The...
. During an early inspection, Vostrikov discovers the officer in charge of the sub's nuclear reactors to be drunk and asleep on-duty. Against Polenin's advice that the man is "the best reactor officer in the fleet", Vostrikov sacks the officer and orders Polenin to request a replacement. The new reactor officer arrives direct from the naval academy and has never been at sea. During the K-19's official launch, the bottle of champagne doesn't break when it strikes the bow; the sailors glance nervously at each other due to this renowned sign of bad luck.
K-19 puts to sea for her trials. Vostrikov orders a series of diving maneuvers and during these, asks Polenin to simulate a number of emergencies including fires and flooding while he times the crew's response. He is not happy with their performance. There are a number of minor accidents during these exercises which result in injuries to crew-members. In addition, Vostrikov points out to Polenin that the crew are too slow and slipshod in their reaction and completion of these exercises. The crew begin to grumble about Vostrikov's demanding orders and authoritarian manner, but Polenin silences them when he visits the crew's quarters: "I heard there'd been some complaining. I thought, 'Not from my crew. Not on my boat'." Meanwhile, Vostrikov blames the officers for the crew's under-performance, accusing them of being soft on the men and lacking leadership.
The crew's performance improves and Vostrikov decides to carry out the K-19's first mission, which is to surface in the Arctic and fire an unarmed ("test") ballistic missile. Vostrikov orders the K-19 to submerge to maximum operational depth (300 metres), then surface rapidly at full-speed to break through the Arctic pack-ice which he estimates to be no more than 1 metre thick. Polenin regards this maneuver as dangerous and, during the surfacing procedure, storms off the bridge. After scraping along the underside of the ice, the K-19 finally breaks through and surfaces with no apparent damage. The test missile is launched successfully and the crew are both relieved and exhilarated by Vostrikov's bold maneuver. The crew are allowed some time off during which they play soccer on the ice and a group photograph is taken. Talking privately with Polenin, the sub's political officer
Political commissar
The political commissar is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
expresses some confidence in Vostrikov, but Polenin asserts that the captain was "lucky today, that's all."
K-19 then receives new orders, to sail down through the North Atlantic and patrol off the US east coast "between Washington and New York." As the K-19 sails southwards a pipe carrying coolant to one of the reactor cooling system springs a leak and then bursts completely. The control rods are inserted to stop the reactor but without coolant the reactor temperature continues to rise rapidly. Polenin and the radiation officer are shocked to discover that back-up coolant systems have not been installed. Vostrikov orders the K-19 to surface so that he may contact Fleet Command and inform them of the accident and await orders. But upon surfacing they discover the long-range transmitter on the conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
is damaged and they are unable to contact headquarters — Vostrikov assumes, ruefully, his surfacing maneuver in the Arctic caused the antenna damage.
The officers and crew-members in charge of the reactor discuss options. The radiation officer informs them that if the reactor temperature exceeds 1000° Celsius it will result in a thermonuclear explosion and may trigger the detonation of the sub's nuclear warheads as well. They have about 3–4 hours before this happens. Some suggest sending out a distress call on the sub's short-range transmitter and abandoning and scuttling
Scuttling
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
the ship. Vostrikov is against this idea. Pavel, the radiation officer's assistant, suggests they can pipe the K-19's drinking water into the reactor to cool it. But they need to set up a system of pipes to transfer the water. Vostrikov approves the plan and the crew work feverishly, cannibalizing the sub to construct the piping system. The final phase requires sailors to enter the radiation-filled reactor room to weld the pipes together. In order to restrict exposure to the deadly, leaking radiation, they require three teams of two, working for no more than ten minutes at a time. Vostrikov calls for volunteers. Pavel and another crewman, Anatoly Zubachev volunteer to be the first team, but Vostrikov has to order others into the reactor. He orders the radiation officer in as part of the last team, to inspect the success of the welds. Polenin and the radiation safety officer then discover the K-19 has no radiation suits, only chemical suits. "They might as well wear raincoats!", exclaims Polenin. Nevertheless, with no other option, he lies to the men and tells them the chemical suits will protect them.
