Comandante: Venice Film Review
The Venice Film Festival typically opens with a big Hollywood movie. This year, it was going to be Luca Guadagino‘s Challengers, starring Zendaya, but when that pulled out due to the strikes, the festival’s organisers replaced it with an Italian movie, Edoardo De Angelis‘ Comandante, or Commander.
The biographical drama tells the true story of Commander Salvatore Todaro (Pierfrancesco Favino), the captain of the Cappellini submarine. The film is set in 1940 during World War II and follows the sub’s crew as they leave the Mediterranean Sea via the Strait of Gibraltar and head into the Atlantic Ocean. The action truly kicks off when they sink the Belgian merchant ship, Kabalo, off the coast of Madeira and rescue 26 survivors, with them hosting the castaways onboard for 2-3 days until they are able to leave them safely on Santa Maria Island.
I really struggled with Comandante for the majority of its runtime. I wasn’t invested in any of the characters (they are fascists after all) or particularly impressed with the writing. There were many lines of dialogue that felt clunky and heavy-handed and flew in the face of the “show don’t tell” adage. For example, I didn’t care for them likening the narrowness of the Strait of Gibraltar to a “chicken’s arsehole” or for one crewmember’s inner monologue when he was about to die. Plus, there was an unnecessary amount of breasts on show for a submarine movie.
Thankfully, the story picks up after the Belgians come on board because there is a tangible sense of dilemma and conflict. Although the Belgians are neutral in the war at this point, Todaro suspects that they are working for the British and helps them anyway. The addition of 26 extra people presents a logical challenge in terms of space and resources and naturally, tensions rise between hungry and tired men on either side of the wartime divide.
However, this part of the story takes place way too far into the film’s runtime. The narrative should have reached this point sooner or focused on this rescue completely rather than dithering about with other problems that simply weren’t as interesting. I immediately paid more attention when the Belgian dilemma presented itself.
While Favino did a fine job as the titular character, my favourite was Lieutenant Jacques Reclercq (Johannes Wirix), the Belgian who does the translating between Italian and Flemish. He had a kind face and a likeable personality and I gravitated towards him more than the others. I also want to give a shout-out to Giuseppe Brunetti as the cook Gugino, who is given some of the lighter moments on board the sub.
If you come to Comandante hoping for lots of wartime action, you might be disappointed. This movie is more about one man’s extraordinary decision than underwater battles. I’ll be amazed if this gets UK distribution.
Screening in competition at the 2023 Venice Film Festival