‘Comandante’ Review: Venice Opens with a WWII Submarine Film That Salutes a Momentous Act of Italian Heroism
variety.comOwen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic The title character of “Comandante,” Salvatore Todaro (Pierfrancesco Favino), is a submarine commander in the Italian Royal Navy who has a different spirit from the military machos we usually encounter in movies.
He’s certainly tough enough — a bruiser with a dark edge. “Comandante” is set during the early days of World War II (September and October 1940), and as Salvatore leads the crew of the Cappellini, an iron hulk of an underwater vessel equipped with a dozen torpedoes and a pair of machine guns, he speaks about his dedication to blowing up his enemies.
But he’s also a saddened romantic warrior with the heart of a poet. As the men prepare to board the sub, Salvatore assembles them for a pep talk, and his look is striking: the double-breasted brown leather coat, the coiffed hair and thick goatee, the gleam of burning-eyed fatalism.
Favino resembles a swarthier version of Bruce McGill; for all his stoic intensity, there’s a civilian quality of introspection about him.
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