The K-19 Crew Resurfaces

Your recent article regarding the historical accuracy of the film “K-19: The Widowmaker” (“Venturing Into Rough Seas,” March 4) might give one the impression that the script was written in a careless or exploitative manner. Nothing could be further from the truth. “K-19” was developed over four years, during which time numerous survivors of the accident were interviewed, including Capt. Zateyev, and their recollections were combined with documentary evidence in crafting the story.

While it is true that--as with any feature film based on historical incident--some characters and story elements in “K-19” are fictional, it is a complete mischaracterization to say that the script depicts the crew as “uncultured, undereducated people who suffer from a lack of discipline, alcoholism and technical illiteracy.” In no draft of the script--ever--were the men of K-19 depicted in anything remotely like this description. From the moment I heard about this story, my motivation has been to make a film that shows the heroism, sacrifice and humanity of these men, and the script has always reflected that.

If the men of K-19 were written as incompetents and buffoons, Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson would have no interest in playing them, and I would have no interest in directing the picture. Unfortunately, the statements of “outrage” quoted in your article have more to do with the pending litigation than they do with the accuracy of the situation.

KATHRYN BIGELOW

Director, “K-19: The Widowmaker”

Los Angeles

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When we signed on to finance and distribute “K-19: The Widowmaker,” a submarine thriller based on actual Cold War events, we did so because we knew this was a compelling story of courage and valor that needed to be told. We always knew that the story of the K-19 nuclear submarine and the courageous Russian sailors who saved it from turning the North Atlantic into a radioactive pool had stayed buried for far too long.

So you can imagine our dismay when the first article about our project in this paper focused on the complaints of another producer and some of the individuals involved in the 1961 tragedy. Missing from the article was the mission of the cast and crew to produce a film that makes Cold War Russian submariners into heroes--a totally foreign concept in American pop culture, even a decade after the fall of the Iron Curtain.

We at Intermedia have never seen a version of the “K-19” script that portrays the submarine’s crew members as anything but true profiles in courage.

NIGEL SINCLAIR

Co-chairman, Intermedia Films