The Sinking of the Laconia
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2009) |
Please do not use {{Infobox television film}} directly. See the documentation for available templates.
The Sinking of the Laconia is a two-part TV film, first aired on 6 and 7 January 2011 on BBC Two, about the Laconia incident; the sinking of the British ocean Liner RMS Laconia during World War II by a German U-boat, which then, together with two other U-boats, rescued the passengers but was in turn attacked by American planes although displaying Red Cross flags, leading to the death of hundreds of the Laconia passengers. The incident has been called a possible Allied war crime.
The film is a British-German co-production, written by Alan Bleasdale, directed by Uwe Janson, and with Andrew Buchan, Brian Cox, Ken Duken, Lindsay Duncan, Thomas Kretschmann and Franka Potente in the leading roles. The idea to bring the story of the Laconia to screen was conceived by TalkbackThames Head of Drama Johnathan Young.
Story
Six hundred miles from the coast of Africa, in September 1942, a German U-boat, U-156, sinks the British troopship Laconia carrying 1,800 Italian POWs, 80 British civilians, and 268 Polish and British soldiers. After realising that there were POWs and civilians on-board, and that they are facing certain death without rescue, U-Boat Commander Werner Hartenstein (Duken) makes a decision goes against the orders of Nazi high command. The U-boat surfaces and Hartenstein instructs his men to save as many of the shipwrecked survivors as they can. Over the next few days U-156 saved 400 people, with 200 people crammed on board the surface-level submarine and another 200 in lifeboats. Hartenstein gave orders for messages to be sent out to the Allies to organise a rescue of the survivors, but they were spotted by American B-24 Liberator bombers which moved in to attack. The Sinking of the Laconia takes a look at the human side of the remarkable events that took place: the friendships that developed, the small acts of heroism, and the triumph of the human spirit in the most incredible of situations.
Production
The production is a cooperation of the British BBC with the German ARD Degeto and SWR Fernsehen, executed by TalkbackThames and Teamworx.[1][2]
Partial cast
- Ken Duken - U-Boat Commander Werner Hartenstein, U-156
- Andrew Buchan - 3rd officer Thomas Mortimer, Laconia
- Franka Potenta - Hilda Smith
- Lindsay Duncan - Elisabeth Fullwood
- Brian Cox - Captain Sharp, Laconia
- Morven Christie - Laura Ferguson
- Jodi Balfour - Sarah Fullwood
- Nicholas Burns - Captain Coutts
- Ciarán McMenamin - Declan McDermott
- Lenny Wood - Billy Hardacre
- Jacob Matschenz - Mannsmann
- Matthias Koeberlin - Rostau
- Oskar Brown - Waldemar
- Frederick Lau - Fiedler
- Thomas Kretschmann - Admiral Dönitz
- Hermanus Pieters - Dengler
See also
References
- ^ BBC Press Statement
- ^ UFActs No. 89, December 2009