The first team enter the reactor and begin welding. Emerging ten minutes later and removing the suits, they are both suffering from severe radiation poisoning
Radiation poisoning
Acute radiation syndrome also known as radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health effects which occur within several months of exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation...
and are carried to their quarters where the doctor attends to them. The second team enters. Meanwhile, on the bridge, the captain, officers and crew monitor the reactor temperature which is climbing steadily. In the reactor room, the second team emerges just as badly poisoned as the first and are carried away. It is time for the third team to go in, but the radiation officer is overcome with fear and cannot bring himself to enter the reactor, despite the urgings of Polenin. Chief engineer Gorelov volunteers to go in his place. They complete the welding and to everyone's relief the reactor temperature begins to fall — the plan seems to have worked. But the submarine is beginning to fill with radiation as the reactor door is now breached, to allow the coolant pipe access. Polenin wants to seek help from a nearby NATO base on Jan Mayen
Jan Mayen
Jan Mayen Island is a volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean and part of the Kingdom of Norway. It is long and 373 km2 in area, partly covered by glaciers . It has two parts: larger northeast Nord-Jan and smaller Sør-Jan, linked by an isthmus wide...
. Vostrikov refuses to surrender his boat or crew and orders the K-19 to sail towards the USSR, under radio silence, in the hope that they will meet up with another Soviet submarine; Polenin is doubtful this plan will succeed as it relies on luck.
Vostrikov is informed that a helicopter is approaching; he and some of the crew climb out onto the deck, thinking a Russian ship has come to save them, only to discover that it is a US Navy helicopter from a nearby US destroyer. The destroyer is asking if the K-19 requires assistance. Vostrikov orders a reply in the negative; the men on the deck notice a crewman in the helicopter photographing them, and they drop their trousers and bare their buttocks
Mooning
Mooning is the act of displaying one's bare buttocks by removing clothing, e.g., by lowering the backside of one's trousers and underpants, usually bending over, whether also exposing the genitals or not...
at him. The helicopter flies away. Vostrikov refuses to allow the Americans anywhere near K-19. The US destroyer follows them at a discreet distance.
The chief petty officer
Petty Officer
A petty officer is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotion OR-6. They are equal in rank to sergeant, British Army and Royal Air Force. A Petty Officer is superior in rank to Leading Rate and subordinate to Chief Petty Officer, in the case of the British Armed...
(CPO) meets with the K-19's political officer in private. The CPO reminds the political officer that he is empowered to remove Vostrikov as captain, if he judges Vostrikov to be jeopardizing the mission. After a few hours and no 'friendly' ship sighted the weld connecting the temporary coolant pipe to the reactor fails and the reactor temperature again begins to rise dangerously. The radiation officer dons a useless safety suit and enters the reactor alone to fix the broken weld. Vostrikov again orders the K-19 to submerge, rather than abandon ship, angering the men. As the K-19 dives some torpedo fuel, spilled when the torpedo was stripped for pipes, ignites and causes a fire in the aft torpedo room. Polenin appears to doubt the captain, but goes forward to supervise the men fighting the fire. When he is gone the CPO and political officer produce pistols, point them at Vostrikov and the political officer announces he is replacing Vostrikov with Polenin as captain of the sub, and to surface immediately. Vostrikov is handcuffed to a ladder. With the torpedo room fire extinguished, Polenin returns and is told what has happened. "Good," he says and asks for the CPO and political officer to hand over their weapons to him. They do so and Polenin immediately orders Vostrikov to be released and the CPO and political officer to be placed under arrest, which they are. Polenin admonishes them for the attempted mutiny and re-asserts that Vostrikov is the captain of the K-19.
