Restored for theatrical release in 1997, the director's cut of Wolfgang Petersen's DAS BOOT adds an extra hour of footage to the version released in 1981 without dulling its dramatic achievement in the least. Petersen re-creates the claustrophobic, little-known world inside a German
submarine and celebrates the courage and resiliency of its crew without glorifying the Nazi war machine. In fact, one can only come away with a sense of the brutal absurdity of war. Technically the sound design and the cinematography are particularly effective: Jost Vacano's fluid, kinetic,
handheld camera work is unsurpassed, and--more impressive still--was done in the days before the ubiquitous Steadicam. The sound design emphasizes the visceral din and racket of undersea battle, as the creaking, hissing and popping of the boat echoes the characters' worst nightmares of never
seeing the surface again. 1941: Encased in the steel chamber of a Mercedes Benz, German naval officers zip along a desolate road near the French Atlantic shore, en route to a nightclub where all manner of debauchery--dancing, whoring, drinking and vomiting--is in progress. The enlisted boys are
shipping out in the morning and this is their last chance to revel. Their Captain (Jurgen Prochnow), an island of equanimity and moderation, has taken naval correspondent Lieutenant Werner (Herbert Gronemeyer) under his wing; Werner will accompany them on the long patrol mission.
The following morning, the Captain and his officers inspect the crew and board the submarine. The German military establishment is desperate, and most of the crew is extremely young. Once the mission gets under way, the brash recruits discover that their principal enemy is excruciating boredom,
punctuated by heart-pounding surprise attacks by unseen enemies. While the crew takes obvious pride in the technical superiority of their vessel, no one seems especially proud to be furthering the Nazi cause, with the conspicuous exception of one stuffed-shirt lieutenant.
The painfully cramped confines of the U-boat are crammed with food, ammunition and so many sailors that they have to sleep in shifts. The young sailors try to amuse themselves by relating anecdotes and joking around, but monotony and enervation set in until they spot a British convoy. They manage
to sink some ships before getting embroiled in a protracted battle with a destroyer. Since this is the first battle for most of the crew, their fear is as palpable as the sweat that soaks them. They survive the bruising onslaught and endure more tedium before finding another convoy to prey on.
They make an easy hit on a large, lumbering supply ship. But again, they're hunted down by a destroyer, and the Captain is compelled to take the submarine to such depths that bolts pop off the hull. The Captain thrives on the threat of impending death, but most of the sailors are left in a state
of nervous depression. The boat is pounded by the destroyer's depth charges a fire breaks out and, for the first time, they sense a decided lack of oxygen. The workhorse of the engine room, Johann "The Ghost" (Erwin Leder), flips out and refuses to go back to work, even under direct orders; only
the intervention of other crew members saves him from the Captain's wrath. They surface to find that one of the ships they hit earlier is still floating. Unaware that there are survivors on board, the Captain decides to finish it off. The ship's crew jump into the fiery sea and swim toward the
submarine, but the Captain leaves them to drown because he's under strict orders not to pick up survivors.
Morale plummets after this episode, and the crew expects to turn back to the port of La Rochelle, France, particularly since food has gone rancid and fuel is low. But the Captain receives a telegram ordering him to refuel in Vigo, Spain, where he's given orders to cross the heavily guarded Strait
of Gibraltar. Stung by the condescension with which he and his men are treated (they're perceived as uncouth, and their lack of enthusiasm for the war effort does not go unnoticed), the Captain still manages to convince his crew that the mission isn't as impossible as it appears. But they're
quickly picked off by British planes, and as they prepare to abandon ship, the submarine starts sinking. It comes to rest on the sea floor, and has sustained such extensive damage that it may not be possible to repair it before the oxygen runs out. After a long, almost unbearably tense period of
bailing water and patching up the engines, the exhausted sailors get the submarine back to the surface, and they return to La Rochelle. Just as it seems that they will finally be honored for their bravery and perseverance, an air raid wipes out almost the entire crew. Even the Captain dies, his
heart breaking as his beloved ship is sunk. Only Lieutenant Werner survives to tell the story. leave a comment
