German WWII submarine U-96 leaves port in France, to go hunting the Allies' cargo ships in the Atlantic. The fog of war also covers the sea - not everything goes according to plan, and especially the men's return to safe harbor becomes a journey through the depths of hell itself...
This is a review of the 1997 "director's cut" release of "Das Boot" with a runtime of ~208 minutes. The full runtime of the original TV mini-series is ~308 minutes.
If this movie doesn't get to you, you're already dead. Never before, and never after, has the claustrophobic intensity, constant near-death situation, and emotional hardship of submarine warfare been captured on film as exciting, gripping, and moving, as in "Das Boot".
Based on the book of the same name, which was written by Lothar-Guenther Buchheim, who was the actual war reporter aboard the actual U-96, the movie is a wild ride through the up and downs (actually more downs) of war duty at sea.
It's very interesting that most people agree that "Das Boot" is an extremely realistic depiction of life on a German WWII submarine - while the film actually uses a good amount of artistic freedom, and some very artistic, near-surreal imagery. One example, that was explicitly mentioned by Buchheim, is the party scene featuring two oranges. According to him, this would never have happened in reality. Another one would be the breaking bolts - in reality, in a submarine, a single cracked bolt pretty much equals instant death. There are even more obvious examples, like the fake, fixed camera view of the boat's sail (tower), and many more.
But there is still a very high degree of realism in "Das Boot", higher than in any other submarine war movie. The accurate historical setting, the on-location filming at La Rochelle submarine bunker, the perfect recreation of the inside of U-96 featuring some spectacular near-first-person camera work, the thick atmosphere, with sweaty, unshaved faces, accurate dialogue, dumb jokes, and grinding work, and much more, and maybe most of all the actual, real story, as told by an actual eyewitness.
Many scenes in "Das Boot" are artistic, stylized, but - with just one or two exceptions - still don't feel artificial or forced, because they still accurately illustrate the reality of the movie. "Das Boot" is extremely effective in that regard. We don't know how an old sea-dog Captain-Lieutenant (KaLeun) on harsh duty actually reacts, when suddenly presented with an excessive buffet of delicacies, but having him basically say nothing perfectly underlines the grim irony of the situation. We don't know how it feels when your submarine gets hit with depth charges, but flashing figures in the dark, screaming, pain, blood, and water all over the place certainly is an adequate interpretation.
Buchheim didn't like the movie. He was the actual man, aboard the
actual boat. It's impossible to recreate the actual experience of being on board U-96 - but it's possible to find an emotional, and historically and physically correct translation of what it was like. Maybe "Das Boot" has a handful of flaws in accurate physical depiction, but historically it's authentic, and it hits the bullseye in every other regard.
"Das Boot" perfectly, and very scarily, translates the sometimes silent, sometimes ear-shattering terror of undersea war, into movie format. It's not a documentary, but an artistic, condensed look at a war submarine patrol. The degree of realism is very high, it becomes easy to suspend all disbelief that might have been left - creating a highly intense movie experience.
What stands out among the many great aspects of "Das Boot", is the acting. Not only does director Wolfgang Petersen manage to portray pretty much the entire crew of the boat, giving more focus to some, but still not losing sight of the other members. Also, thanks to the individual acting performances, we actually do care for each single one of them. There is some over-dramatization, but by far most of the time it feels like we're seeing the actual, real persons. Juergen Prochnow plays the role of his life as the KaLeun, Klaus Wennemann sends chills down your spine as the chief engineer working himself almost to death, Erwin Leder as Johann "Das Gespenst" ("the ghost") makes you hold your breath, ... the list goes on, and even musician Herbert Groenemeyer, playing the war reporter on board, gives a surprisingly convincing and moving performance.
Nice special effects, perfectly edited, an overall pacing that very nicely balances phases of calmness with phases of hefty, terrifying action, Klaus Doldinger's masterpiece sound score, with gentle tunes and variations of the epic, anthemic "Boot" theme - basically, "Das Boot" does everything right. As has been explained, it is a little bit on the over-epic side here and there - but only if you're comparing it to an actual real-time documentary. As a commercial film production, it's pretty much perfect. Realistic enough to adequately represent reality and even provide some education, artistic and dramatic to make it powerful, attractive, and digestible.
So are we rooting for the Nazis now? No, we aren't. "Das Boot" isn't about politics, it's about men, war, and death. It's immensely captivating, but also deeply saddening. It could've been a US submarine, a Japanese one, it could've been any war, at any time. Comradeship, fear, loss, and making sense of the insanity are timeless, universal themes. We are rooting for people, humanity.
Based on Lothar-Guenther Buchheim's book, Wolfgang Petersen has created the definitive submarine war movie. "Das Boot" is the mark by which all such films have been measured, for decades, and will be measured, for decades to come.
Verdict: Jawohl, Herr KaLeun! 9.5/10
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082096/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Boot
Trailer video:
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