![]() ![]() Yet, in many ways, the film closely follows the U-96's seventh patrol (Oct. Das Boot is not intended to be a reenactment of a particular patrol it is, rather, a microcosm of the whole U-boat war. In the film, messages are decoded with a four-rotor Enigma machine but the German navy actually continued using three-rotor machines until February 1942.īut all this is small-minded nitpicking. In real life, U-96's periscope would have been raised to a level at which the captain's view was not obscured by waves and almost every encounter with British anti-submarine vessels would have featured the pinging of the asdic apparatus they used to locate submerged U-boats. The decisive turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic actually came in May 1943, when over 40 U-boats were lost (compared with 4 lost in November 1941). Sinkings by U-boats did not peak until November 1942. British anti-submarine measures had become much more effective by late 1941, but the U-boats responded by moving their operations away from the most heavily patrolled seas. If the U-96's crew were optimistic in setting out at the beginning of the film (October 1941), it was not due to their inexperience, but because the U-96 had already survived six patrols, and a patrol was not yet the semi-suicidal venture it was later to become. That's a true story-exactly like it was." That is not entirely true. In one of the peripherals (The Making of Das Boot), star Jurgen Prochnow asserts, "The whole thing happened. Extras include a feature about the making of the film, and voice-over commentary by the director and others. The Director's Cut version offers the original German audio as well as dubbed English and Spanish, with subtitles available in English, Spanish, and French. The nature of your interests may determine which version you prefer. The 150-minute theater version concentrates on action scenes. The 209-minute version gives insights into the officers' personalities (but neglects the other crewmen). The 293-minute version provides more information about individual crew members and everyday life on the ship. The 150-minute theater version (1981), the 209-minute Director's Cut version (1997), and the 293-minute version, Das Boot - The Original Uncut Version (2004), from which a six-episode television series was derived. Several versions of Das Boot have been released. The sound effects, enhanced in the most recent versions, make you feel you are actually on the boat. ![]() Hubertus Bengsch and Martin Semmelrogge give credibility to the First and Second Watch Officers, respectively-two very different characters. Herbert Grönemeyer as the young correspondent Werner, and Klaus Wennermann as the Chief Engineer give strong performances. Casting is excellent, especially compelling is Jurgen Prochnow as the steely-eyed captain. U-boat existence was dispiriting, with long periods of boredom alternating with sheer terror as crewmen fought against an unseen enemy for their very lives. They take some satisfaction from sinking ships, but this is tempered by discomfort or remorse over the merchant seamen they killed. As portrayed in Das Boot, sailors were a diverse lot, but in crises they set their varying personalities and political philosophies aside and assume their assigned roles. ![]() The camera man was forced to work in very restricted spaces and dash through the set filming the actors with his special gyro-stabilized camera. The set was engineered so that water could rush in and fire could break out in its confines. Especially noteworthy is the set for the U-boat's interior, which was carefully constructed to replicate all the equipment of a real submarine, and mounted on a gimbal that could impart movements to simulate waves, dives, and depth charges. ![]() In its day, Das Boot was one of the most expensive films ever produced. Buchheim also wrote a trilogy of non-fiction books about the Battle of the Atlantic, the first of which is available in English translation ( U-Boat War ). This experience provided the basis for his 1973 novel, Das Boot, which inspired this film. As a young German officer, Lothar-Gûnther Buchheim was assigned to join a U-boat patrol in the Atlantic and write a morale-boosting account of its mission. ![]()
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