La grande speranza

Renato Baldini is the commander of an Italian submarine patrolling the Atlantic. Its orders are to sink enemy ships, both military and mercantile. After he sinks one, he stops to pick up the survivors. The experience affects him, his crew, and the survivors.

There's always something a bit antiwar about a war movie, with its death and destruction. Submarine movies often seem even stronger in this regards, because they usually contain a sequence in which the submarine is trapped helplessly, being depth-bombed. This movie directed by Duilio Coletti avoids that cliche. The submarine is a pure predator and never seems threatened. Instead, we see the humanity of the crew and people rescued, particularly when they are celebrating Christmas, and the momentary happiness is interrupted to sink a merchant ship, Even as the orders are carried efficiently, and the survivors picked up, there is a melancholy air about the entire movie. With Lois Maxwell, Carlo Bellini, and Earl Cameron.

Fairly decent Italian anti-war film. Worth watching on a wet day with a hangover. Dubbing is poor as is cinematography but not bad for it, and seems to have some decent action, in one instance a ship is cut in half.

It's a little known fact that before the handsome Canadian actress Lois Maxwell found her niche as Miss Moneypenny she starred in handful of Italian films. Here she plays the only woman on a submarine full of men; but it's far from the titillation you'd expect and is actually a rather sombre, dreamy film (Nino Rota's score is probably more suited to a film for children) and a careworn Maxwell (who due to dubbing lacks her famously sarcastic voice) is certainly not your standard Hollywood blonde.

Incongruously shot in decidedly metallic Ferraniacolor, the supporting cast offers another surprise in the presence of Earl Cameron - ten years later reunited with Maxwell in 'Thunderball' - as a fellow prisoner from Texas.

In "La grande speranza," director Duilio Coletti brings forth an acceptable Italian production that dives into the wartime experiences of a submarine commander and his crew during World War II. Renato Baldini leads the cast with a commendable performance as the Italian sub commander, delivering a portrayal that captures the emotional complexities of his character. The film effectively explores the challenges faced by the crew as they navigate the moral dilemmas of rescuing survivors from the very ships they have torpedoed.

The cinematography by Leonida Barboni, although occasionally not very brilliant, manages to convey the harsh realities of underwater warfare. The use of stock war footage enhances the authenticity of sea battles, contributing to the overall immersive experience.

Nino Rota's musical score, reminiscent of his later work in "The Godfather," adds a layer of depth to the narrative. The film's dedication to the men who perished in Italian submarines during the war adds a poignant touch, underscoring the gravity of the events portrayed.

The ensemble cast, featuring European actors like Folco Lulli, Aldo Bufi Landi, and Spanish actor Jose Jaspe, complements Baldini's performance. Lois Maxwell, known for her role as James Bond's Moneypenny, delivers a noteworthy portrayal as a woman soldier caught in the midst of the submarine's operations.

"La grande speranza" stands out as an unconventional war movie, delving into the human aspects of war, including the camaraderie among the crew, the challenges faced by rescued passengers, and moments of celebration and reflection. The film successfully weaves together drama, emotion, and thrills, making it a worthwhile watch for its magnificent acting and strong supporting cast.

This war film with marked anti-war tones is part of a series of movies from the recent post-war era aimed at shaping the myth of the "good Italian," portraying Italian military enterprises as an example of good wartime behavior. However, we know that Italians have been equally formidable as other contenders. This phenomenon must be framed within the recent construction of a European sentiment, which, just three years later in 1957, led to the signing of the famous Treaty of Rome, the constitutive agreement of the European Economic Community (EEC).

In conclusion, despite some technical shortcomings, "La grande speranza" remains a compelling war film that resonates with its portrayal of the sadness and humanity intertwined in the throes of conflict.

It is really true that the fraternity between members of different nations in times of war tension provoked memorable moments in such classics like Le Grand Illusion (1937) by Jean Renoir, but the same isn't true for the everyday production throughout the time, provoking much more sentimental equivocal like this one. This film has a notorious absence of balance since his first cartels, an opportunistic tribute to more than 90 Italian submarines that operated in Second World War; it is very ironic that although its pretense worries in create an humanistic approach to a war theme, evidently a genre more linked with destruction and combat, the movie reclaims a tribute to the "submarines", not to the human beings that worked on them. It is the melodramatic logic of feelings that nurtures all the actions in an abstract idealized world.Perhaps through this frame only we could understand the passive way that the 24 Danish men just pray when they are in an imminence of being submerged together with the submarine – the room where they stay isn't free of the effects of submersion. The same could be said for the pathetic and very long scene of Christmas night, as fragile in dramatic terms as the Christmas tree jumped after the back of "normal" routine situation. Anyway this shows how all the events are only subordinated to the imperatives of the (weak) narrative. Even with all involuntarily histrionic plot and acting, with few exceptions like the commander played by Renato Baldini, this movie was certainly a production with a budget above the media of Italian cinema then produced, some perceptible even by the use of color cinematography, something rare at the time.