The Commander (Comandante)

It may seem incredible that World War II still has virtually unknown stories to be told nearly eighty years after its end. (The little-known story of The Six Triple Eight is due in cinemas at the same time as The Commander.) That is until you consider WW II was spread over six years and, worldwide.

Commander Salvatore Todaro (Pierfrancesco Favino) of the Italian Royal Navy in 1940 is considered a safe pair of hands as submarine commander of the Capellini He may be unorthodox, but he has the confidence of his senior officers and crew.

On patrol in the Atlantic they spy a Belgian ship. Ostensibly neutral they suspect that it is carrying arms for the British. However any doubts about an attack are doused when the merchant ship fires on the Capellini. Returning fire, they sink it.

There are twenty-six survivors whom the Nazis would leave in the sea. However, the captain although he can’t take them on the sub, leaves in their a lifeboat and a small amount of provisions, knowing that it was highly unlikely they will survive to a port.

A change of mind and he decides to tow them, then a disaster forces the survivors onto the sub. With resources and space at a premium the captain decides to cruise on the surface to the nearest port, exposing the crews to the sea and hostile forces.

It is certainly a remarkable story of bravery, loyalty, risk, and tension. The inner workings of the sub and Todaro’s command style are well set up in the first half of the film, that then as neatly as possible segues into the more gripping latter half.

Director Edoardo De Angelis and co-writer Sandro Veronesi are clear that Todaro is loyal to his country and will carry out his orders. What is also clear is that Todaro has a personal moral and ethical code that overrides some of these
obligations. An act of sabotage when the sub is most vulnerable could have led to executions. Todaro decides there’s an alternative, if brutal, way to deal with the saboteurs.

Favino is excellent as the complex Todaro, who while happy enough to muck in with his men and later deal with the enemy there is never any doubt who is in command and prepared to make the hardest of decisions.

De Angelis skilfully extracts maximum tension wherever he can, using the sub’s claustrophobic interiors as when its navigating through depth charges. There’s also an anxious confrontation with the British Navy, on the surface, which is perfectly timed and a credit to the actors’ judgement.

The film looks fantastic capturing the denseness of operations on the sub as well as the terror of the open sea.

The niggly points are that it is very slow, methodical if being kind, and the cast are prone to outpourings of purple prose that are a touch incongruous. Minor issues though for what is overall an inspiring true story.

The Commander will be in UK cinemas on 6 December and on digital 23 December 2024.