User Reviews

Auteur Wim Wenders's 2017 offer "Submergence" is a stylish love story, beautifully shot as you have every right to expect, and at times sound philosophical but need not be taken seriously.

The two establishing scenes might have come from two different movies. Underwater in a cutting-edge costume, bio-mathematician Dani Flinders (Alicia Vikander) just might trigger your thoughts on things like "Pacific Rim". In captivity in a claustrophobic prison, secret agent James More (James McAvoy) reminds you of Daniel Craig's 007 in some of the most adverse situations.

In a flashback on how these two protagonists' trajectories intersect, the audience is treated to a paradise of a resort hotel in Normandy where these two come for their respective breathing spell from the pressure of work. The setting, the scenery, the movie stars, this is beauty heaped on beauty. But this is no real challenge for Wenders.

The foreplay (figuratively speaking) is elegant and classy. She starts by explaining to him her area of specialty. The ocean has five layers, she explains. The first, where you submerge (including thing like baptism, she says), is the blue ocean we know. The second is the "twilight zone". Layers 3, 4 and 5 are total darkness. She even gives the names of layer 1, 2 and 5 but don't expect anyone to remember them. The special submersion unit in which she works in layer five, she intimates, is the only one in Europe. That means if something goes wrong, she will be left to die in darkness, through suffocation when the oxygen supply runs out. That takes five days, "time for me to think of a lot of things" she concludes with an ominous note.

He does not reciprocate in telling her what he does for a living, quite understandably. She ventures soldiering, which he neither confirms or denies. But they do have a common goal. People should get interested in their work, and get educated on the possibilities that how the world can be changed for the better because of what they do.

The first half unfolds as a stylish love story, ending in a brisk parting scene when he is all packed and ready to get into the taxi. In this delightful scene, there is none of the "I have fallen so much in love with you" or "promise me you will come back alive" stuff. He approaches her and says "Okay, I'm in". "I'm in too", she replies. They kiss and part and that is the last time we see them together, in this movie. It takes two soulful actors to put this scene off, as Vikander and McAvoy did.

The second half intercuts between three trajectories, her project in the Atlantics, his captivity in Somalia and flashback of their scenes together (often in a dreamy tone). This may not be a movie for everyone, but the visual beauty will be appreciated by all.

A beautiful love story. A provocative thriller. An educational lesson in science. A political message about terrorism. The poetry of John Donne. The startling imagery of lightness and darkness.

The capsules above are what the filmmakers of "Submergence" wanted to blend as they combined a scientific exploration of the lower depths of the ocean with a political thriller that addressed the prevention of the war on terror, with two star-crossed lovers caught in the middle.

In the DVD bonus track, the film artists identified the three main strands of their film as "science, belief, and love." From the stunning ocean cliffs of Normandy to the rugged, sandy beaches of Somalia, the film wanted to be adventuresome and daring. Unfortunately, it was a crashing bore!

The principal relationship of Professor Danny Flinders (the bio-mathematician) and James More (the counter-terrorism operative) begins in dishonesty. James never reveals to Danny the truth about his dangerous profession or upcoming mission. Details like that do not seem to matter to director Wim Wenders, who has his eye on the grander and more abstract values of an art film exploring such themes as "the origin of life."

The film was sluggish in the pacing and thin on action, especially the scenes in which More is held hostage and tortured by the jihadists. The pretentious nature of the film was apparent in such high-brow scientific terms as hadopalagic (deriving from the Greek term for the underworld, Hades) that were intended to hook audiences with an otherworldly experience at the bottom of the Atlantic. Unfortunately, "Submergence" was a journey into a never-ending heart of darkness that left the audience numb and depressed.

I found myself locked into the movie, which usually makes it a cinch that I'll rate it much higher than a 6. I enjoyed the meet cute between McAvoy and Vikander, who I am a big fan of, and watching their relationship grow strong in such a short period of time. Though I was hoping it wouldn't have the cliched ending where they fell into each other's arms and walked off into the sunset, hand in hand, I DID expect an ending with some clarity. McAvoy's character seemed far enough out of harm's way in his escape...then what? Sorry, but I like my endings spelled out for me.

Still, there was a haunting texture to the film that made it compelling to continue watching. It was adapted from a novel - was there more depth to the story there? Brilliant idea, but somewhat disappointing execution. Both lead actors are beatiful to watch on screen. Maybe what urges you on is a hope they'll reunite and we'll see what seems to be promised. That, unfortunately, doesn't happen.

