Black Crab movie review
When I was younger, some slightly older friends were introducing more sophisticated foods to my New Jersey palette, and one of those refined foods was Crab with Black Bean Sauce, a delicacy at Lin’s China Garden on Bayard Street in Manhattan’s Chinatown. I won’t go into detail, but let’s just say it was one of the messiest and most delicious meals I’ve ever had. And before Lin’s closed, I had several opportunities to enjoy it there. Its comparable has never been found, unfortunately. It annoys me that the song’s title, “Black Crab,” conjures up thoughts of the dish. I feel hungry just thinking about it.
The name of a team selected for a potentially victory-snagging probably suicide mission in a not-too-distant future war to end all conflicts, or all of civilization itself, is “Black Crab” in this dark, dramatic sci-fi war film from Sweden. I know, exactly the kind of thing we are all itching to do right now. To be honest, I’d rather be eating crab with black bean sauce in Lin’s China Garden (not to belabour the point). Adam Berg’s film, which is an adaptation of the well-liked sci-fi novel by Jerker Virdborg, begins with a memorable scene in which Noomi Rapace plays Caroline Edh, a mother waiting in a traffic congestion in a tunnel with her kid. Suddenly, the tunnel is filled with gunfire and soldiers, and we black out on Edh and her small daughter sheltering in the backseat as “Five Years,” a David Bowie song about the end of the world, plays on the radio.

A few years later, Edh, as she is known throughout the majority of the film, is a soldier who is on the move to receive instructions. Her transportation is far from luxurious. Almost like a cattle car on a railway. After getting off the ship, a woman approaches her and gives her soup, assuring her that it is not tainted. Could Edh guess that the soup lady has a boyfriend at the base? Edh’s commander stops THAT talk in its tracks. Following that, this lieutenant abandons Edh in hostile area. But she manages to escape. Later, the man appears as the Black Crab assignment’s leader. Yikes! One of the elements causing the movie’s spills and chills is this character’s ultimate tenacity and drive.
Then what, you wonder, about this quest. There is an ice-covered archipelago in this “time of the wolf,” as their recruiter General Raad (David Dencik) describes it. There is a location at the conclusion of which, if the squad is successful, they will deliver two enigmatic presents, heralding triumph for their side. In this dystopian scenario, specific nations are never mentioned, and the geographical names that are mentioned are made up. The problem is that the ice is too thin for cars to drive on, and the sea passages are too small for an etc.

The recruiter remarked, “It could be navigated by soldiers with ice skates,” and I have to admit, I laughed aloud. Okay! Then again, you know, the gallant marauders led by Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris arrived at their Nazi target on skis in Anthony Mann’s 1965 film “The Heroes of Telemark,” which was based on a true story and is a classic of the stealth war film genre (and served as an inspiration for Christopher Nolan’s “Inception”). So why not? The appearance of these hardened half-dozen in silhouette, trudging across pitch-black stretches of ice, occasionally pausing to glance at the hundreds of drowned bodies under them, proved to be accurate (climate change figures here because of course it does).
The hope of finding her daughter, who she is told was found in a makeshift refugee camp, gives Edh motivation to try to turn this mission around despite the fact that it is essentially a suicide mission. The recollections that are intermingled with the treachery-filled, frequently gruesome walk through the ice are set up by her longing. When the customary awful secrets are disclosed. On several levels, war is hell. especially when Edh is forced to make the unavoidable Moral Decisions.
Rapace, who I assume is currently a dominant power in the world of fantasy, exhibits the stoic fortitude that has been a performance staple for her. Of course, this too will soon crumble. What a welcome home (this is the actress’ first Swedish film in ten years!) Sometimes, one may say that the effects are a touch too convincing. The blackness practically surrounds us. But is hope truly the main factor in the end? “Black Crab” is more than engrossing enough to keep you interested in finding out what happens.