Das Boot | The Descent to Hell, Told in Faces | A Film Analysis
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- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2021
- The 1981 German film Das Boot follows the crew of a German U-Boat during WWII at a time when there is already a sense that the Germans are on the losing side of the Battle in the Atlantic. More and more U-Boats are being sunk or captured, and U-96 is just one of the dwindling number of U-boats that sets out to sea again. We watch as they suffer through many things, even conquering seemingly impossible obstacles, and returning to port as changed men. Thematically, Das Boot is really about suffering, portraying an ‘experiment to sound out the limits of a person’s ability to suffer,’ specifically in the form of suffering that was actually experienced by men living and fighting aboard a German U-Boat.
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This film is a masterpiece. Most films nowadays can't hold a candle to it.
Absolutely
So true. It feels like a film by serious people made for serious people
Not even a film but a whole season by today's standards. What is it, like 6 hours total?
@@jakethet3206 They die at the end, if that's what gets you off. I think you are missing the forest for the trees with this movie, dude.
@@jakethet3206 Not true, it humanizes HUMANS!
My grandpa served with the US navy during WW2 on a submarine. He was a German American who spoke German and so subsequently was sent to the pacific theater. Years later My dad and him saw Das Boot when it came out, with other submarine vets. According to my dad, every man left the theater in tears. That’s how impactful this film was and still is.
Makes us wonder what unspeakable horrors they went through
When the movie was premiered in Germany, a lot of veterans watched it and had the same reaction, often having to leave the theater for a while due to it triggering memories. The film was that realistic. But afterwards most of them thanked the director for finally telling their story.
When ruski sub KURSK sunk, all over the world tried to help a Boat to destroy USA. Some submariner shit. I only served on the above Coastal Navy of Finland.
One should also mention the insanely good soundtrack of this movie.
The soundtrack was composed by Klaus Doldinger, a noted German jazz man. He was a bit down and out, and director Wolfgang Peterson, a friend of Klaus's, gave him the work to help him out. Doldinger came through in spades.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Doldinger
"J'attendrai"
I will wait.
I think y’all meant to use the term “score.”
That was my only complaint about this vid.
I can close my eyes and feel the angst
@@davegrenier1160 Years ago I listened to Klaus Doldinger performing with his band Passport at a jazz festival. Suddenly they played the theme from Das Boot with Klaus on his saxophone. This was quite an experience.
I would like to point out that the "I wanted this to happen" was translated from "Ich hab's ja selbst so gewollt". In German, this phrasing indicates regret in the vein of "be careful what you wish for". You can use it in the second person to tell someone that they shouldn't be surprised things didn't turn out the way they wanted, because their expectations were unrealistic. With minor variations it can accompany a fight breaking out (in essense saying "You asked for it!").
Reading the sentence in German will give people the right impression. Reading "I wanted this to happen" without any context probably won't.
Thank You for explaining this. Much can be lost of meaning in simple translation.
@@P_RO_ Sephok is right. Greetings from Munich!
Gute Leute muss man haben.... gute Leute!
Yeah the subtitles often sacrifice accuracy for more plausible english forms and variations. Another example the german "na!" which does not really have a similar equivalent in the english language. And yes, some phrases are translated differently probably to avoid confusion for the audience. That being said i am still happy most people watch this film subtitled and not dubbed (even though english dubs exist for both the 1997 directors cut as well as the 6 hours mini series version) so they can at least hear and feel the original tone of the dialogs as it is meant to be heard. Even if you don't speak german, this is the better choice for authenticity.
Yep. It's more like: "I brought this on myself. "
@@d.h.1999 Yes, that's a great translation.
My great grandfather was a gunner in the Wermacht 2nd panzer division from 1938 to 1943. He lost his left leg in combat during Operation Citadel. I never met the man, but I have his journal. On September 17th 1943 he wrote "While my life is now here at my home, I feel as though I am already dead. I cannot explain to my father the experiences I have endured. I do not feel he would understand. I cannot look my mother in the eyes, knowing the things I have done. My evil deeds would corrupt her purity. All I can say to console myself is that my war is over. And I no longer must endure the savage barbarism of my comrades or those eastern peoples the Furher assures us are our sworn enemy. I hope tonight I might be able to truly sleep. - Lieutenant Herman Wagner.".
