For lack of a better comparison, Das Boot basically did for the war film - and that small sub-genre of WW2 submarine pictures - what Alien did for science fiction space movies: it looks and feels dirty in this environment, and the people who work on these vessels are hard-bitten and look filthy and are more like blue-collar workers than what one would normally picture them being in. In Das Boot (or, of course, 'The Boat'), Wolfgang Peterson adapts Bucheim's journalistic WW2 story about a U-boat in late 1941 who are tasked to go into the North Atlantic and take on the enemy, primarily British convoys and other boats of the like. It's a grim, relentless, sometimes depressing but often invigorating story.
One might also be thwarted, as I was for some years, about the idea of 'Huh, the Germans as the heroes of this story, get outta here.' But it's more complex than that, or rather it's not as simple as 'They're Nazis' in that way. Actually most of these officers and naval-men on this U-Boat, run by Jurgen Prochnow's character, have no real firm affiliation, and when they meet other officers when they pull for a brief stop in Spain, they don't even 'Sieg Heil' the other officers. Why this works for an international audience, why it didn't just stay a German-based sort of entity with minimal interest for outsiders who might still have grudges, is that Peterson and company a) don't have any real interest in the politics of anything, it's ALL about the sub and what the missions are, and b) the depth given to the characters (certainly in the director's cut, if not the even longer version) makes these people stand out as people first and foremost.
Are they all super complex? Maybe not. Some come close to being clichés and stereotypes, though other times, wisely, before s*** hits the fan, there are some scenes given to showing the men just talking like men, about sex stuff, goofing on each other in that Tough sort of manner. Probably my favorite supporting character, aside from the Correspondent Lt. Werner, the sort of audience surrogate (rather, the guy who other people can explain stuff to so we know), is Johann. He has not a ton of scenes, but he has enough to have a clear, interesting arc where he works in the engine room, and during the big centerpiece of the film where the U-Boat is under attack from the Convoy and they're losing ground, he abandons his post and loses his mind for a few minutes. He apologizes, but can he really redeem himself? Certainly among this cast he has one of the most expressive faces and eyes.
This was a fascinating watch for me in a number of ways - the fact that the filmmakers were able to hold attention for long stretches where, frankly, not a lot is "happening" action-wise, and we're made to just sit with these people and see what happens when they don't have enemies to attach or problems to solve, was one thing. And Pruchnow is a good actor who, frankly, is most effective in scenes involving eye contact (he has good, steely-blue type of leading man eyes), and when there's danger and he has to raise his voice. Otherwise, he has to be the Rock for these men, and does a good job. Other performances range from very good to just decent, but no one is bad at all here. Also, I should note, this uncut "miniseries" version (which, on DVD, is presented as a regular movie, albeit 4 hours and 53 minutes long), sheds light on some things that otherwise were left little spoken or mentioned, more moments of depth and character development. As Ebert noted in his review, one such thing you can see is the difference in this and the director's cut in how the bombing of the British ship is dealt with (the ones not saved by the Captain) - here it's clearer and, frankly, a bit more fulfilling dramatically speaking.
Yet what made this go from being a very good experience to a great one, was the finale. I wouldn't dare reveal what happens even with a 'Spoiler' warning, but suffice to say it's one of those moments where I practically had to laugh in astonishment. For a film this unrelentingly harrowing and bleak, the ending throws the kind of "twist" that is far from something unbelievable or out of this world. On the contrary, it's so logical and spot-on as a dramatic moment that it made everything else coming before it matter more - or at least have an ironic light to it. Das Boot is one of those very long "guy" movies that goes past how we usually view war films; the action happens and is any-number-of-ways-to-say-intense, but the time spent with the characters, observing them, seeing how long they're in this environment before things start to happen, gives the experience the texture of a long novel.
One might also be thwarted, as I was for some years, about the idea of 'Huh, the Germans as the heroes of this story, get outta here.' But it's more complex than that, or rather it's not as simple as 'They're Nazis' in that way. Actually most of these officers and naval-men on this U-Boat, run by Jurgen Prochnow's character, have no real firm affiliation, and when they meet other officers when they pull for a brief stop in Spain, they don't even 'Sieg Heil' the other officers. Why this works for an international audience, why it didn't just stay a German-based sort of entity with minimal interest for outsiders who might still have grudges, is that Peterson and company a) don't have any real interest in the politics of anything, it's ALL about the sub and what the missions are, and b) the depth given to the characters (certainly in the director's cut, if not the even longer version) makes these people stand out as people first and foremost.
Are they all super complex? Maybe not. Some come close to being clichés and stereotypes, though other times, wisely, before s*** hits the fan, there are some scenes given to showing the men just talking like men, about sex stuff, goofing on each other in that Tough sort of manner. Probably my favorite supporting character, aside from the Correspondent Lt. Werner, the sort of audience surrogate (rather, the guy who other people can explain stuff to so we know), is Johann. He has not a ton of scenes, but he has enough to have a clear, interesting arc where he works in the engine room, and during the big centerpiece of the film where the U-Boat is under attack from the Convoy and they're losing ground, he abandons his post and loses his mind for a few minutes. He apologizes, but can he really redeem himself? Certainly among this cast he has one of the most expressive faces and eyes.
This was a fascinating watch for me in a number of ways - the fact that the filmmakers were able to hold attention for long stretches where, frankly, not a lot is "happening" action-wise, and we're made to just sit with these people and see what happens when they don't have enemies to attach or problems to solve, was one thing. And Pruchnow is a good actor who, frankly, is most effective in scenes involving eye contact (he has good, steely-blue type of leading man eyes), and when there's danger and he has to raise his voice. Otherwise, he has to be the Rock for these men, and does a good job. Other performances range from very good to just decent, but no one is bad at all here. Also, I should note, this uncut "miniseries" version (which, on DVD, is presented as a regular movie, albeit 4 hours and 53 minutes long), sheds light on some things that otherwise were left little spoken or mentioned, more moments of depth and character development. As Ebert noted in his review, one such thing you can see is the difference in this and the director's cut in how the bombing of the British ship is dealt with (the ones not saved by the Captain) - here it's clearer and, frankly, a bit more fulfilling dramatically speaking.
Yet what made this go from being a very good experience to a great one, was the finale. I wouldn't dare reveal what happens even with a 'Spoiler' warning, but suffice to say it's one of those moments where I practically had to laugh in astonishment. For a film this unrelentingly harrowing and bleak, the ending throws the kind of "twist" that is far from something unbelievable or out of this world. On the contrary, it's so logical and spot-on as a dramatic moment that it made everything else coming before it matter more - or at least have an ironic light to it. Das Boot is one of those very long "guy" movies that goes past how we usually view war films; the action happens and is any-number-of-ways-to-say-intense, but the time spent with the characters, observing them, seeing how long they're in this environment before things start to happen, gives the experience the texture of a long novel.