TV Tip: "Sinking of the 'Laconia'" - great TV
I wanted to watch part I of this mini-series first before recommending it. I hate WWII drama with the flaming passion of a thousand sunbeds; so little of it is done well. I freely admit I only gave "Laconia" a try because Andrew Buchan was in it, and I'd have switched the channel immediately if it had been rubbish.
But I'm very happy to say that "Laconia" is great TV drama. Well done, BBC! Sure, it's not Das Boot (but then nothing is, and nothing will ever be), but we're spared the usual black and white storytelling, and you'll get to enjoy great performances by an excellent cast. Especially Ken Duken as submarine commander Hartenstein is fantastic.
Understanding both languages was a bonus; I find subtitles distracting and the translation was not always accurate ("fighting for the things we believe in" isn't the same as "fighting for what is rightly ours" etc.). Still, I applaud the decision to cast German actors for the German parts and let them speak in their own language.
Part two will air tomorrow at 9pm on BBC2, and while I really recommend "Laconia", I have to warn you: this is not a story with a happy ending. In 1942 the Laconia was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-156, commanded by Werner Hartenstein. Aboard the "Laconia" were women, children, wounded soldiers and Italian POW. Once he realised that the "Laconia" had civil passengers and POW aboard, Hartenstein decided to save as many of the shipwrecked victims as he could. The submarine took in as many of the people as possible, the rest stayed in the lifeboats and were supplied with food by the German crew. Over 400 people were saved that way.
Or rather, would have been saved. Hartenstein sent out messages to the allies that he wouldn't attack anybody who came to rescue the survivors, but unfortunately, despite those messages, clearly visible Red Cross banners and the obvious presence of lifeboats, US B-24 bombers attacked the submarine, with one bomb hitting the lifeboats. It could have been a trap, after all.
If you'd like to read more about the Laconia incident, please click here.
Screencaps will follow within the next days.
If you live in the UK, you can watch "Sinking of the Laconia" on the BBC iPlayer.
Molly originally posted this entry at http://joyful-molly.dreamwidth.org/294840.html. You can comment on LJ or DW, using OpenID.
But I'm very happy to say that "Laconia" is great TV drama. Well done, BBC! Sure, it's not Das Boot (but then nothing is, and nothing will ever be), but we're spared the usual black and white storytelling, and you'll get to enjoy great performances by an excellent cast. Especially Ken Duken as submarine commander Hartenstein is fantastic.
Understanding both languages was a bonus; I find subtitles distracting and the translation was not always accurate ("fighting for the things we believe in" isn't the same as "fighting for what is rightly ours" etc.). Still, I applaud the decision to cast German actors for the German parts and let them speak in their own language.
Part two will air tomorrow at 9pm on BBC2, and while I really recommend "Laconia", I have to warn you: this is not a story with a happy ending. In 1942 the Laconia was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-156, commanded by Werner Hartenstein. Aboard the "Laconia" were women, children, wounded soldiers and Italian POW. Once he realised that the "Laconia" had civil passengers and POW aboard, Hartenstein decided to save as many of the shipwrecked victims as he could. The submarine took in as many of the people as possible, the rest stayed in the lifeboats and were supplied with food by the German crew. Over 400 people were saved that way.
Or rather, would have been saved. Hartenstein sent out messages to the allies that he wouldn't attack anybody who came to rescue the survivors, but unfortunately, despite those messages, clearly visible Red Cross banners and the obvious presence of lifeboats, US B-24 bombers attacked the submarine, with one bomb hitting the lifeboats. It could have been a trap, after all.
If you'd like to read more about the Laconia incident, please click here.
Screencaps will follow within the next days.
If you live in the UK, you can watch "Sinking of the Laconia" on the BBC iPlayer.
Molly originally posted this entry at http://joyful-molly.dreamwidth.org/294840.html. You can comment on LJ or DW, using OpenID.