Retrospective: Das Boot (1981)
³Das Boot² (Directorıs Cut) ****1/2 A film review by Jason Cline İ 1998 Jason Cline jccline@ix.netcom.com
³Das Boot² (Directorıs Cut) West German, 1981 - In German with English subtitles 210 minutes (3 hours 30 minutes) Rated R (for language, brief nudity, and mild violence) Director: Wolfgang Petersen Writer: Wolfgang Petersen (based on Lothar-Guenther Buchheimıs novel) Cast: Jurgen Prochnow (Captain) - Herbert Gronemeyer (Correspondent Werner) Klaus Wennemann (Cheif) - Hubertus Bengsch (1st Lieutenant)
³Das Boot² is a thrilling war film about a German U-boat during the last stages of World War II. The painstaking life of a young, inexperienced crew aboard a tiny submarine is presented expertly by director Wolfgang Petersen (In The Line of Fire, Air Force One). From merry banter and numbing boredom, to incredible excitement and total panic, all of the emotions of what it mustıve been like to be cramped up in one of those small submarines is thoroughly explored.
The plot is rather straight-forward. A war-weary captain (Prochnow) leads his fresh crew on a dangerous sea mission that could be their last. The captain has little faith in his Nazi superiors and seems to follow their orders simply for the old thrill of the action, rather than the ideology of the war. This is obvious in many early scenes where he is seen frowning at his 1st Lieutenantıs (Bengsch) stiff, Nazi protocol.
A naive naval correspondent named Werner (Gronemeyer) provides a central character to the story, and we see the events unfold from his point of view. From the opening scenes of a night-before party with drunken officers, to the terrifying danger of later undersea dogfights, it is through Wernerıs eyes that we gauge the effects of the war.
The fact that the setting is a German submarine (instead of a British or American boat) is one of the interesting things about the film. When all is said and done, you realize that it doesnıt matter what country is fighting for what cause, these are all young men going off to a strange land (or sea) to fight, and very likely die. To these men it seems nothing more than a job, not a profound purpose, that drives them to survive. At least thatıs the way itıs looked at in this film.
The battle scenes are as intense as they come; ³The Hunt for Red Octoberıs² got nothing on this. Mainly because of the technology of World War II submarines, it was much easier to get killed than to survive. It makes all the more effective those long, silent pauses of waiting and floating in the blackness of sea, waiting to see if that British Destroyer is coming back around to drop a depth charge. But the captain is amazed at the durability of his U-boat, and seems hungry to test it again and again.
³Das Boot² works on just about every level. The acting is top-notch across the board, even in the smaller roles like Klaus Wennemann as the Chief Engineer. The undubbed directorıs cut is really the only way to see the film. The subtitles are done fairly well and the German language lends a special significance when the young German soldiers are heard singing a British song; this effect would be lost if the film were seen entirely in English.
Jost Vacanoıs cinematography is also magnificent. This is one of the most skillfully photographed films you will ever see. How the camera moves so smoothly and captures all that it does in a 10 by 150 foot submarine is a mystery to me. How it makes it so aesthetically pleasing in that environment is an even bigger mystery. If there is a flaw to this film itıs the music. The composition is adequate and itıs used well, but I felt that real strings wouldıve added so much more than synthesizers imitating real strings. Although music can augment a film so profoundly, it doesnıt take away too much here. At any rate, itıs a tiny flaw in a giant masterpiece.
****1/2 (4 and a half out of 5)
Scale * (Awful) ** (Watchable, but just barely) *** (Above average, well-made) **** (Excellent) ***** (Classic)
[ Note: This is my first shot at a review. I apologize if itıs a little rough. Iıd love some comments, suggestions, advice, etc. ]
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews