Jurgen Prochnow delivers the most believable performance of a shipcaptain I've ever seen on film. The color and composition of the shots in those tightquarters - particularly upon approaching the first destroyer when weget the first real glimpse of the interior prepped for war - it isboth haunting and beautiful. And the freedom ofthe camera in those tight corridors came as an incredibly pleasantsurprise. And despite the fact that most of the film takes place inside a crampedsubmarine, Das Boot is never boring to look at in fact, it's avisually spectacular film (given the dated special effects, who hold upreasonably well and add to the old-school charm). The underwater battles somewhat remind me of Sergio Leone in thatWolfgang Peterson takes forever and a day to get the fights started.Unlike Leone, once the torpedos are launched and the depth chargesdropped, the cat-and-mouse game is ongoing and relentless, but neverboring. It truly does feel like an epic about asubmarine crew, and I'm interested in some day viewing the 6 hour TVversion. Thenwhen the action finally starts: how they deal with the possibility ofdying deep underwater, how they react to the sounds of a sub goingdeeper than it should, the look on their faces as a destroyer is heardpinging them, and dozens of little personality quirks-subtle detailsthat bring the crew to life. Das Boot gives us plenty oftime to know these characters, discover how they kill time whilewaiting for orders, how they feel about their job and each other. I love the flow and pacing of the Director's Cut it takes its time,and does not feel like typical Hollywood formula "first major plotpoint at minute 12" cookie-cutter routine. Patriotism formy own country would tend to make me hate the crew on this ship bydefinition (especially if portrayed as typical mindless killing machineNazis), but these characters are so well developed and played likehuman-beings facing difficult decisions that I find myself sympathizingwith these guys. What impresses me the most about the film, as the title makes apparent,is that it's a German made film about a German U-boat. Story is a 10, direction is a 10, acting is a 10 and the cinematography is a10. Drama, tension and resolution occur naturally in Das Boot, which contributesto the very real impact of the film. The director lets the story shock and horrifythe audience, not by forcing it, but by letting the story just tell itself. Everywhere, all around is War, but for thesemen as we witness them, war does not begin with a capital "W". Here, it is the smallmoments which fill the screen. Theseoften succeed in the immediate response (usually crying) but fail to impactthe viewer on anything more than a surface level. So often, films which aspire to move the audience quicklyfall into melodrama, over-acting, and overblown images. Part of the "power" of the film comes, I think, from a certain restraint inthe direction.
Tosay this film is "powerful" seems so weak a description. How few films are there which affect the viewers on this level.
Das boot torrent magnet movie#
I could not shake the images, and now some fifteenyears later, I still remember how completely meaningless the movie madeeverything seem, and the nihilistic message stayed with me for a long, longtime. When I woke in the morning, I felt as if I were escaping through thehatch of the submarine. I saw this film when I was a freshman in college during a weekend that Ilater dubbed my "depressing movie festival." (The Wall and Apocalypse Nowwere the other weekend "entries.") Of these films, it was Das Boot thathaunted me-when I laid down at night, I saw Jurgen Proctow's pained blueeyes. Here is a moviethat explores heroism, duty, patriotism, hope, fear and the futility ofwar-all grand themes-explored in the confined, and collapsing, spaces of aGerman u-boat. Maybe it istrue that epic themes make the greatest novels and films. Subtitle Das.x264-.mp4ĭas Boot is not just a great war film: it's a great film period.