Wow....😐
Very gripping and sad . . . I guess it is very difficult for a soldier to know if the war he was sent to fight in is just or a crime. Everybody tells him a different version of the story and by the time he figures out the truth it might be already too late.
Very powerful...thank you for sharing.
... Wow... Thankyou for sharing. I cannot imagine the pain he went through
Good to finally read a confirmation for the rapes committed by the "glorious wehrmacht", by someone who took part in them.
Usually all the blame gets put on the "true to the party SS swine".
There's a copypasta about getting into the correct mindset for watching _Das Boot_ . It goes:
* remove all furniture and carpets from your viewing room.
* hang up blackout curtains.
* remove all lighting, replace with a single dim red bulb.
* wear wool and cords. Do not change them for three weeks.
* scatter rusty metal parts around the room.
* hang German dried sausages everywhere.
* run a tube from car exhaust into room. Fill room with CO gas to taste.
* puke in one corner. Do not clean it up.
* relieve yourself in a bucket. Do not empty it.
* throw 30-40l of water around the room. Let it go stagnant.
* sleep no more than four hours a night on a cheap, broken camp bed.
* no showers.
* eat only 1 meal a day, stale bread and those sausages you hung up only.
* drink only 100ml of water a day.
* get a friend to throw firecrackers at you at random intervals. Throw yourself into the walls when they do.
* repeat for three weeks.
Congratulations. You have a sense of what it was like to live on a U-boat.
You are now ready to watch _Das Boot_ .
FACT
😂 + Drink U-Boot special Cocktail: milk with lemon.
+ Have your mom on standby to cry AAAALARMMM!!! whenever you are about to fall asleep.
+use one fire extinguisher while watching movie +turn down the room temperature to 45°F
Spot on!
And when somebody completed your list, than he must watch this movie in the room with all the puke. gasoline, and rust laying around for the optimum experience.
You even may brought me to an idea to watch it this way.
I watched the extended Director's Cut movie version (not mini-series) and it truly exhausted me. I have never seen another movie more expertly and slowly ratchet up the tension to such an extent that it was nearly painful.
You might also want to try: "Aguirre - The Wrath of God" staring Klaus Kinski. It has sort of the same vibe to it.
1917 comes close to that feeling. The first time I watched it I found myself holding my breath until the very end at which point it’s “wow, I can breathe now”. Not as good as Das Boot, but close. The “one long camera shot” style delivers.
Das Boot is claustrophobia. While Aguirre is a tropical fever. The later half of that film was like having delirium from a high fever. Its fascinating, and painful at the same time.
For similar feels, look up Beasts of No Nation, and Valhall.
I'm not going to defend that they're great movies, on the contrary I think some of them drag on. But if you're after inducing a certain feeling of "emotional discomfort" check them out.
@@c1ph3rpunk as much as I like 1917, there's no comparison between them. Das Boot is on a far higher grade. The only other movie on a similar grade that I can think of is "Come and See (1985)"
@@c1ph3rpunk 1917 also can be watched back to back with Paths Of Glory.
The plot is basically the antithesis of POG.
Miners were particularly suitable as a submarine crew. I come from a mining family (for at least 6 generations) and have mined coal myself underground at a depth of 1200 meters. The atmosphere is similar, heat, humidity, noise, crampedness, isolation, just more dust. However, after 7 to 8 hours you were back up in civilization. I can still remember a 16-hour double shift that I was underground because of a massive repair on the conveyor. That was tough. Enduring this for weeks with a constant risk of death is hard to imagine.
My paternal great-uncle is still in his submarine somewhere in the Irish Sea. I still have an old map on which my grandfather marked with a cross the approximate place where his younger brother went down to the bottom of the Atlantic.
The thing about miners i heard somewhere in the 80's or 90's, but i never found any written evidence.
(To me it makes sense, my grandfather and for some time my father worked in a coal mine)
@@nirfz
Miners can’t be claustrophobic, same is true for submariners.
I have sympathy for your great uncle, in spite of the fact that I’m American and America fought against Germany in that war (thankfully we are much friendlier now); your great uncle probably was a decent guy I could have shared a round of beers with.
