Kathryn Bigelow: Interviews

K-19: The Widowmaker: A Film by Kathryn Bigelow

120 K-19: The Widowmaker: A Film by Kathryn Bigelow Ted Elick / 2002 From DGA Magazine 27, no. 2 (July 2002): 24–32. Permission to reprint courtesy of the Director’s Guild of America, Inc. In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union was eager to display its ability to launch nuclear missiles within striking distance of the United States. With arms-race tensions at fever pitch, the Soviets believed it essential to demonstrate to American intelligence that they had the capability to strike back. Their newest sub, the K-19, was rushed from the shipyard for sea trials and missile-test firing. Unfortunately for the crew, at depth in the North Atlantic, the atomic reactor’s cooling system sprung a leak. The reactor core began to heat up, threatening a reactor meltdown—all with the potential of causing the sub’s nuclear missile warheads to accidentally explode which in turn could destroy a nearby NATO base and set off World War III. The dramatic details of this event remained secret for decades, and the captain and crew’s heroism and sacrifices were not recognized by their own government until well after the fall of communism. Enter director/producer Kathryn Bigelow, who has always had a passion for history. More than five years ago, Ken Stovitz, her agent at Creative Artists Agency, suggested she meet with several organizations that were considering producing feature films on historical subjects—among them, National Geographic producer Hank Palmieri. Palmieri and Bigelow discussed a number of stories, but the one that would grab and consume her for the next five years began with the viewing of a Russian documentary that National Geographic had re-aired for ted elick / 2002 121 Western audiences. The story touched on the bare bones of the Soviet atomic submarine K-19’s ill-fated maiden voyage. Bigelow immediately saw the potential for a big-screen adaptation of the story, and became personally committed to telling the submariners’ story. “The documentary was rough and cursory, yet still a very fascinating story,” Bigelow said. “What occurred to me, as Hank and I discussed this incident, was how little I knew about the Russian psychology during the Cold War or the Russian military mindset. Courage and heroism are, of course, universal. What was intriguing was that it was Russian heroism that had a profound impact upon American lives by preventing a possible nuclear confrontation. I thought the story was not only a vital slice of history, but also an opportunity to excavate the Russian military psyche at that time, which would give us an opportunity to look at ourselves through the eyes of the enemy. That is always valuable.” Despite the inherent drama in the piece, the principal obstacle and challenge to getting the film made was that the story was about the Russians , not Americans. “In mainstream Hollywood, the Russians have not been treated as heroes,” she said. “But I felt, if a member of the audience could begin to identify with these submariners and want them to survive, then you crossed the Rubicon, so to speak. That’s what set me on my journey.” That journey began with developing a screenplay. Bigelow, whose screenwriting credits include The Loveless, Near Dark, and Blue Steel, takes a very active role in developing a script. First working with writer Louis Nowra (story credit) then Christopher Kyle (screenwriter), whom she discovered through his work as a playwright, she began to fill in the details of the ill-fated voyage of the K-19. The process became a journalistic enterprise, with Bigelow making several trips to Russia to interview survivors and gain access to accounts of an incident that, at one time, the Soviet Union considered a major embarrassment. She recognized an interesting parallel to the end of the Cold War with her attempts to discover the truth within the story. “There was bias and resistance, very reminiscent of the sixties, on this shore and in Russia,” she explained. “I would go to Russia and speak with the survivors. First of all, I’m an American, and I don’t know if being a woman played into the bias, but I also don’t have a military background. I’m not a submariner; I’m a filmmaker, and I want to tell their story. “So through an interpreter, because I don’t speak Russian, I realized there was a lot of suspicion, a lot of skepticism. Hollywood mainstream films have not portrayed...