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The Wolf's Call

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Wikipedia article




'The Wolf's Call' is a 2019 French action thriller film directed and written by Antonin Baudry. The film is about a submarine's sonar operator Chanteraide (Franois Civil), who must use his brilliant sense of hearing to track down a French ballistic missile submarine and end the threat of nuclear war.

Plot



The French submarine 'Titan' - 'Titane' ('Titanium') in the original French version - is sent near the Mediterranean coast of Tartus, Syria to stealthily recover a French Special Forces unit operating in the area. The submarine sails under the command of Captain Grandchamp and Executive Officer (XO) D'Orsi. However, during their mission they encounter an unidentified sonar contact. The sonar expert of the submarine, Chanteraide nicknamed "Socks", and serving as "golden ear", the officer specialized in underwater acoustics first classifies the contact as a wounded whale, but it quickly turns out that the contact is an unknown submarine transmitting their position to an Iranian frigate and a maritime helicopter operating in the area. The helicopter launches depth charges in what seems to be an unprovoked act of aggression which, however, is a valid defensive measure as the 'Titan' is in fact violating sovereign Syrian waters while recovering a foreign force that has already engaged in combat and killed Syrian nationals. After evading the barrage, the 'Titan' surfaces, and the captain shoots down the helicopter with a Panzerfaust 3. They recover the Special Forces unit and return to base.

When the 'Titan' returns to base, the radio announces that Russia is invading Finland's land Islands, and that the French President has decided to send a naval task force to the Baltic Sea in support of Finland. The Russian government then threatens nuclear retaliation against the French Republic. Chanteraide, trying to identify the unknown contact in Syria, hacks into his superior officer's computer and after conducting research at a bookstore where he starts a romantic relationship with Diane, as well as the naval archives, discovers that it is in fact a Russian 'Timour III' ballistic missile submarine, supposedly dismantled. Meanwhile, Grandchamp is promoted for his actions to command 'Formidable' - 'Effroyable' ('Dreadful') in the original French version - while D'Orsi takes over command of 'Titan'.

The 'Formidable' is launched with its new captain with the 'Titan' as its escort submarine. Chanteraide is pulled aside during roll call and Grandchamp explains he has failed his drug test and will not be boarding the submarine. Chanteraide distresses at the now empty dock but after an air raid siren sounds, runs into the bunker where the naval staff have relocated. The French military command detects a Russian R-30 nuclear missile being launched by the 'Timour III' from the Bering Sea, prompting the French President to order the 'Formidable' to launch one of its nuclear missiles against Russia in response.

In the command bunker, Chanteraide finds an anomaly while listening to the record of the launch - the missile sounds too light, because it was launched without a nuclear warhead. Chanteraide and his superior officer immediately call the admiral in command of the Strategic Oceanic Force (the ALFOST), but the ALFOST puts them on hold as the US Secretary of State has also called. The Secretary of State reveals critical intelligence that the terrorist organisation Al-Jadida had illegally bought the decommissioned 'Timour III' submarine from a corrupt admiral and launched an empty missile at France, tricking the French into an irrevocable procedure to launch a nuclear counterstrike from the 'Formidable'. The ALFOST and Chanteraide are then flown by helicopter to the 'Titan' in an attempt to stop the nuclear launch by all means necessary.

Grandchamp prepares to fire the nuclear missile, following procedure and eliminating all outside communication while keeping the submarine in stealth mode. After D'Orsi is rebuffed in his efforts to communicate with Grandchamp via underwater telephone, he attempts to approach 'Formidable' by swimming to it in person. He is killed when Grandchamp launches a torpedo at 'Titan' to prevent their attempts to foil his missile launch. This torpedo grazes the 'Titan' and only causes minor damage. 'Titan' then launches their own torpedo at 'Formidable'. 'Formidable' then returns fire. While Chanteraide breaks down under the pressure of targeting his former commander, the ALFOST is able to use his experience from formerly commanding 'Formidable' to predict Grandchamp's evasive actions. 'Titan''s torpedo explodes above the 'Formidable''s bridge, as Grandchamp is able to release ballast air and throw the torpedo enough off target to prevent direct impact, although the control room is devastated. 'Formidable''s torpedo hits 'Titan' which begins to sink.

Grandchamp orders the evacuation of the carbon monoxide filled control room and denies appeals to issue an SOS call, intending to follow orders and launch the nuclear missile first. On the 'Titan', Chanteraide and the ALFOST, the sole survivors of the torpedo impact, escape the burning area of the ship, Chanteraide makes a last call to the 'Formidable' over underwater telephone. Chanteraide recalls Grandchamp's prior trust in him, and begs him not to fire the missile, before saying goodbye in the face of his impending death on the stricken 'Titan'. With his dying breath, Grandchamp removes the nuclear targeting board, preventing the missile from being launched. The ALFOST is able to evacuate Chanteraide via the escape hatch, but is unable to evacuate himself. As Chanteraide surfaces in a lifejacket, his eardrums are destroyed. Chanteraide is rescued by a helicopter. A deaf Chanteraide attends a memorial held on a submarine for the fallen French sailors. The final scene shows Chanteraide reuniting with his girlfriend Diane.

Production



Some scenes in the film are photographed in actual French submarines.

Cast



* Franois Civil as Chanteraide/"Socks"

* Omar Sy as Commander D'Orsi

* Mathieu Kassovitz as the Admiral (ALFOST"'ALFOST'" is not a name. It is an acronym designating the admiral commanding the SSBN fleet of the French Navy. It stands for 'A'mira'L' commandant la 'F'orce 'O'canique 'ST'ratgique' (Admiral commanding the Strategic Oceanic Force).)

* Reda Kateb as Captain Grandchamp

* Paula Beer as Diane

* Alexis Michalik as Executive Officer of the SSBN 'Formidable'

* Jean-Yves Berteloot as CIRA Commander

* Damien Bonnard as Navigator of the SSBN 'Formidable'

* Marc Ruchmann as Officer of the SSBN 'Formidable'

Reception



The reviewer Anthony Kao from Cinema Escapist states that the film's military sequence depict a "more muscular France" with "French hard power" acting as part of a "more militarily assertive Europe", noting that these political storylines are influenced by director Antonin Baudry having "previously served as a high-ranking French diplomat." Kao states that even though the film has an "...ambitious plot that spans multiple vessels, naval bases, and countries, it never gets weighed down or overly hard to follow", which contrasts from the typical French art film that North American audiences associate with that country, which is usually "esoteric and inaccessible."

Reviewer Brenden Gallagher from 'The Daily Dot' calls the film "tense submarine warfare for Tom Clancy fans", a reference to Clancy's submarine classic 'The Hunt for the Red October'. Gallagher calls 'The Wolf's Call' "...pulse-pounding action and military intrigue on a level you just dont see from Hollywood filmmaking anymore" that is, while being "familiar and predictable", still a "well-constructed" movie. He states that while the film's $22 million production budget is much lower than a similar US film would get, the French film does well within its budgetary constraints.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "'The Wolf's Call ' is a classic submarine action-thriller that will keep you at the edge of your seat."

Notes



References




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