@@guslakis
Thanks mate. He was 21 when his U-Boot was sunk, don‘t know much about him. He was the youngest of 4 brothers, my grandpa the oldest. 2 of them died in the war, the other 2 were crippled (grandpa was wounded several times and lost his left hand, the other surviving brother had a stiff leg). War is hell.
@@BewareOfTheKraut , I’m really sorry your family had to endure so much suffering and loss, agreed that war is terrible and we need to avoid it as much as humanly possible.
Who could ever imagine that the sound of "Ping" could be so terrifying,,,,yet as the pings grow ever louder, we see the terror in the sailors eyes and feel it ourselves. No blood, no gore, not a shot fired, yet one of the most terrifying scenes ever made in a war movie.
Actually, ASDIC sound is way worse... The typical "ping" is used for calibration. For actual searching, they use a modulated wave which contains a lot of different frequencies. Whenever it hits metal (like the hull), it sounds like someone dropping a bucket of pebbles over a shack's metal roof. Really creeps the shit of you...
That last line.
"NOT YET, KAMERADEN!"
Not yet indeed...
I've always loved the written subtext. The "Not yet" acknowledges, implicitly, that the end, one day, WILL come. That one day they will face a mountain too steep to climb. But not today. It is at once, both triumphant, and mournful. The music in this movie is incredible. During the rise to the surface, with the soaring violins as if ascending to heaven. But then the final discordant base note.... indicating the trouble to come.
@@sbalneav it was the only english phrase in the movie.
@@hansberger4939 Not quite. there's also Thomsens poetic "I'm not in the condition to f*ck" in the bathroom at the opening party. And the Tipperary song.
@@Benjamin-xv9le The tipperary song, yes. If you count songs, the very nice french song "j'attendrais" occurs even several times.
About english words in the opening part i can not remember.
@@hansberger4939 ruclips.net/video/k1bl8JLKG0Q/видео.html ;)
Sometimes we need a film like The Wizard of Oz to make us happy. Sometimes we need to give ourselves a reality check and watch Das Boot. No matter how bad our problems are in life, there is someone in the world who is suffering far worse.
I adore this film. To use the word masterpiece doesn't do justice.
agreed. its the giant that many pretenders stand on the shoulders of
Then use another word instead?
@@liammurphy2725 Hilarious.
oh ffs shut up
The film/movie might be great but the the uncut series around 6 hours is the truly masterpiece
Das Boot - the greatest war movie, and the greatest anti-war movie, ever made.
A little bit better is Die Brücke - The Bridge - greetings from Deutschland
@@PpunktP I'd say Das Boot is the better war movie while Die Brücke is the better Anti-war movie ...
ruclips.net/video/i8J7QYHR_Qw/видео.html
@@molochz Try "Jhonny took his rifle"
And greatest submarine movie? Seems to be a toss-up between Das Boot and Hunt for Red October. I could be wrong, of course.
@@daveroche6522 , I believe those ARE the two best submarine films, they are very different movies set in very different eras but they are both entertaining as hell.
Das Boot is, without a doubt, the greatest German war movie of all time. The acting, the set and sound design, all of it effortlessly stands the test of time.
What you said about the crew having to go through hell in order to reach the heaven of cheating death once more was amazing.
When I first watched the movie, I admittedly came to a much more depressing conclusion: no matter how much those men struggled and fought to stay alive, in the end they were doomed and all their effort, all their hope and all their will did not protect them from the bombings. But you are right in pointing out that there is something reaffirming and ultimately deeply human about that struggle, and that it is a testament to how much hardship humans can endure when they have to.
This was a great video, I hope more people will see it and realize how much content you create! Keep going!
Not just German War movie...all war movies
Have you seen Stalingrad? It’s a great German War Movie from the 90‘s.
"down fall " was pretty good also
@@Sshooter444 I would say it one of the best movies full stop. No other movie has had me holding my breath while watching and wanting the 'enemy' to survive, all while on an emotional roller-coaster
What people can endure? I don't thinkpeople today could widthstand what those men and women had gone through then. They start whining about depressions because they cannot party due to covid-restrictions, what do you think they would do in a diving u-boat that is being bombed? Shitting themselves would be the least of it.
I have watched this film at least once every year for thirty years.
