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After seeing K-19: The Widowmaker, Holly McClure ( Crosswalk) wrote, "Before going to this movie, I realized I was a bit prejudiced about seeing a story that would require me to root for a communist Russian submarine and its crew. As a child, I remember the Cold War propaganda that viewed Russians as 'the enemy,' and even though that mindset in this country has clearly changed, I have to admit, I didn't think I would care about the story."

But McClure was impressed with the film and stirred by its suspenseful story. Should we be concerned if we find ourselves cheering for nuke-bearing Communists? The soldiers on board the K-19 submarine—the subject of director Kathryn Bigelow's new summer action/suspense film—are clearly committed Soviets who live in fear and hatred of America. We even see them watching anti-American propaganda films. Why then are audiences, even American moviegoers, rooting for them?

It's not the first time this has happened. The predicament of German sailors in Das Boot (still the greatest submarine film yet made) makes audiences hold their breath as the sub comes under attack. Perhaps our distance from World War II allows us to think more sympathetically of those who opposed us.

But there is more to it than that. War films that take us outside the usual good-guy/bad-guy dynamic can cultivate in us an ability to sympathize with our enemies. The metal confines of a sub's fragile and claustrophobia-inducing space remind us of how much we have in common with those of different political and religious convictions. Such sub-surface limitations reveal fears familiar to us, and the intensity of the drama inspires virtuous heroics that cannot help but move us. Our feelings about their political orientation become secondary to our understanding of the risks they take. J. Robert Parks (Phantom Tollbooth) says, "For some folks, rooting for the Soviets in 1961 might seem odd, but those concerns are soon outweighed by the difficult situation the men find themselves in." He concludes, "Widowmaker is a tense, taut submarine thriller."

We should definitely keep clear in our minds the flaws in the philosophies and tactics of our enemies. But surely we can find room in our hearts for sympathy. Christ's exhortation goes even further than "sympathy." He wants us to love our enemies. It might be a good exercise for our hearts to imagine this sub being full of men who are currently opposing us—Osama bin Laden's trained terrorists, for example. Might we find the courage to love and pray for them in the midst of their error? (My full review of the film is at Looking Closer.)

K-19: The Widowmaker is based on history. In 1961, the Russian military sent out an unprepared, top-secret nuclear sub to fire a test missile, thus showing the world that Russia was a force to be reckoned with. In this fictional account of the crew's trials, the leader of K-19's crew, Captain Polenin (Liam Neeson) is demoted to executive officer when his superiors decide he is too lenient with his crew. Captain Vostrikov (Harrison Ford), a gruff, tough commander, takes charge, driving the boat to the edge of its capabilities and the crew to the edge of its wits. Tempers flare between Polenin and Vostrikov while the rookie crew members quietly assure their former captain that he still has their loyalty. All they want to do is conduct their test and go home. But when the nuclear core of one of the boat's reactors starts overheating, they may inadvertently start World War III.

Many critics have lined up to ridicule K-19's lack of convincing Russian accents. (Anthony Lane of The New Yorker says Ford's attempt to sound Soviet is the film's most striking "special effect.") I too found the vague, inconsistent voices a problem, until I was reminded that the Soviet military was made up of soldiers from around the globe, including men from Great Britain, North America, and Scandinavia. Thus, the muddled accents are probably accurate.

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July (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46