Masculinity In The Film The Cruel Sea Essay, Research Paper

Films made between 1939 and 1945 are of a bewildering variety films such as In Which We Serve were home front melodramas with divergent attempts to capture the reality of war. Moreover, the films shared common themes, promoted similar ideological messages, but other than striving towards reality, they have little in common stylistically . Films made in response to an ongoing situation don t have time to build conventions. Fifties war films are less formula-bound than one might suppose, but they share codes, actors, a visual style and they can be corralled into coherent groups . By looking at films such as The Cruel Sea in more detail it is possible to get a better sense of the feelings and tensions at the time more so than just a realistic portrayal of events. Films became stories with a message not just a stories.

An excellent documentary style film- The Cruel Sea directed by Charles Frend is about a British ship in the north Atlantic during the Second World War. It was released during the war years and was extremely successful with both the critics and the public . In contrast to the carefully balanced class divisions of the characters in, In Which We Serve, The Cruel Seal is unrelenting about its middle class characters, which are faced with the hardships, the loneliness and dangers of the sea. The film has a strong anti-war sentiment running throughout which helps in transforming unlikely characters into new emergent heroes.

The Cruel Sea challenges the old ideology of what it meant to be a hero during the long and brutal Second World War, the number of Germans that one killed no longer determined ones masculinity, but how well one adapted to the new way of life. Human casualties were not the only losses of the war. A fear of dehumanization became a terrifying threat, one had to learn how to live in a society shaped and manipulated by war. England had to maintain a strong and functional society at home and on the war front in order to survive and those able to accept the new changes brought on by war were the ones needed to keep the country going. This new definition of heroisms meant men from all social classes were just as suitable as the bourgeois that preceded them; any man from any class could now become Britain s new ideal masculine hero.

This is a story of the battle of Atlantic; a sea, two boats and a handful of men. The men are the heroes, the heroine- the ship, the only villain is the sea- the cruel sea, made worse by men , the opening lines of film guide the viewer to the main purpose of the film. It is a story of men, men who become heroes and how. The seamen on board the ship, The Compass Rose, were seamen in name only they were inexperienced, untrained and lacking in protocol. Many had never been to sea before, like the character Mr. Ferraby a barrister by profession, whose only experience onboard a ship had been as a passenger sailing from sailing from Britain to France on a holiday. The seamen were all visibly portrayed as coming from working class backgrounds, except Captain Ericson who was of middle to upper class stature. This usage of working class men was unique for its time and helped drastically in portraying the new heroic image. In one of the opening scenes where Captain Ericson is first introduced to two of his crew, he is stunned by the lack of insubordination exhibited by the two men, do not salute me indoors, the proper way is to remove your cap before you come in . The war had forced these men to leave the jobs they knew, for jobs they were neither trained nor skilled to do. They were inexperienced men expected to perform extraordinary jobs for the sake of their country.

The men themselves had all volunteered for job and were not prepared for the hardship that were about to be bestowed upon them, I wish I d joined the army, one sailor shouts during the first attack. The inexperienced men were sent on a basic three week training course, immediately after which they were sent off to war, where they were expected to quickly adapt to the brutalities of the Atlantic in the in the middle of winter. Lockheart, a freelance journalist with very little sailing experience behind him, was immediately promoted to First Lieutenant following the departure of the original First Lieutenant, due to ill heath, who himself had been a used car sales man by trade. Lockheart was then forced to learn his new role as the convoy proceeded. It became necessary for him to learn and administer first aid, as no medical staff could be spared for convoy missions. Tough situations were made even tougher by the lack of necessities brought on by the war. The crew had to be quickly adaptable to circumstances beyond there control.

Captain Ericson described their as a new type of war, a private war in which he states the making of a man will Know how to go with out sleep, how to burry the dead and how to die without wasting anyone s time. Sleeping is portrayed in the film as a character flaw, to sleep was a sign of weakness. Those who slept did not accept the changes happening around them, one had to stay awake, be alert and be ready for what the war brought next. There isn t one scene in the film where any man is seen to be sleeping. However, one does see, only briefly, the Captain lying down as if to sleep but he is disturbed by messages of U-boat sightings and quickly rushes to the helm as though he were embarrassed he had, had to be called. In the scenes leading up to the sinking of the second U-boat, Captain Ericson is seen sitting on deck alone throughout the night on watch for a U-boat he knows he is following them, fearing he may fall asleep he had pressured a doctor into giving him pills to help keep him awake. In the scene preceding the U-boat sinking he curses the doctor for pressuring him into taking the pills. He failed to accept that he had succumbed to a moment of weakness, despite the fact that it had resulted in victory.

There are several scenes in the movie where fear is exemplified; the more obvious of these are the battle scenes. Periodically throughout the film there are tense moments where to the survival of the ship and her crew are jeopardized. Anytime a U-boat is detected in the water is understandably a tense moment and a time when fear is most evident. In moments leading up to the heroic achievement, images of praying sailors are cross cut with scenes of intense military planning. The inexperienced seamen manage to overcome and restrain their fears to react in time to sink the enemy submarine. Unfortunately The Compass Rose was not always so lucky, after several narrow escapes in a horrific scene her bow is imploded by a Germen missile. The crew of The Compass Rose carried on their fight dispelling all fears of death, refusing to abandon ship until the last possible moment, when without hesitation crew man after crew man jump into the bottomless icy cold Atlantic. They work together to survive through the night without a single emotional breakdown. It was important that the seaman accepted the changes brought on by war fears had to be suppressed they had to be ready for whatever war threw at them-a hero stood the test of time.