Sometimes I will just watch the opening party scene. I love, and feel very sad at the energy in it.
Pretty much the same for me. My Grandfather was a Norwegian Merchant seaman who was actually killed during the Battle of the Atlantic, so this has special resonance for me. It is, of course, a film without peer.
Same here. 6 hrs. Plus visiting das boot every 10 years in the studios.
I do not "do movies"; most to me are a waste of time watching fellow viewers get suckered in by over-done scenes and rehashed plots. But this one draws me back; it is indeed one of the best films ever with artistic direction and cinematography seen and done like nobody else had conceived before coupled with an old story untold in it's depth. Today it's all CGI and post-production work where the truth is over-glamorized or the future made flashy and glorious, when Das Boot went totally the opposite, showing us humanity and reality like has never before or since been done. Heart and genius- and as real as real life itself.
Having been in the set of the boat, I am still wondering how Wolfgang Petersen and cinematographer Jost Vacano managed to shoot this. There is no space. None. Zero. Vacano literally invented a new camera system, the JostiCam, with ARRI to be even able to shoot this. The technical brilliance is outstanding and should have deserved an Oscar for sure
That's Germans for you, they go above and beyond to deliver the best possible product, innovators and geniuses in engineering.
This is THE best war movie ever! And I guess only Germans can make the best war movies about Germans in WWII.
It felt authentic with the dialogue being in German, didn’t it? In addition to all the other great aspects, lighting, cinematography, wardrobe, etc.
Go and see "Idi i smotri" about REAL germans and REAL ww2!
Not this simpathetic and apologetic piece of crap.
...okay... its good submarine movie, but without the crap and philosophy the reviwer tries to imply.
@@stormtrooper9404 You mean apologetic of the almost kids pressed into service in what's essentially a suicide mission? I'd say that's a good thing. War forces people to do evil and if we hold everyone who was coerced by the circumstances accountable for the suffering they caused, society would never recover. In my opinion, only people who go beyond what they have to in order to cause more suffering can rightfully be denied sympathy.
@@stormtrooper9404 tbh..idi i smotri just shows the Russian point of view, the hate against Nazis. And not how the german soldiers and civilians really where and thought at that time. The most werent Nazis at all..they just found themself caught in fear of the Dictatorship. And thats another thing Das Boot is able to show us.And just as well, Das Boot isnt a Movie about nazis..its about Soldiers on a U-Boat..no matter where they come from!
ruclips.net/video/WCxuVg_NlzU/видео.html
When the boat is at the bottom of the ocean, and the men had to wear C02 filters to breath - i can feel the dank, stifling, suffocating claustrophobia.
Later, when the ship surfaces and makes its dash home, I can smell the fresh salty air in my nose and in my lungs as the crew member’s gather beneath the hatch, gasping for oxygen.
That’s how deeply this movie pulls me in (no pun intended).
"To breathe."
So true. Everytime I watch the seen where they finally surface, you can just feel the heat and yourself gasping for air along with the crew. You really are in the u-boot when watching the movie.
I have long considered “Das Boot” one of the most masterful films ever made. There is something in the texture of its filming that resembles the best of Renaissance painting, the faces and attitudes of the subjects, each with their own inner Illumination yet still a part of the whole ensemble.
The surroundings of these men tell the story, like the mouth of a cave about to swallow a grouping of figures poised on the threshold. The submarine is a character as much as each of the men are, sometimes she is kind, but mostly she is relentless.
Your understanding of this film is the best I have ever seen or heard, your grasp of the human condition under pressure is sublime…as was the vision of its makers. This film represents a rare occasion, when all departments, and the actors themselves are perfectly focused on the same understanding of the story they are telling.
With so little to distract the viewer from the men, the viewer enters the boat, experiences the fear, tension, adrenaline…and the fatalism intimately. The jarring juxtaposition of these men on land, aliens among the impeccably tailored and groomed elite who know nothing of the War from the perspective of those who fight it is painful.
To this day, this film stands as an example of what can be achieved when everyone involved in a project is laser focused on conveying an experience that cannot be adequately described or told, but must be experienced. In some way, “The Boat” changes the viewer in a way that transcends the tools it is using.🖤🇨🇦
This film actually made my sympathetic with the German sailors; a part of me was hoping that they'd make it.
German war movies are more psychological than action packed, a lot about the suffering. Stalingrad also comes to mind, which has some brutal action scenes, but also the terror of survival in a wintery city, far away from resources.
Das Boot is one of the favorite movies of my father, who served in the German Navy between 1980 and 1984. He didn't serve on a u-boat, but did sail across the world and was part of some large excercises with the US Navy.
Yea you are very right. They are. Living in Germany a good while ago when my German was not very good i could still understand the plot and enjoy the film through great acting.
@@honestcommenterseany441 tbh, the original is kind of hard to understand, as it showcases a number of different dialects from all over germany and austria to show the random composition of the crew.
@@paavobergmann4920 thanks. German is not as straight forward as English. I know hundreds of words it’s putting them in the correct order that is confusing. 🫤 just when you think you got it right you realise I’ve been saying/ speaking it all wrong lol. 🇬🇧🤔🧠🧐
@@honestcommenterseany441 Yeah, I kind of get it. Also, standard high german is kind of young (~1800) and artificial, we have to learn it in school (not easy!). Colloquial german is still kind of regional, you can usually tell where a person grew up, roughly. And dialects vary wildly in vocabulary ("Semmeln, Weckle, Schrippen, Brötchen", these are regional words for "buns"), even grammar. So if you learn something in one place, and it´s perfectly fine there, it may sound slightly off to people somewhere else. I live in the southwest, and people here have some super common expressions that use super weird word order ( "Denksch mer helfe droh" ["think me helping of it", literally] = " Hilf mir, daran zu denken" = " remind me of it / Help me thinking of it"). So yeah, german is anything but straightforward. It´s a flaming mess, honestly. XD ;-)
But don´t worry, people will understand, and that´s the point. If we can manage, so can you ;-)
It truly is a psychological horror film, I'll never forget that scene with the depth device signaling deeper and deeper, and the sonar ping, and the silence of the crew against the metal sounds. Having in mind my own seemingly hopeless Hell to overcome, I love the last part of your analysis. Not yet, kamerades :)
Just imagine they called the commander "der alte" (the old man). The crew consisted of 18-23yo kids.
Just imagine that this isn't unusual throughout time. Even today.
@@eldorados_lost_searcher It is unusual. Farther back in history it used to begin at 16.
The captain calls his mission a "kids crusade" (kinderkreuzzug)
In 2007 I was explaining an inside joke from the movie Beerfest to my college buddies. They refer to a boot-shaped drinking glass as Das Boot for a good reason. Jürgen Prochnow portrayed both the coach of the rival German beerfest team and the grizzled old experienced captain of U-96. Then it hit me that he would have been in his late 30's at the time of filming.
@@johns8364
I think I was the only one in the theater who laughed when he said that he'd "had a bad experience once" in an old U-boat.
A friend of mine was serving in the German Navy on a submarine at the time of making this film. Many of the U-boat sounds were recorded on his his sub.
So its still that creepy down there?
@@hansberger4939 The hull creeks a bit even now.
That scene when he's using the periscope and the wave obscures the destroyers approach, one of the best shots ever. His hubris and the boredom has driven him to take a chance he shouldn't. His officer even tells the journalist that it's madness to attack in that weather
My Mum who's Dad was torpedoed & killed on a aviation fuel tanker on the north Atlantic convoys , ( by U552 Captained by Elrich Topp )yet she was the one to recommend this great series . The main ship they watch going down slowly is a fuel tanker . William Wakeham lies on the sea bed near Rockall ...RIP
One must mention the dedication of the actors involved in this masterpiece!
From wiki:
Production of Das Boot took two years (1979-1981) and was the most expensive German film at the time.[10] Most of the filming was done in one year; to make the appearance of the actors as realistic as possible, scenes were filmed in sequence over the course of the year. This ensured natural growth of beards and hair, increasing skin pallor, and signs of strain on the actors, who had, just like real U-boat men, spent many months in a cramped, unhealthy atmosphere.
Throughout the filming, the actors were forbidden to go out in sunlight, to create the pallor of men who seldom saw the sun during their missions. The actors went through intensive training to learn how to move quickly through the narrow confines of the vessel.
Thanks for sharing!
Das Boot surely has to be the most underrated war film ever! The only film where you will see heroes in your enemy. An utter game changer for me when I saw this in 81.
It is a fantastic film (I’ve been in the actual set at the Bavaria studios, basically a full size interior), but I’m yet to meet someone who didn’t like it, so it’s not underrated at all.
@@Ninja.Alinja not everyone has to like it to be not underrated
Das ist Thomsen!
'Underrated' by who? It's universally regarded as one of the best war (and the best submarine) movie ever made.
I saw this in the 1980s too as a kid but on VHS about 4 or 5 years after its release in the cinema. I thought at the time this is a bit odd a WW2 movie from the German point of view since I am used to seeing movies where the Germans are the bad guys given how evil the Nazis were. How could good men fight for such evil. This movie proves apparently they did as the narrator of this video correctly points out. There were a lot of Germans who did not like the Nazis or Hitler and his diabolically evil gang. But once in power had to do what these horrifyingly evil people demanded of you else you will end dead or in a kangaroo court. From that point of view I understood not everybody was on board with the Nazis for to speak out at the time could cost you your life.
I rewatched the 6 episode show last year on Netflix. It can absolutely hold up against today's best shows
That's just an extended cut of the original movie in six episodes
@@dexterjettster6170 Actually "Das Boot" was first released on german TV as a mini series and later edited into a movie.
@@jesusbauer8861 Also wrong. Both projects were intended to be made simultaneously, but the film actually released first.
When I was a boy, my parents and me visited the Bavaria Film Studios, were "Das Boot" was filmed.
They had rebuild the interior of the U-96 1-1 in a huge pipe which hydaulic jacks (for the shaking and to simulate the diving etc.). The Set/Pipe was still there and we were allowed to go inside.
The guide explained that many of the actors got injured when they dived through the inner hatches.
Walking through this set gave you a claustrophopic feeling, imagine to spend weeks in such a confined space. Those man were a tough breed.
My dad and I watched this when I was a young boy, he knew I like WW2 history and this had a profound effect on me, seeing the enemy as just people who had the same emotions and fears as everyone else.
I have major respect for anyone who sails under the sea in a small metal tube, I was lucky enough to walk through a German WW2 submarine, and it was so small and cramped with just a handful of people in it.
This is one of my most favorite films. IMO, the most remarkable things about this film is the time frame it was made. Without all the modern technical advantages, movie makers have to day, these guys pull off a master piece of film that no one had come close to doing before. The cinematography and sound are stunning and they did it all without computers. Nothing more than 35mm film, lights, convincing sets and very hard work. Raw heart and talent by the actors and old school know how made this a work of art that exceeds anything before and more importantly since.
Yes, Das Boot is outstanding, especially when considering it was made over 40 years ago-wow! They captured even the smallest details, like the dripping water.
I just watched this movie for the third time in my life last night. Each time I came to the same conclusions. The cinematography is outstanding; the acting is superb; the movie is simply the best EVER made about submairiners. One of the top 10 war movies of all time.
I was hooked on Das Boot from the first time I saw it. The director’s cut is the best. And on my large 128” projector screen with high end surround sound, it’s something else 😁.
The soundtrack is very very good!!!
I like the mini series even. Perhaps I like to suffer a little bit more in the best possible way.
I was like holy shit a 3 and half hour long movie. And oh god what a great time i had. Never oncr thought its too long or something like that.
Das Boot always reminded me of the stories of ancient Greece. Men facing the gods (nature and overwhelming odds) is a very strong theme in both. Definitely one of my favorite movie experiences.
I have had the Directors Cut of this film for years, and it is one of my all time favorite war films. A masterpiece. I am also an advanced level scuba diver, who has dove many U-boat victims off the Virginia and N. Carolina coast. There is something about diving the cold waters of the Atlantic that were formerly U- boat killing grounds that makes me identify with this awesome film.
The book Torpedo Junction might be of interest
I've said it more than once after watching the videos about Das Boot, its the best war film ever made and I doubt it will ever be bettered. I've watched this film about 40 odd times and the end still brings tears to my eye's.
I can't help but bring up Doldingers phenomenal soundtrack here. This movie is incredible in no small part due to the soundtrack.