Vostrikov then attempts to re-order the crew of the K-19 to submerge, but Polenin interrupts him to say "Don't order them; ask them." Vostrikov explains the situation. If the reactor and the ballistic missiles explode while the K-19 is surfaced, the resulting nuclear blast will destroy not only the K-19 but also the nearby US navy ship and, most likely, the NATO base as well. As the K-19 has not been able to inform anyone in the outside world of her predicament, all the USA, Russia or anyone else will know is that a huge nuclear explosion has destroyed a US warship and NATO base. It could trigger World War III
World War III
World War III denotes a successor to World War II that would be on a global scale, with common speculation that it would be likely nuclear and devastating in nature....
. The crew appreciate their wider duty and prepare to dive deep and scuttle the sub. But the radiation officer has spent 18 minutes in the reactor successfully fixing the weld, and the temperature begins to drop again as Vostrikov himself and other crewmen drag the fatally poisoned officer from the reactor. Just as Vostrikov orders the men off the boat so that he can scuttle it, they are rescued by another Soviet submarine. Vostrikov wants to move his crew to the other submarine, away from the radiation, but permission is not granted. He moves the crew anyway. Polenin warns him that he will be sent to the gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
, just like his father, for disobeying orders. Vostrikov smiles and says, "Its a family tradition, isnt it?" Afterwards, in an inquiry of the events, Polenin speaks highly of him. The inquiry acquits Vostrikov of any wrongdoing in the end, but he is never given command of another sub again.
An epilogue shows an aged Captain Vostrikov in 1989, putting on his dress uniform in a small flat and catching a train to meet up with Polenin. It is exactly 28 years after the accident; the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
is shown to be coming down. Vostrikov grumbles about the inconvenience but Polenin informs him this is the anniversary of the day they were rescued. The commanders enter a cemetery where a number of the surviving K-19 crewmen are gathered by a gravesite. We learn that this is the first time the K-19 survivors have met since the incident, they were ordered never to meet or discuss the incident after the inquiry. Vostrikov is visibly moved as he greets the men and informs them that he nominated the men now dead of radiation poisoning
Radiation poisoning
Acute radiation syndrome also known as radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health effects which occur within several months of exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation...
(28 in total) for the distinction of Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
, but was told they were not "worthy" of the title as they died not in battle, but as the result of an accident. The men drink a toast to their deceased comrades.
Cast
- Harrison FordHarrison FordHarrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
as Captain 2nd Rank Alexei VostrikovNikolai Vladimirovich ZateyevNikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev was a Russian submariner and a Captain First Rank in the Soviet Navy, notable as the commander of the ill-fated Soviet submarine K-19 in July 1961 during the Hotel class submarine's nuclear-reactor coolant leak. Zateyev and the actions of his crew managed to avert... - Liam NeesonLiam NeesonLiam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
as Captain 3rd Rank Mikhail Polenin - Joss AcklandJoss AcklandSidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland CBE , known as Joss Ackland, is an English actor who has appeared in more than 130 films and numerous television roles.-Early life:...
as Marshal Zelentsov - John ShrapnelJohn ShrapnelJohn Shrapnel is an English actor.Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel....
as Admiral Bratyeev - Steve NicolsonSteve NicolsonSteve Nicolson is an English actor. He has appeared in the BBC docudrama Space Race , and in single episodes of Silent Witness, Whitechapel, The Bill, Made in Romania, The Take, Blackwater, White Lightnin, The Fixer, Casualty, Spooks, Vital Signs, Im Auftrag des Vatikans, Rose and Maloney, Murphy's...
as Yuri Demichev - Shaun BensonShaun Benson-Biography:Benson was born in Guelph, Ontario. He is the son of Eugene Benson, an English professor and a prolific novelist, playwright and librettist. He summered at YMCA Camp Kitchikewana on Beausoleil Island where he held the position of Music Coordinator and later held the esteemed position of...
as Leonid Pashinski - Tygh RunyanTygh Runyan-Life and career:Runyan was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. His father is an environmental science professor at the University of British Columbia, and his mother is a poet...
as Maxim Portenko - Peter SarsgaardPeter SarsgaardJohn Peter Sarsgaard is an American film and stage actor. He landed his first feature role in the movie Dead Man Walking in 1995. He then appeared in the 1998 independent films Another Day in Paradise and Desert Blue. That same year, Sarsgaard received a substantial role in The Man in the Iron...
