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It is the time of World War II in the Atlantic. After its duty of reconnoitering the
ocean, on the watchout for German U-boats, the USS Tiger Shark submarine spots an enemy vessel in the distance and immediately opens fire.
On its way to port, under the command of Lieutenant Brice (Bruce Greenwood), it stops to rescue three survivors of a blasted British Hospital ship. The crew is shocked and becomes disturbed, upon discovering that among those saved, one is a woman Nurse Clare Page (Olivia Williams); another is a German patient who is immediately killed by the now very agitated skipper. From this moment on, things begin to turn for the worse. The sub is torpedoed and scraped by iron spikes. Damaged and at the bottom of the sea, it takes in water, and air is beginning to get scarce. They also feel being hemmed in by the confined space. Then the crew hears sounds and voices, sees shadows and a blurry human face. Are these brought about by a woman on board? Or are these real hauntings because Brice knows who is responsible for the previous skipper's death, and the destruction of the hospital ship.
Within the confines of a war submarine, a multi-level story unravels: a crew and its captain
coping with what is happening.
At the same time, the men wonder about the reality of the other events: whether they are brought about by the crowded space of the sub, the lack of air and the soundlessness of the deep. It is well scripted and directed and the ensemble cast gives an adequate performance producing an entertaining and suspenseful movie. The acting skills of Bruce Greenwood and Matthew Davis are noticeable. The shadowy passages of the ship and the dark hull provide the right eerie setting.
The heightened perilous atmosphere leads to stress and fear and the men's confrontation with
the causes for their situation.
Suspicious, they question about their previous skipper's mysterious death. The guilt-ridden Lt. Brice has his own frightening ghosts to deal with. It is said that one's worst enemy is usually his own ghosts. In the most trying situations, people's worst fears about each other also surface. When under psychological pressure, one may tend to form quick impressions, and the judgment of what to do, based on these may not be accurate. This is when one is prone to commit mistakes. All these in the end shows that, no matter how much efforts are made to hide wrongdoing, sooner or later it is sure to surface because of guilt and certain inevitable occurrences. Recognition and acceptance must be given to it, and the appropriate action taken.
(Date Reviewed: January 31, 2003)
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