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MATTHEW
MCCONAUGHEY IN BARENTS SEA DRAMA MOVIE
BY
ROBERT TREBOR OAKTOWN EXAMINER
Even
as events aboard the stricken Russian submarine, The Kursk,
seem destined to be heading towards an ever more tragic conclusion,
Hollywood looks set to put its unique spin on the disaster
in a bold celluloid project slated for release in the summer
of 2001. Although a number of screenplay ideas are already
circulating Tinsel Town the first to be green-lighted is a
sequel to this summer's submarine hit U-571 which starred
Matthew McConaughey and Bill Paxton and depicted a German
submarine being boarded by disguised Americans and capturing
an Enigma cipher machine during the Second World War, audaciously
overlooking the fact that it was the British who actually
cracked the cipher.
The
new film - provisionally entitled U-572 - will reprise the
primary themes of the original box office smash; those being
a perilous submarine boarding operation and a courageously
total disregard for basic historical accuracy. While the deaths
of all 118 Russian sailors at the bottom of the Barents Sea
seem assured in reality, mooted-director Roland Emmerich (Stargate,
Independence day) has suggested movie-goers should not be
put off by the possibility of a downbeat ending. "No American
wants to leave the movies thinking about people trapped and
dying in an icy tomb", insisted Emmerich, "Even Russians."
Emmerich went on to criticise this summer’s other big nautical
hit, Perfect Storm, saying "Personally I think that film lacked
a lot in realism - hundreds of fishermen return home safely
every day having endured no notable incidents whatsoever;
only a small proportion of them drown. Why did that film have
to accentuate the negative?"
In
that spirit, U-572 therefore, looks set to tell a life-affirming
tale of triumph over physical odds and cantankerous orderlies
as McConaughey and Paxton (reprising their roles from the
first film with the aid of an abundance of prosthetic make-up)
learn of the crippling explosion on board the Kursk, whilst
languishing in a retirement home in Cleveland. The two octogenarians,
in an inspired take-off of a plot-line from One Flew Over
the Cuckoo's Nest will manage to escape the home, hire a fishing
boat and sail it to Russia overnight, before descending, equipped
only with snorkels, one home-made wet-suit, and a blowtorch,
to gain entrance to the sub. The story will unfold with the
individual rescue of each of the Russian sailors, brought
to the surface by McConaughey and Paxton who will then successfully
administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in slow-motion to
every one of the rescuees . In another brave divergence from
fact, it has been revealed that all the Russian roles will
be played by women (with Famke Janssen (X-men) and Natasha
Henstridge (Species) likely to be among the cast). "I think
my audience might have trouble believing that I would willingly
kiss over one hundred men", laughed McConaughey in explanation,
fresh from the ordeal of being arrested in his Austen home
while romping naked with a close male friend.
The
project has the enthusiastic backing of Russian Premier Vladimir
Putin, who has is very keen to get shooting underway immediately,
although his advisor, Igor Motsak, dismisses suggestions the
whole idea was floated by Putin - a renowned cineaste who
counts Emmerich’s Godzilla as among his favourite movies -
himself. "Ideally", said Motsak, "we would like the whole
thing wrapped by Monday so we can screen selected and carefully
overdubbed highlights on the evening news. We’re hoping Roland
will be a little flexible on the issue of the Summer 2001
release."
If
U-572 is as big a success as its predecessor it has even been
suggested that a third film in the sequence may eventually
ensue. "Ultimately it has always been my wish", stated McConaughey,
"and this is probably a universal in this country, to make
a movie where I basically pilot a submarine up the Thames
to London England Europe and fire off a few nuclear missiles
at various landmarks and celebrity homes. Mel (Gibson) and
I have been bouncing these kinds of ideas off of each other
for a number of years now and, if U-572 is as much of a hit
as I think it should be, then that dream may soon become a
reality".
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