as Vadim Radtchenko - Christian CamargoChristian CamargoChristian Camargo is an American actor, perhaps best known for his role of Brian Moser in the Showtime drama Dexter.-Early life:...
as Pavel Loktev - James GintyJames GintyJames Francis Lawrence Ginty is an American actor, the son of actress Francine Tacker and actor/director Robert Ginty, who met as series regulars on the late 1970s television series The Paper Chase....
as Anatoly Subachev - Ingvar Eggert SigurðssonIngvar Eggert SigurðssonIngvar Eggert Sigurðsson is an Icelandic actor who has worked extensively in Icelandic cinema. He is perhaps best known for his roles in Friðrik Þór Friðriksson's Angels of the Universe and Baltasar Kormákur's Jar City...
as Chief Engineer Gorelov
Production
"The Widowmaker" nickname was used only in the movie. In real life the submarine had no nickname until the nuclear accident on 5 July 1961, when she got her actual nickname "Hiroshima". Producers later admitted that the movie title was "one of their biggest mistakes."The producers made some efforts to work with the original crew of K-19, who took exception to the first version of the script
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
available to them. The submarine's captain presented an open letter to the actors and production team, and a group of officers and crew-members presented another. In a later script, several scenes were cut, and the names of the crew changed at the request of the crew-members and their families.
The most significant difference between the plot and the historical events is the scene that replaces an incident where the captain threw almost all the sub's small arms overboard out of concern about the possibility of a mutiny; the film instead portrays an actual attempt at mutiny.
The K-19
Soviet submarine K-19
K-19, KS-19, BS_19 was one of the first two Soviet submarines of the 658, 658м, 658с class , the first generation nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear ballistic missiles, specifically the R-13 . Its keel was laid down on 17 October 1958, christened on 8 April 1959 and launched on 11 October 1959...
was portrayed in the film by the Juliett-class
Juliett class submarine
The Project 651, known in the West by its NATO reporting name Juliett class, was a class of Soviet diesel-electric submarines armed with cruise missiles. They were designed in the late 1950s to provide the Soviet Navy with a nuclear strike capability against targets along the east coast of the...
K-77
Soviet submarine K-77
K-77 was a "Project 651" cruise missile submarine of the Soviet Navy. Her keel was laid down in the Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard in Gorky on 31 January 1963...
, which was significantly modified for the role. Her Majesty's Canadian Submarine Ojibwa
HMCS Ojibwa (S72)
HMCS Ojibwa was an that served in the Royal Canadian Navy and later the Canadian Forces Maritime Command . Originally intended for service with the Royal Navy as HMS Onyx , the submarine was transferred to Canadian ownership before completion, and entered RCN service in 1965...
portrayed the Soviet S-270. portrayed the . The Canadian Halifax Shipyards stood in for the Sevmash
Sevmash
JSC PO Sevmash is a shipbuilding company based in Severodvinsk, a port city on Russia's White Sea. The name Sevmash is an abbreviation of Severnoye Mashinostroitelnoye Predpriyatie , i.e. "Northern Machine-Building Enterprise". Sevmash is the largest shipbuilding enterprise in Russia and today the...
shipyard of northern Russia.
Klaus Badelt
Klaus Badelt
Klaus Badelt is an award-winning German composer, best known for composing film scores.-Life and career:Badelt was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He started his musical career composing for many successful movies and commercials in his homeland...
wrote the film's late-Romantic styled score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
.
Reception
The film received mixed criticism with a total of 61% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. It is summarized as being "A gripping drama even though the filmmakers have taken liberties with the facts."When the film was premiered in Russia in October 2002, 52 veterans of the K-19 submarine accepted flights to the Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
premiere; despite what they saw as technical and historical compromises, they praised the film and in particular the performance of Harrison Ford.
External links
- K-19: The Widowmaker at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
- K-19: The Widowmaker at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
- K-19: The Widowmaker at Box Office MojoBox Office MojoBox Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...