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Western Approaches
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This World War II doccu-film / propaganda movie was made in 1944, after the Battle of the Atlantic had already been won. But Britain's survival had depended upon those who served in the Merchant Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary. And they knew it.
The toll had been catastrophic, in both ships and lives. But enough food, materials and supplies had fought its way through the Nazi U-boat blockade to keep the United Kingdom fighting on. If only just.
Some 4,700 British-flagged ships were sunk, and more than 29,000 merchant seamen died.
As with many British WWII movies, this was not made with an all-star cast of actors. Instead, the officers and crew of escorts and merchantmen performed re-enactments and interpretations of their lived experience.
The unforgiving sea. The brutal cold. The relentless U-boat wolfpacks. While all are somewhat glossed over in this silver screen dramatisation, Western Approaches was the crowning achievement of Britain's wartime Crown Film Unit. Only the postwar movie The Cruel Sea can compete with it in its sense of authenticity.