I personally hold that the mark of a masterpiece is when you can hear a crescendo a thousand times, and it still gives you the chills. This is 100% true for Das Boot. Even just hearing swelling music from the moment when, after everything, the boat starts rising again in an act of defiance that would have made King Leonidas proud, gives me the chills every single time.
And it's not just the Crescendo, either. In segment like Konvoi, the music is brilliantly crafted to resemble the sound of an engine chugging along at full power as it carries our protagonists into battle, for instance.
I've watched this movie so many times I will watch it in German without subtitles because I know what they are saying.
By far, the best submarine movie ever made. The acting, directing, special effects and storyline was excellent.
The movie transformed this American Navy veteran from hating an enemy into sympathy for fellow sailors.
The elation the crew feels when they overcome the impossible odds of resurfacing after sinking down reminds me of a quote from Inferno, "There is no greater sorrow than to recall happiness in times of misery." I feel like a person truly feels alive when they've suffered greatly and in spite of it presses forward and overcomes it, so on the flip side of this incredible feeling, the only way to feel it again is to suffer first.
"Einblasen."
Stalingrad (1993) is in the same vain, it shows the human side of the Germans. It does not make them hero's but shows the suffering of war that was on both sides.
When they sank the tanker that still had survivors on it was horrifying. Especially as the men in the water tried to swim to the U-boat, which naturally cant carry PW's.
I earlier times of the war, German U-Boots had taken survivors. In one case they torpedoed a ship with thousands Italian POWs and the alliied soldiers watching them on their way to North America. The U-Boot took hundreds of survivors on it's deck and dragged 4 lifeboats. Even other U-Boots came to help with the situation. They pulled big red cross flaggs but would get bombed by alliied bombers anyway. Therefore the German naval high command ordered, that further on no survivors would be taken on board. I would have been pleased if they had al little bit of exposition to that circumstances.
@@stirbjoernwesterhever6223 Ah, the "good" ol' _Laconia incident:_ when US pilots and officers ended up receiving medals for, effectively, friendly-fire* and sinking a couple of lifeboats.
I recall Drachinifel having quite the powerful rant about it in one of his Drydock (Q&A) Episodes:
ruclips.net/video/3KQ3jgeYxfE/видео.html
_*RMS Laconia was a Bri'ish troopship._
@@stirbjoernwesterhever6223 That was the 'Laconia Incident'. U-156 torpedoed the Laconia, and upon seeing thousands of Italian POWs, as well as women and children (the families of soldiers posted in Africa, returning to the UK to escape the widening African theatre).
Werner Hartenstein - U-156's captain - orders a humanitarian operation, taking aboard women and children until the ship was uncomfortably over-populated, and the remainder towed slowly behind in lifeboats. A red cross flag was draped over the deck and the radioman broadcast plain unencryped English messages signifying their intent, the location of the Laconia, and pleads for the allies to assist in rescue efforts.
They also radio B.d.u (U-boat Headquarters), and Donitz detaches a number of U-boats from a nearby operation to support. An Italian submarine and a Vichy French cruiser and sloop are dispatched to conduct a search and rescue.
Despite it all, a US B-24 Liberator bomber spots the submarine, and is ordered to sink the U-boat. U-156 is forced to cast off the survivors, diving slowly to allow the survivors to swim away before crash diving only with the survivors they managed to fit inside. Some were found by the other Axis ships sometime later, while some perished.
The B-24 crew returned to base hailed as heroes and even received decorations for the apparently sunk submarine. The only lives they took that day were those aboard the lifeboat they hit with missed depth charges.
The Naval War College classifies both crew and command as guilty of a prima farcie war crime.
The aftermath was the aptly named 'Laconia Order', prohibiting U-boats from assisting the survivors of their targets. Even further, the allies attempted to try Admiral Donitz for the Laconia Order - the legal defence drew upon examples like Laconia, and Nimitz coming to his indirect defence by mentioning that the US submarine forces did the same in the Pacific, the prosecution rapidly dropped charges and moved on.
@@dummermitmensch7197 Yes, but no good deed goes unpunished. I still think that was due to the inexperience of the American aircrews
@@stirbjoernwesterhever6223 They were bombed by Ameican planes
One of, if not the, best war movies ever made. I saw it when it first came out and was simply overwhelmed by the intensity of it.
