Das Boot (film)

Das Boot (IPA: [das boːt] the Boat, in German) (known as The Boat in Argentina and The Submarine in Spain) is a 1981 German war and drama film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and based on the novel by Lothar-Günther Buchheim. The film starred Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer and Klaus Wennemann in the main roles, leading a long cast. The feature film delivers an anti-war message.

There are three versions of the film: the one released in theaters, with a duration of 150 minutes; the director's version that was released in DVD format in 1997, with a duration of 209 minutes; and the "uncut" which went on sale in 2004 in a 2-DVD format with a duration of 282 minutes. This latest version adapts and unites the six episodes (approximately 50 minutes long each) that were released for German television shortly after its premiere in Hollywood as if it were a movie, thus removing the opening and ending credits and the reminders of each chapter. It is the top 29 of the 100 Greatest Action Movies of All Time by GQ.

Plot

La Rochelle, France, October 1941. A German Type VII C submarine, U 96, leaves that important submarine base, on a patrol mission during World War II.

Along with his crew is a journalist, correspondent for the Ministry of Propaganda, young and rookie, Lieutenant Werner (Herbert Grönemeyer), third-person narrator of the plot. The crew is made up of a group of young sailors who experience harrowing days during these patrols, and when off duty, they overreach and go wild, knowing they may not return from the next mission. Among them are chief engineer Fritz Grade (Klaus Wennemann), First Lieutenant (Hubertus Bengsch), a Nazi who is ardent about rules, and machinist Johann (Erwin Leder), a lover of mechanical gadgets.

Captain Henrich Lehmann-Willenbrock (Jürgen Prochnow) is a born leader, endowed with exceptional strength and emotional control, added to being an experienced, understanding, discerning and discerning sailor, makes him highly respected by his crew. His goal is to do his duty to the best of his ability and return alive to his men; His own life and that of his crew depend on his criteria and initiatives. The engineer Johann, a vital man in the operation of the submarine, takes care of the engines with professional paternalism, but hides that his greatest weakness is the attacks with depth bombs, which cause him panic attacks.

Living conditions on board are extremely oppressive due to overcrowding and lack of space. After successfully torpedoing ships in a convoy, they emerge to watch in horror as British sailors, still afloat, are burned alive. They are also forced to abandon the survivors following previous orders, they are also not rescued by the convoy for fear of new torpedoes, and they are left to fend for themselves by the submarine due to the impossibility of transporting them. Life goes on aboard the U 96, where they must endure tedium, storms, occasional meetings with U-boat friends or boring days without surfacing.

New orders make them go to the port of Vigo, in Spain. There they are received by the officers of a German interned ship, which is actually a supply ship, the submarine officers being respected and entertained with a banquet. There they receive new orders, to go to the port of La Spezia, in Italy, for which they must cross the dangerous Strait of Gibraltar. Werner and Captain Lehmann also learn that their requests to return to Germany have been denied.

With the submarine full of fresh food and torpedoes, the sailors of U 96 begin their journey. Upon reaching the vicinity of the strait, the captain decides to cross the barrier of British ships on patrol during the foggy night, allowing himself to be carried away by the current, but they are suddenly discovered and attacked by a plane. With the engines at maximum speed, the submarine submerges to avoid being destroyed, but a failure in the bow flaps does not allow the ship to be stabilized, which sinks more and more until it hits the bottom at a depth of 280 meters. The crushing of the power hull causes leaks and breaks in the pipes that flood the interior of the ship and the chlorine gas from the batteries crushed in the sinking floods the engine compartment, the ghost of death by suffocation appears. All seems to be lost, but the leadership of its captain creates the fighting spirit to survive by acting as a team. The task is arduous and strenuous, nearly drowning as they battle the leaks. Each one in their own way, becomes a hero by achieving their objectives in their respective areas.

Thanks to the difficult but joint work, after 16 hours of repairs, they leave the bottom of the sea and once on the surface they finally head towards La Rochelle, their starting point, where after singing joyful hymns and enjoying being survivors they are greeted like heroes on the pier by none other than Karl Doenitz.

However, a surprise attack by British de Havilland Mosquito planes breaks the solemn moment, and everyone runs across the dock for their lives amid a hail of armor-piercing bombs. The submarine tries to take refuge in an anti-aircraft dock, but is hit by the bombs. Lieutenant Werner desperately searches for Captain Lehmann in the middle of the bombardment, suspecting that he has decided to stay in U 96; Werner finds his captain, badly injured by splinters, lying next to the pier. There Werner and Lehmann observe the U 96, hit by the bombs, which begins to sink while Lehmann observes it wounded on the ground. At the same time that U-96 disappears, the captain passes away.

Cast

• Jürgen Prochnow as Captain Henrich Lehmann-Willenbrock.
• Herbert Grönemeyer as Lieutenant Werner, war correspondent.
• Klaus Wennemann as Chief Engineer Fritz Grade.
• Hubertus Bengsch as the first lieutenant.
• Martin Semmelrogge as the second lieutenant.
• Bernd Tauber as the Cape Kriechbaum Navigation Chief.
• Erwin Leder as the engineer Johann.
• Martin May like Ullman.
• Heinz Hoenig as Hinrich.
• Uwe Ochsenknecht as Chief Bosun.

Production

The film The Submarine, an adaptation of Lothar-Günther Buchheim's bestselling novel of the same name, cost 32 million marks and filming took almost a year due to many technical problems that had occurred. to overcome to roll it. The film was shot in Munich's own Bavarian studios, in the French port of La Rochelle (which had been a major submarine base during World War II) and on the German shores of the North Sea.

Hans-Joachim Krug, former first officer of U 219, was a consultant on the film. Also assisting as a consultant was Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, one of the captains of the real U 96. One of Petersen's stated goals was to guide viewers through a "journey into madness", showing them "what war is all about". Petersen added to the suspense by rarely showing external shots of the sub, except when it was on the surface, and used sounds to indicate events unfolding outside the ship, thus showing the public only what the crew could see.. It was the most expensive feature film in the history of German cinema. The director's meticulous attention to detail enabled him to achieve the most realistic submarine feature film—and one of the most accurate war films in historical narrative—seen yet.

Reception

The film production achieved unprecedented success in its country of origin and was very well received by critics and audiences around the world. It was nominated for six Oscars, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA award. It opened the way to Hollywood for the director, and boosted the career of some of the actors like Jürgen Prochnow. She was also awarded the 1981 Bayerischer Filmpreis Award, the 1982 Deutscher Schallplattenpreis Award, the 1982 Goldene Leinwand Award, the >Deutscher Filmpreis 1982, Goldene Kamera Award 1985, Goldene Kamera Award 2007 and Motion Picture Sound Editors Award > (United States) from 1983.

The great international success of the film opened for Wolfgang Petersen the doors of much more ambitious productions, such as The Neverending Story (1984), a film adaptation of the famous novel of the same name by Michael Ende and with the In this way, he would also make the leap to Hollywood, where he would become a director of films known as Estaldo (1995). The actor Jürgen Prochnow also got the jump to Hollywood.