The film premiered in 2002, and the plot tells the viewer the story of the crew of the Tiger Shark submarine, who receive an alert that a shipwreck has taken place near them and several victims need to be picked up on board. The story takes the viewer back to the distant 1943. It turned out that three victims – two men and a woman escaped from the ship, which survived the attack by torpedoes. After that, troubles begin on the ship, since there is an opinion that the appearance of a woman on board promises misfortune to the crew.
And so it happens – soon the “Tiger Shark” is torpedoed, as an enemy ship starts chasing it, and incomprehensible, frightening silhouettes appear in the empty corridors. These are far from all the troubles that happen to the crew of the boat – throughout the expedition, a lot of strange things happen to them, for which there is no explanation. In the finale, only a few participants remain alive, and the Tiger Shark boat sinks to the bottom and lands near the recently sunk ship Fort James.
What is the meaning of this film, why was the idea invented and for what purpose was it implemented by the director? Let’s try to figure this out.
Most likely, the film was made in order to touch upon one of the global problems of society – the meanness of man. There are a lot of such people, they are ready to commit vile deeds, although they understand that retribution for them will definitely come. They try to delay the moment of reckoning as long as possible, so that he would not have to pay alone. It seems that the meaning of their life was the desire to drag as many people as possible into this endless bondage of retribution. Their desire to hurt as many people as possible is understandable: they also once suffered from the meanness of other people. The hatred that has revived inside them does not decrease in size, therefore it spills over to everyone who surrounds this person.
Meanness is and will be, and it is quite difficult to remove it as a phenomenon of society. There will always be people who like to annoy someone else so that this person feels all the colors of life.
You can also say that this is a story about the relationship of people who, by the will of circumstances, are forced to work together and be in a closed submarine. Together they have to go through all the problems that happen to them and try to find a way out for them. This film is about how to find a common language with people whose worldview may differ from yours. Also an important point in the film was the actualization of a long-standing belief that a woman on a ship can cause problems and undesirable events that can happen during the expedition. From this follows a clear and simple thought: everything can happen if you sincerely believe in it. For some reason, the crew members were sure that they were in trouble, because they saved the nurse from death and now she will not bring them happiness while she is on board.
As for the technical part of the film, all its participants were previously forced to undergo training at the school of submariners and learn the rules of behavior on a submarine in order to avoid life-threatening situations. They also studied the intricacies of managing a submarine and its internal structure.
A preliminary serious preparation for filming was a structure that, in its appearance, resembled an underwater submarine. Various sounds of machinery, explosions, wave noises, whale sounds and many other sounds were also recorded.
It has been historically proven that “hydrogen anesthesia” was very often used on submarines – gas entered the submarine, which acted a little intoxicatingly on the crew, their reality changed and everything was perceived in a slightly different light.
The film is suitable for viewing by those viewers who like a thriller with an admixture of mysticism. The plot is quite dynamic, keeps in suspense until the very end, because the viewer does not quite understand how the film could end. There are also fantastic episodes here that will surely appeal to fans of something unusual and exciting.
The film received a nomination for Best Foreign Fiction Film in 2003. He, of course, deserves the attention of the audience and repeated viewing. Fans of the film say that you can watch it several times and find something exciting, new and interesting with each viewing. Shown here is a struggle for survival, a conflict of interest in which each side fights for justice. The film is quite interesting and organic, which cannot but cause the desire to watch it from beginning to end.
