BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Alistair Olson After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

gordonl56 THE SINKING OF THE LACONIA 2010This film was released as a two part mini-series in 2011. The film is about the sinking of the RMS Laconia by a German U-boat during World War Two. The film tells the story from several different points of view. The RMS Laconia was a Cunard passenger liner being used by the Royal Navy as a troopship. On 12 September, 1942, the ship was torpedoed 600 miles off the West African coast by U-156. The ship was carrying 80 civilians, 268 British troops, 160 Polish soldiers and 1800 Italian prisoners of war. The U-boat, surfaced after the attack and finding women, children and Italian POWS, began rescue operations. U-156 was soon swarming with survivors. The submarine took lifeboats in tow when room ran out on board the U-boat. The U-boat radioed headquarters for help in the rescue.Several other submarines, including an Italian one joined the rescue. Several Vichy French ships also joined. The rescue mission was interrupted by a bombing run made by an American B-24. Quite a few of the survivors were transferred to the Vichy ships and landed in Casablanca. (They were soon free after the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942. The British officers were kept on board the U-boasts and landed in France as POW's.The film follows several of the ships passengers, ship's officers, Italian POW's and the officers and men of the U-boat. The cast includes, Brian Cox, Franka Potente, Ken Duken, Morven Christie, Andrew Buchan, Lindsay Duncan and Thomas Kretschmann.Franka Potente is a German who has escaped from Germany and was making her way to England. Brian Cox is the Captain of the Laconia, Ken Duken is U-156's Captain, Thomas Kretschmann plays German Admiral, Donitz. Andrew Buchan is one of the Laconia officers in charge of the Italian POWS. The various characters are shown as the ship sinks and some are rescued. Others end up sailing for the coast of Africa. (which several lifeboats reached) The Germans for once are not shown as blood thirsty madmen. Well worth a watch if you are looking for something a bit different. The mini-series was a co-production between the BBC and German Television. The director was Uwe Janson and the story was supplied by Alan Bleasdale. The Laconia was the second Cunard liner of that name. The first was sunk by a U-boat in World War One. This WW2 incident caused German Admiral Donitz to issue the LACONIA DIRECTIVE. This was a general order for U-boats not to stop to pick up survivors.

garundaboink The portrayal of the American flyers bombing the sub was over the top. Some Germans like to say 'You had your murderers too' which seems to assuage guilt for them for their ancestors' crimes against humanity. Unless one cannot see the difference between the two sides, let me state it clearly - The Germans had institutionalized murder from the very top to the bottom, with the occasional protesting humanitarian below, their opponents were institutionalized humanitarians with the occasional murderer in the ranks. I'm sorry, but having American flyers laughing after the bombing and saying "Let's go back and strafe them", that ranks in my book as propaganda and if it were more truthful it's probably something a German flyer would have said, since it was part of all their campaigns to strafe civilians fleeing the fighting. They strafed, in order, Polish, Belgians, Parisians, and Russians to clog the roads with panicked civilians, and to force them in a given direction to block advancing armies, much like a sheepdog biting at the heels of animals. It's not possible to enjoy this movie while knowing the facts of how the Germans behaved in WWII. Also not historically accurate is the fact that an odd triangular cross exists in place of the Nazi swastika, and the Kapitaen gives a traditional instead of the 'Heil Hitler' salute while receiving a medal from Doenitz, due to the fact that both are illegal to portray in Germany today. With good reason.

rationalists from bloodlands 1. The movie focuses on one of a few moments when Germans and Italians could claim moral superiority over Allies during the IIWW. What the movie makers forget and do not show on purpose is why the "heroic" Uboot commander is hunting British merchant ship. He is hunting it in name of no less than Adolf Hitler. The "heroic" crew of Uboot witnessed treatment of (mostly Polish) slaves in Germany and in French ports, with high probability they enjoyed the services of sexual slaves (in 1939-1941 mostly French and Polish) in Kriegsmarine brothels, they used goods stolen from Jews and Poles etc. 2. The villains of the movie are Polish soldiers, who escort Italians. Again it remains unclear where those people come from. It is simple: after fighting in Poland, they left Poland, via Hungary got to France to fight Germans, then some of them fought in Narvik (as a Polish unit), got back to Britain and went to Africa to fight Rommel. Their families got executed and enslaved (Germans executed 15 000 Poles in one place called Piasnica in 1939-40 to name an example). Their sons got sent as slaves to Germany (approx 2 million Polish slaves), their daughters raped. They could nourish certain hate against Axis soldiers. 3.It remains to wait for a movie about Sonderkommando Jewish prisoners, Russian kapos in KZ and heroic SS-men who protect KZ-prisoners from them. There could be one such case - so the movie will be based on facts.It is all about choosing which facts are to be depicted. 4. To put it short: it is an abominable dance on graves because not a minute is devoted to the context of the story.5. The captain of Laconia deserves certain respect but he fought for Nazi Deutschland. Polish, Belorussian, Russian peasants who risked their lives as guerilla fighters had more courage than this idealized Uboot captain. They knew their survival chances were non-existent but they refused to comply.

misonafashion This documentary - drama was a great thing to show to the main public. The idea of being noble and humane in the midst of a war is quite unusual and it should have been stressed out more in order to make humans aware in such a way. This kind of situations are extraordinary, and they happen only occasionally, under special circumstances. I hope more movies would be made in such honorable manners to encourage people of this planet to be just like this or better. The media has this power, and I wish it was used more in this way! Thank you for making this movie, I'd rate it min. 7,5 if I was asked. And all this nationality preferences and it's discredits are just what the war is all about, I sincerely hope we soon become what we pretend to be. Big respect for the captain and I hope we aspire to such deeds!