K-19: One of the Best Movies I've Seen

I, and my friend, The Pika, have been fascinated by the USSR and Russia for many years. He had a chance to travel to the country, he said once, I have not. I know Russians aren't friendly people. My few encounters with them in Canada have proved that to me. Does that mean I won't ever go to Russia? No! In fact I'm waiting for the time that travelling to the country is easier. It's possible now but because of the sanctions there aren't many airliners who fly to Russia. Here are a few of my contacts with Russians: 

1) The IT guy #1: There was this really tough guy who ran our IT department or was one of the main fellas. I remember one day we got into this argument. It was probably 2012-13 so the details are not available! He was saying why would Iran want a nuclear power plant, while they have oil and gas for generations. They were saying the country has aimed to reach nuclear bombs. The same claim that Americans and his Western allies have, while it was in fact Russia who helped to finish Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant on the shores of the Persian Gulf. The story of that power plant is quite a long one but I'll have the short version here:

Iran's nuclear ambitions started at the time King Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was in power. He got the Germans to work on this project and Siemens was the main contractor. The project was halted in 1979 and the Germans left the country. No Western company would want to continue the project on the count of now Iran was an anti-West nation(!) in the region! It was eventually it was the Russians who accepted to do that and the project took so long and so much money was given to them that everyone says it wasn't worth the amount paid! Iraq tried to destroy the facility while it was under construction in the 80's. Damages were sustained but the project was carried on and was completed in 2011. Weather Iran is in search of an atomic bomb or not is beyond this post. I just wanted to have a short presentation of the subject of I and the Russian fella's argument. The guy left for another company while I was still employed and never saw him or heard of him after that.

2) The IT guy #2: There was another Russian IT guy who was a little less bitter! I think his name was Andre and I sat with him a few times and asked him questions about Russia because it was my plan to travel there at the time, some 12 years ago! I remember he always sat patiently and answered every question but never saw a smile on his face. He still, I think, was there when I got laid off. 

3) The Russian hiker: I was once on The Middle Sister trail and saw a man on the other side of the stream. Once we merged I had a short conversation with him and he said he was from Volgograd. He actually was the one who told me how to get to the summit or I had gone the wrong way but he turned back. He was the only pleasant Russian I've ever met! 

With all that said, I know Russians are usually not pleasant people to be around, they're not hospitable and not welcoming but I still would like to go there and can't wait for this silly war to end. That's how Russians are but they're also very patriotic. They're proud of their nationality and they don't sell themselves easily. This movie is about that and for that, I admire them. That, but not that alone, could be the reason why the movie was not a hit in North America. It's about Russians, not Americans but everything is better than many movies and particularly a submarine movie that I've ever seen. The only submarine movie that I put next to K19, is Das Boot. 

Everything is great in this movie: Direction, acting (Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Peter Sarsgaard, all of them), cinematography, story telling, you name it.

I found this picture which is a memorial of the real K-19 in Google Maps. The place is located in north of Murmansk, one of the most northern cities of Russia, somewhere I would love to visit one day.

This actually is loosely based on an actual event that happened to an atomic Soviet submarine. In my opinion it's way better than the known submarine movies such as Crimson Tide, The Hunt for Red October and The Abyss. I have watched all the named and as I said the only movie that come close and somehow match it is Das Boot. The main Soviet fleet was located in Vladivostok but I don't know what happened to all those submarine. I think I read somewhere a little while back that many of them are scrapped but there shall be some in service and I think it would not be very hard to get some basic information. Vladivostok has been on the top of my list for decades now and The Pika always teases me with that. The last time he did so I told him that I would one day go there. When he realized I was serious he suggested me to take tours from the old country. I know it'd be easier and cheaper but I'm not a tour guy and I have no passport rather than the Canadian. So that is scratched for now. To go back to the subject, make sure you get the movie and watch it closely. You will love it.

(Photo, top: Ford, on left, as the captain and Neeson as the X. O. of K-19 in a scene of the movie. Hackman and Washington, respectively, have the same role in Crimson Tide and despite their great performances, the movie never reached K-19)