Black Sea director used broccoli for effect

Black Sea director Kevin Macdonald used broccoli to add authenticity to the film.

The thriller, which stars Jude Law, tells the story of a group searching for a submarine rumoured to be loaded with gold.

The movie was shot in a water tank at Pinewood Studios, as well as on an actual Black Widow submarine on the Medway River in England.

And when they were in the tank, Kevin employed an age old, somewhat unusual, trick to make it look as realistic as possible.

“We had shredded broccoli in the water, which is this time-honoured way of creating the look of algae and seaweed floating around,” Kevin told Entertainment Weekly magazine. “You shred up the heads of broccoli and put it in. Broccoli soup for lunch!”

Kevin also revealed while submarine movies have been around for years and years, he was interested in exploring a different type of plot.

Instead of a military-based film, he came up with the idea of a treasure hunt.

“I was fascinated by making a submarine movie,” Kevin shared. “This idea of being trapped down at the bottom of the sea seemed so terrifying. I was very interested in making a sub film which wasn’t a military film. You think, Well, why are they there, then, if they’re not in the military? Oh, well, they must be looking for treasure.”

During the interview, Kevin also revealed he had been approached to make the film in America. But while he acknowledges that doing so would have made him more money, he insists it would have compromised the integrity of the finished film.

“We had people who were interested in doing that because it was a great story,” he said. “Now, maybe, that movie would have made a lot more money. But it wouldn’t have been the movie we were all excited about. We stuck to our guns. We didn’t get rich—but we overcame our greed.”