Adapting to ever changing environments not only applied at sea, but on the home front as well. Trips to sea are punctuated by tableaux scenes on shore, where the tribulations of officers and crew are no less fraught with threats and worry. In a country under siege there can be no escape from air raids and other horrors of war. Men had to leave loved ones a shore never knowing whether or not they would be seen again. After being granted shore leave privileges, Mr. Tallo is greeted with the terrible news that air raids had occurred in his area. He was granted shore leave only to find the town in ruins, houses fallen and lives destroyed. He then reports to the local authorities in hopes of learning the condition of his sister. In a rather less than dramatic scene, Mr. Tallo is informed of his sisters untimely death, a direct hit sir, at least she didn t suffer , with a nod of his head Mr. Tallo accepts the news calmly and replies, that s comforting. Casualties of war had to accept unphased, as defined by Captain Ericsons second characteristic of a hero, you have to learn how to bury the dead

On the evening on what would become Mr. Morell;s last shore visit he pleads with his wife to reschedule a business meeting so they can share a last meal together before his leave, she abruptly refuses his offer business needs to go on she replies and causally walks out the scene. Before Mr. Morell has time to feel sorry for himself the phone rings unable to get a word in edge ways he hears a mans voice on the other end of the line have you managed to get rid of that intangible husband of yours I m ready to go for dinner without another word uttered in the scene Mr. Morell picks up his packed bag takes one long, final look around their room, accepting the news like a true man should, and proudly walks out the door, never looking back. The adulterous events of this scene are beautifully summed up by Captain Ericson “It’s no-ones fault” he says, “It’s the war, the whole bloody war.” A hero had to understand that with war came change, and one of the ways for the bigger picture to succeed was through personal sacrifices. The making of a hero was marked by personal scars.

The most traumatic scene in the film occurs after a submarine has caused havoc to the convoy and the ASDIC (sonar detector) reveals that it is beneath a group of British sailors who are struggling in the water, hoping to be rescued. “There are men in the water just there, Captain Ericson murmurs, realizing that as Captain he is alone in making an agonizing decision. Faced with an appalling choice, he chooses to drop the depth charges that will not only destroy the enemy but will also kill his fellow countrymen. The attack is pressed home, not only killing the defenseless men but also failing to hit the U-boat, bloody murderer is yelled out from a member of his crew. This leads to a moving scene where Captain Ericsons’ resolute professionalism crumbles in a brief but heartfelt show of drunken emotion. This scene is not only crucial in the making of a hero but it reinforces the antiwar sentiment, which runs throughout the film. Captain Ericson had to choose between a few shipwrecked British solders or risk the lives of all the seamen on board his ship. His decision to attack the U-boat at the expense of the men was one that could only have been made by man changed through war. Only a hero had the courage to risk lives of the innocent for the better of the nation, and, though he pays the price later (in the scene of drunken emotion) he is able to overcome his moment of weakness, and restrain from any more such outbreaks, to carry on and continue to lead The Compass Rose on her convoy mission.

In the final scene of the film Captain Ericson approaches Lockheart I m sorry number one, although I tried you didn t get any medals to which Lockheart responds, That s alright, I have something else to look forward to The war had finally come to end and the men now changed by their experiences on board The Compass Rose were ready for what changes met them at home. Throughout their time on board the ship they had come to learn that war brings with it many changes and only those with the means to accept and adapt to these new changes would over come the horrors brought on by the war. It is in this final scene where one truly understand the transformation from the old heroic image seen in earlier films to the new post war hero exemplified in later made war films.

The Cruel Sea portrays the sacrifices made by working class men in the name of England. The film is an excellent example of the type of inexperienced, unskilled men who volunteered their lives for the war effort, portraying the lack of training they received and the amount of responsibility they were expected to handle under tense conditions. Throughout many scenes it emphasis was placed on the hardships the crew had to overcome beyond just enemy attacks. Ships were unequipped with lack of medical staff and knowledge to tend to the wounded, maintenance had to be done at sea while avoiding enemy submarines.

Sleep was seen as a form of weakness, as sleep in the film represented a lack of accepting the changing society around them, and anyone not willing to accept the changes made by war was not beneficial to England as a whole. Weaknesses then had to be overcome as did fear. It was expected that the inexperienced men would throughout times in the film experience moments of fear, but this emotion was not played upon, what was emphasized in the film was their ability to repress fear to help in achieving the bigger goal. Overcoming weakness and repressing fears are major characteristics of the new heroic image.

There is a different kind of heroism being played out in the film-The Cruel Sea, it was heroism not for egotism, but to save others from hardship and danger, personal sacrifices had to be made whether the seamen of The Compass Rose chose them or not. War on the home front saw many of the crewmen coming home to lost homes and destroyed families. Overcoming the loss of a loved one became just another battle which had to be won for the sake of the nation. This is a film that succeeds in telling how dangerously close to the edge the British came during the Battle of the Atlantic and of the enormous impact it had on ordinary individuals. It forced ordinary men, such as Captain Ericson to make horrific choices such as ones endangering the lives of his crew or risking the lives of innocent men. The closing scene leaves the audience with a real sense of how, after five long years of war, a nation was left exhausted and emotionally drained.

The making of a true hero was a man who had overcome all adversaries, defied the exceptional, did not give in to personal weakness, overcame all fears, made personal sacrifices and chose to live in a world changed and manipulated by war. He was a man who adapted and accepted a new today to help build a better England for the good of tomorrow.

Bibliography

Street, Sarah. British National Cinema. New York: Routledge, 1997

The Cruel Sea, directed by Charles Frend, EMI Films, 1980