The Damned

Available for the first time in America on home video, René Clément's 1947 submarine thriller The Damned is set almost entirely within the cramped quarters of a German U-boat, in this case during a crucial moment in 1945, just days before the fall of Berlin and Hitler's suicide. Ostensibly on a mission to establish a victory front in South America, the German sub sets off from a secret Oslo base, carrying Nazis and Nazi collaborators who are actually fleeing from the inevitable consequences of defeat. Functioning almost literally as a pressure cooker, the sub forces these characters into an increasingly urgent series of betrayals, exposed secrets, and clashing agendas, until the film's title becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy for nearly everyone onboard. Filmed in glorious, gritty black-and-white, supplemented with archival submarine footage, The Damned is a visual tour de force that deals with cowardice, moral decay, and wartime loyalties that are tested and broken with dramatically potent results. Bowing on high-definition, extras include an audio commentary by scholars Judith Mayne and John E. Davidson, and Dominique Maillet's 2010 French documentary “René Clément or The Cinema of Sketches,” in which noted critics, historians, and filmmakers deservedly sing Clément's praises. Highly recommended. (J. Shannon)