"Submergence" is a new German/American/French/Spanish movie that premiered about a year ago already at several film festivals. The star is perhaps the director here as we have multiple Oscar nominee Wim Wenders in charge, but like wih some other of his recent non-documentary films, the reception was pretty lukewarm gently speaking. Anyway, it runs for slightly under 2 hours and stars Oscar winner Alicia Vikander next to James McAvoy with both of them being lead, but maybe the latter a bit more if we take a closer look at the screen time I guess. It is the story of a couple falling in love with each other, but their professions have them seperate for a while, even if plans to see each other again are very present. It's not a split-up, but just everybody doing their thing for a little while. In terms of the woman that means that she goes deep down to the sea to pursue her career as a scientist under really dangerous circumstances in areas that may have never see humans before. And in terms of the male protagonist, he has an important task to fulfill deep down at enemy lines in Africa where he ends up being taken hostage by some truly dangerous Islamic terrorists. A great deal of the movie is all about who will live and who will die and it is a question mark that is above everything really, not just for McAvoy's character, but for Vikander's as well when we remember her story early on about how in case of technical failure she is lost down there dying from lack of oxygene with nobody able to help her. Okay well, the reference that there simply is no second submarine like this to save her in such a scenario is a bit pseudo dramatoc perhaps. But still, it was an interesting idea that stayed in my mind throughout the entire film. And for her male counterpart: Well there is really constant danger that threatens his life and even at the very end it is not clear if he is gonna live or die. But I quite liked the moment we hear him scream in the water and when we see her at the exact same being so quiet, so silent inside the submarine looking outside the window and witnessing all the miracles deep down there around her. The scene with the two together are frequent early on, but then it really felt to me like two movie about ttwo characters in one. The connection with these scenes between the two again as well as the two making brief romantic references about each other feel a bit for the sake of it, so in terms of this being a romantic movie or a film that focuses on a love story too I think they could have done better. I have not read the book, so I cannot say if the problem is there already or in the screenplay (by the way Wenders is not the writer this time). The two actors did a pretty good job I guess and the film's flaws have nothing to do with their performances. I was lucky enough to watch this film here in Berlin at the Kino International with Wenders present and it was so nice to see him in person and talk a bit about the production after the credits rolled in. You learn a lot of interesting stuff from premieres like these, a lot more than the fact that it was from Wenders' perhaps most prolific year and that production took no less than 4 years. Also nice to see people like Koch and Schlöndorff in the audience for once. Anyway, back to the movie. With Wenders in charge, of course, there are always many beautiful shots and moments here and this film is obviously no exception. So if the story does not catch and keep your attention (like it seems the case with many critics), then maybe the visual side can and I am not just talking about the gorgeous Alicia Vikander here. I think McAvoy isn't too shabby either. But yeah, I preferred this movie for sure over Wenders' recent Pope Francis documentary and seems I am clearly in the minority with this perception. So "Submergence" gets a thumbs-up from me, even if the plots on environment and romance are not too convincing, the terrorism story line was a bit better. Go see this film. Recommended.

The arrangement of allowing these two people met at an old but grand hotel on the beach was kind of awkward, and staying there so long was another thing that didn't look possible, and she should be just called a Dr. Instead of a professor, because she didn't look like someone who taught a specialized subject in a college classroom. What we saw and heard were just a lot of terminology words out of her mouth, it felt more like they were forcefully memorized to make her look more like a scientist, but somehow it didn't work either. The special agent of the British anti-terrorism scenario was also not quite selling well. There's no way he could not be spotted as a suspicious white westerner trying to infiltrate the terrorist organization in Somali, so no wonder he would be immediately kidnapped and thrown into the prison.

There were too many scenes showing these two lovebirds flashed back to when they spent the short but long stay in that hotel on the beach. But when it was played so many times and again, it just numbed the viewers since there's not too much and too many stuff there to continue the on-going story.

The movie gradually lost its steam in the end by showing us a lukewarm deep sea probe, then gave us some sudden power shortage in the sub, then the problem was just miraculously fixed by flipped off all the switches and then flipped them on. What a joke! Then again, when he dive into the ocean before the attack and bombing from the air by the American chopper, he was supposed to be the only survivor during that attack since he was already far away from the target area, because it was him who activated the transponder device in his teeth to broadcast his whereabouts, so he got enough time to walk into the ocean, swam and dived to avoid the strikes from the air. But what we saw was just a guy facing down in the ocean and died, just to comply with the movie title "Submergence", by going down but never resurfaced. They both sunk, but only the so-called "Professor" was spared, giving the viewers some sort of regret and sadness, a love in vain. What a weak and rush and sudden finish of a film that only showed us lot of beautiful camera works.....A shameful ending of a half-baked love story; lukewarm and pointless.

I enjoyed this film. The 2 lead actors (Alicia Vikander and James McAvoy) are very good and quite believable in their roles. Although I had to give a degree of latitude for the (sometimes) non linear storytelling, it felt right and worked for me. For example, both are shown thinking of each other simultaneously, despite the extreme metaphysical space between each character's location. So many films today spoon feed the obvious to audiences. Not the case here; far from it. I like it. Beautiful settings are a bonus. Also, no one ever says "I love you" even though they (obviously) feel it. I can relate strongly to this. The ending is quasi-surrealistic.

My rating is based purely on James' braw accent and the beautiful scenery.

This story had potential but it took itself too seriously. Danni's technical jargon and poetic view on her job was reaching. This, alongside the vague covert role that James was to carry out, had me wondering if I missed something. It all held opportunity for intrigue but got bogged down in trying to show off. I guess I need my stories spelled out for me?

James and Danni didn't hold the required chemistry needed to pull this film off. Their initial banter was aggressive and felt more like a job interview, complete with muscle flexing. Danni's character lacked depth, no pun intended, but she just wasn't real. The intimacy scene was a bit like a war over who will dominate.

The ending was the biggest failure. All three missions left incomplete.

This is one of those book adaptations that just does not translate into a good movie, regardless of Wim Wenders and great cinematography and music and two good actors. The story just is slow, boring and dull and the 2 story lines do not hold it together which is unfortunate as it is beautiful to watch.. almost like a music video/documentary that yearns for a deeper story to make it come together.

Yet as a film it just did not work. And the ending a bit predictable and trite... after the endless wait for something meaningful to happen besides the obvioud...one almost wish they both die to make it more appropriate of the whole depressing theme of the movie and love story that feels forced and out of place. Surely the book has more depth but film is not worthy. And i am a big Wenders fan.

I give it a 4 for the acting with limited story, and DP/Music.

What is the darkness within us and of the world made of? Where does life end and death begin? Is death and life and all humans interconnected in a forever intertwining bond? These are the fundamental questions that I feel this film is tempting to explore, in a very picturesque, romantic and musical way. I would award 10/10 for this rarely deep romantic movie, however i really need McAvoy to get back to his lady for once and live happily ever after.