Released:
September 17, 1981Director:
Wolfgang PetersenStarring:
Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus WennemannDas Boot was an ambitious project by director Wolfgang Petersen, it became one of the most expensive films in German cinema history next to Fritz Lang's silent film Metropolis in 1927, it received five Academy Award nominations, and it was a major success in both Germany and the United States. It was based on the 1973 novel by Lothar-Günther Buchheim and his own experiences on a U-Boat in World War II.
German U-boats first saw major service in World War I being used by the German military to sink Allied naval ships to cripple their trade lines and war efforts. These U-boats inflicted heavy losses on the Allied navy in the first world war and the trend continued in World War II. Because of this, German U-boat crews had a reputation of being bloodthirsty cowards that relied on suprise. Das Boot turns the tables around telling the story from the Germans perspective with a more sympathetic view.
Das Boot is told through the eyes of a war journalist, Lt. Werner. He is assigned to join a submarine crew of U-96 in October of 1941. He meets the Captain of the submarine with no name played by Jürgen Prochnow, after an opening sequence at a brothel the crew leaves France on a long patrol that takes them through the Atlantic to Spain and the Allied naval stronghold of Gibraltar.
Das Boot's cast consists of various German and Austrian actors which helps give the film an authentic feel. There is an even mix of veterans and rookies among the submarine crew and each character feels very real and human, with their own strengths, weaknesses, and innocence. Going with the sympathetic view, many of the characters including the Captain show vocal criticism of the Nazi leadership, another character at the beginning of the film named Thomsen who is a decorated captain himself mocks Hitler and the Nazi regime in a celebration speech at the brothel. Some of these characters have nationalistic pride in their country but overall they just want to do their patrol and go home.
The Captain:
Jürgen Prochnow was great as the Captain, and Otto Sander made his mark with his short but memorable role as the Captain's friend Thomsen who was another submarine veteran, his scenes with Prochnow in the brothel came off as the old generation passing on and letting the new generation of rookies take over.
The set pieces are a huge highlight of Das Boot. Two mock U-boats were constructed for the movie. The production crew put great detail in the authenticity of the film and the interior of the U-boat shines in all of its dark and claustraphobic glory.
Some scenes:
One of the mock submarines constructed was used in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). German cinematographer, Jost Vacano compliments the film's set pieces with his hand-held camera creating a realistic/authentic feel with his camera shots that go through the submarine. The scenes where the camera runs down the interior sub while the crew prepares for battle really highlight the strengths of this film. Think of it like a shaky camera but done right, time to take some notes hollywood. German composer Klaus Doldinger's score blends the sound of 80's new wave with classical romanticism to create a unique soundtrack experience.
A great deal of effort was made to make this film as authentic as possible with several WWII U-boat captains serving as consultants including Hans-Joachim Krug, and Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock as well as the author himself who's personal photographs were used to create the grand set pieces used in the film. However Buchheim went on to criticize the films portrayal of the crew mainly for acting unprofessional in certain scenes where the crew celebrate and start to sing after sinking a ship, even criticising Petersen's adaptation as cliche. Thus the pitfalls that come with movie making.
I've always enjoyed movies set on ships and subs and the set pieces used. Das Boot comes off with a romantic and heroic portrayal of the U-boat crews. Petersen turns the tables turning these men who were considered cowards by the Allies and propaganda into heroes who were in dangerous situations themselves, the film states at the beginning that Allied anti-submarine weapons killed about 30,000 U-boat personnel and crew. There is one scene in particular where the crew sink a British vessel and they watch in horror as the flaming ship sinks and the survivors try to swim toward the sub but they cannot take prisoners and they leave the survivors to die in the sea.
The film is as anti-war as it is romantic, many of the crew members show anger toward the Nazi government because they feel as if their government is sending them to their deaths. There is an awkward moment were the Captain and his crew land in Spain for repairs and supplies and the war weary vets have an awkward encounter with some Nazi officials who throw a party for the crew, the equivalent of little timmy asking his Vietnam vet uncle if he got to kill anybody? The sub itself has a dark, claustraphobic feel to it and at times it feels like an underwater hell to some of the crew members. Overall Das Boot is a fine war film and it set the standard for current submarine movies. There are multiple versions, the directors cut I watched was a solid three hours and because of the length it does drag at some moments.
I recommend this film to all, I watched the english dubbed version and because a majority of the actors were able to do English voice overs for their characters it isn't really an issue but there was one character who didn't do an english voice over and you might be able to spot which character it is right away. I recommend that you watch the film in its German language. I will eventually watch this movie in German so I could see this movie grow on me in the future.
The Verdict:
4.0
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