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James (James McAvoy) is a British agent under the cover of a water engineer, while Danny (Alicia Vikander) is a bio-mathematician working on a deep-sea diving project to explore the origin of life on our planet. On a chance encounter in a remote resort in Normandy where they both prepare for their respective missions, they fall rapidly, and unexpectedly, into each other's arms and a deliriously wild love affair develops, even though their jobs are destined to separate them. Danny sets off on a perilous quest to dive to the bottom of the ocean. James's assignment takes him to Somalia, where he is sucked into a geopolitical vortex that puts him in grave danger. Both characters are subject to different kinds of isolation as they pine for each other; their determination to reconnect becomes as much an existential journey as a love story.
Rating
NR
Director
Wim Wenders
Studio
Samuel Goldwyn Films
Writer
Erin Dignam
  • Annoying ending. The whole thing just fails to reach it's potential.
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  • Submergence is a delicate, melancholic yet thrilling modern poem about love set in our imperfect and violent world.Despite featuring a male spy (named James !) , a young woman and bad guys ( in this case jihadists) the story takes you to the opposite direction of what a James Bond movie would.James (played by James McAvoy), the english/ scottish spy, appears as a real modern guy not afraid to show himself both strong and vulnerable who once being held captive by the terrorists will rather try to talk and exchange with those people rather than act like the usual avenging caucasian spy.The two parts experienced by his character are a good way for James McAvoy to display his wide range of emotions alterning between charming, loving and then fighting not only to stay alive but also mentally sane when he's litterally and physically facing darkness.In a time period where women are proudly depicted through strong characters in cinema, Danny (played with so much subtility by Alicia Vikander) appears as one of those woman. While you first see her in control and focusing on her job, after falling in love without even being prepared to it, she'll soon struggle, when James without explanations stops answering, to achieve her job goals yet holding to them and her feelings until the end.The construction of the movie is interesting as it alternates between now and then, the first part mostly focusing on their incandescent romance encounter in France while the second goes back and forth alternating between James and Danny's journey as if their minds were connected and kept echoing to each other despite the distance. Submergence being an adaptation of the book by JM Ledgard it's great to see how Wim Wenders managed to adapt it into a movie without betraying its essence while adding his personnal touch. The movie feels more human and more tender and because it's more tender the violence of the world feels even more terrible than in the book.Yet if the terrorism subject frightens and/or repeals you, the way Wim Wenders managed to recenter the story on love and the forth and back structure of the second part should make it easier to watch as it soothes the pain, when we see James being so awfully tortured, to have those moments delivered little by little with more calming and introspective scenes with Danny in between.Some last words on the beautiful cinematography with stunning landscapes wonderfully completed by a haunting soundtrack that makes this movie worth going to see in cinema even if the theme wouldn't appeal to you !
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  • An intriguing romantic thriller that takes us into dangerous otherworlds beyond our world.
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  • Can a bio-mathematician and a CIA operative meet-cute? They can in Wim Wenders' newest film.
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  • I did like the Germanic sobriety Wenders applies to the material-you never doubt something is at stake, even if the storytelling pieces don't always pay off.
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  • Submergence is worthy of the engravings that could have illustrated a poetic anthology of Hölderlin. [Full Review in Spanish]
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  • An improvable but valuable work. [Full review in Spanish]
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  • The settings are sometimes more interesting than the characters' own behaviors. [Full Review in Spanish]
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  • The most roundly satisfying fiction feature Wenders has made since, well, that first one about the angel so in love he gives up immortality.
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