Comandante

No review of war movie is complete without mention of Truffaut's maxim "every film about war ends up being pro-war". By nature of writing this review I am acknowledging that this adage does not hold for this film. Then how exactly does it subvert this military film stereotype? Comandante, like the warfare of WWII, is a film characterized by angle and distance. One of the defining features of its genre are its duel-like facets - Comandante lacks the expected back and forth between the audience's hero and his enemy. The home portion of the film abounds in perpendicularly angled still lifes, indicating a serenity which contrasts with the disorder and claustrophobia of the diagonally angled shots in the submarine. Man never triumphs over machine, merely coexists with its strengths and flaws awaiting its inevitable victory, trapped inside its hull. In effect, the confinement proposes the conflict is personal despite the impersonality of miles of sea and inches of solid steel. Arguably, the film rejects the notion of a classical enemy entirely, regardless of our sympathies for the Italians. The only violence of the movie occurs exclusively because the ships do not see each other due to the great distance between them. As the narrative progresses, the Belgians are continuously brought physically closer to the Italians: first left out at sea in life boats, then towed by a rope and finally brought on board. With each action, the shortening of distance mutually humanizes the sides; the true enemies are distance and impersonality. They destroy the concept of "noble principles", both axis and allied forces are defined to be in pursuit of sheer victory. The dying notion of nobility is only preserved by the Italians in this new modern war; they are fighting a losing cultural battle against the rest of the world. Demarcated as the grand recapitulation by a perpendicular shot angle and a distinctive back and forth framing, the British allow the submarine to pass. This signals the end of the honorable era of war and even of life. As the bassoons of the soundtrack return to their overbearing power, we are left with a sense of longing for the days of man. Our only hope, our only holdout are the echoing chants of recipes by the Italian cook. Fries will rule the world.