BITE-SIZED: Sink the Bismarck! (Lewis Gilbert, 1960)

The story of the sinking of the Nazi battleship Bismarck.

Most of the story is based around Captain Shepard (Kenneth More), an officer who coordinates the hunt for the vessel from a London war room. 

Directed by future Bond helmer Lewis Gilbert, the film is also notable to fans of the franchise for the number of familiar faces in the cast and crew: Peter Hunt was the editor while cast members Geoffrey Keen (Freddie Grey) and Robert Brown (M) show up in minor roles. If you pay attention you can also catch voice actor Robert Reitti (the voice of Thunderball’s villain Largo) as the voice of Bismarck Captain Lindemann (Carl Möhner).

Despite the histrionics of the title, Bismarck is a movie obsessed with process and the people making decisions behind the scenes.

War is treated as dangerous and unglamorous, with the sea action presented in the style of a
docudrama, as nameless sailors go about the various processes of running the ship or firing weapons at each other.

The one element of the movie where the filmmakers go broad is on the characterisation and performance of Admiral Günther Lütjens (Karel Štěpánek).

He is presented as an ideologue who is increasingly divorced from reality, while Captain Lindemann is a reluctant military man more concerned with his men and ship.

By contrast, the British military brass are shown as empathetic, even towards their foes.

When the Bismarck is finally cornered, the British officers show pity towards their outnumbered foe.

Even Kenneth More’s character, established as a cold brain, is given humanity: 

When he receives word that his son has survived an encounter with the Bismarck, he is shown in a long shot, back to camera crying in a bathroom with his face shown by a mirror.

Maybe it is the effect of watching so many Hollywood war movies, but Sink the Bismarck's lack of pizzazz and focus on the unglamorous processes of war was refreshing.

Worth a look.