NFB Collection
The Final Mission: The Story of the U-190
200647 min 10 secFilm: Documentary
Direction: Alain Vézina
Production: Alain VézinaJean-Luc Potvin
Script: Alain Vézina
Co-produced by Merlin Films Enr. and Pixmédia Enr.
This title is an acquisition.
It is the final months of the Second World War, and German submarine forces are faced with the overwhelming superiority of the Allies. Despite heavy casualties, the U-boat crews keep on fighting. Some vessels even venture along the North American coastline. A few weeks before the end of the conflict, one of these ships, the U-190, is outside Halifax, Nova Scotia, looking for enemy vessels.
On April 16, 1945, the U-190 torpedoes the Canadian minesweeper HMCS Esquimalt, which rapidly sinks. Dozens of men fight for survival in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Out of 71 crew members, 44 will perish.
The men of the U-190 do everything in their power to escape the Canadian Navy and try to reach their Norwegian base of operations. But the war is nearing its end and the U-190 crew, worried bout the fate of both their country and loved ones, anxiously await the outcome of their final mission.
Availability
Other versions
Subject categories
- National Security and Defence > Army Programs and OperationsHistorical PerspectivesNavy
- History - Canada - 1920-1945 > World War II
- War, Conflict and Peace > World War II - The Home Front
Credits
- producer
- Alain Vézina
- Jean-Luc Potvin
- writer
- Alain Vézina
- director
- Alain Vézina
- editor
- Jean-Luc Potvin
- Michel T. Prévost
- music composer
- Réjean Doyon
- 3D animation
- Jean-Luc Potvin
- narrator
- Luc Pilon
- additional voice
- Patrick Baby
- Jean Guérin
- Ron O'Brien
- dialogue coach
- Ron O'Brien
- English adaptation
- Alain Essiembre
- Michel T. Prévost
- interviewee
- Werner Hirschmann
- Fred Burbidge
- André Kirouac
- Raymond Bérubé
- Laurent St-Pierre
- director of photography
- Jean Kavanagh
- Jean-Luc Potvin
- camera operator
- Dave Smith
- Patrice Larose
- Jean-Luc Potvin
- sound
- Dave Smith
- Patrice Larose
- Jean-Luc Potvin
- model maker
- Jean-Claude Laurier
- lighting
- François Gamache
- reenactment
- Marc Blanchet
- sound recording
- Serge Drolet
- sound effects
- Gilles Claeys
- post-production audio
- Jean-Luc Potvin
- production secretary
- Annik-Corona Ouellette
- research
- Alain Vézina