The scenes that stuck with me the most are the ones with the soldier writing to her french girlfriend. Seeing his love and worry about her, the letters he wrote and never got to her. I can imagine what she suffered later not knowing about his death and having a child from the enemy.
Submarines represent a very different kind of warfare. Very different! Notice, no one can quit, hide or escape from the mission.
Im an American Submariner from many years ago and I must say youre comments are:: Spot on , you have to live it to know it . Again thank you
I have this on DVD, It gradually pulls you in. and you end up part of the crew, totally immersive.
It`s 40 years old, and still exciting to watch. One of the greatest movies of all time, a genuine Masterpiece, with the message......." WAR IS FUTILE " !!!!!!
Watched this again recently, forgot how well crafted the tension is.
For the most part, the analysis was very successful. What unfortunately mitigates this analysis somewhat is the omission of the end of "Das Boot". It is true that with the start of the engines in Gibraltar there is a glimmer of hope that the crew could have survived it. But with the ceremonial entry into the port and the disembarkation of the crew, a massive air attack goes hand in hand, which kills half of the crew, including the captain and which literally hits the hopeful in the face: There is no safe harbor, no security in war. The scene in which the war correspondent sits next to the dead captain appears only briefly. Unfortunately, this is not addressed, but rather the previous hope is viewed as a possible lack of an anti-war film. However, this conclusion should not be drawn before the end, nor should the end be omitted from the analysis. Regards
Here the film goes another way than the book. In the book the captain survives. And there were two (more or less) sequels. The man who was the real KaLeu of U96 was Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock who died 1986. So ommiting this part might not be that important in sense of the work of the author. But on the other hand: The author did not like the film at all :)
In its stark realism, it almost borders on a dramatized documentary, no holds barred.
As a bit of trivia for non-german speakers: The CO is regularly addressed as "Herr Kaleun". That is, of course, not his name, but a shortening of his official rank, Kapitän-Leutenant.
I fully agree! Das Boot was when it came out in 81 years of filmmaking ahead! It's a Masterpiece, one of the best German Films ever made and still very much worth watching today. It simply doesn't get old and still holds up.
Damn man, such a good analysis. Very happy to have found this channel.
I just bought this on Blu Ray to watch. What a timing. Looking forward to watching this.
It's great. The directors commentary is really good too. It features the actor who was the captain, Jurgen Prochnow, conversing in superb English about the movie for hours.
I recommend the 6 episode show. The film is only an extract of it.
As a German, I enjoy hearing your review of this film - especially from someone outside my country who sees (at that time) Germans as human beings instead of just Nazis or monsters. When someone asks me what is the most impressive war film I have seen, I always say "Das Boot". Because it focuses more on the suffering of these men than on the action scenes.
What impressed me most about this film is that the strength of spirit always triumphed over hopelessness and that these men still retained their cohesion and their humanity - even though they almost died of exhaustion.
Thank you :)
Come to think of it, das Boot really compressed the long service history of U-96 into one dramatised depiction of the axis getting surprised by allied radar.
When I first watched it from a proper source I was blown away by the sounddesign.
Even compared to todays standards it is extraordinary. And given the time and not being made in Hollywood by people with way more experience in war films than europe could ever have it truly is astonishing.
While Hollywood certainly has more experience with war films It never had and will probably never have experience with war. Countries like Germany or post soviet republics did seen real war. That is the main reason why Many German and sometimes (not always) Soviet films do better. The problem is the lack of Hollywood budget and capabilities.
The film set was an actual recreation of the internals of a WW2 German Sub. During filming it was mounted on Hydraulic arms that would mimic everything from waves rocking the crew about up to the sub hitting an object or getting blasted by a near miss from a bomb. Couple that with the fact that inside of the set its cramped hot and damp and they got blasted with water during several scenes it wasnt always a performance from the actors, it was actual suffering at times.
The set still exists btw it is displayed in the Bavaria Filmstudios and you are allowed to enter it and experience how cramped, stuffy and hot it is inside.
This was one of my father's all-time favorites.
The most incredible tension filled scenes in any movie. I love how the crew looks in the direction of their enemy, as if they can see him. The patter amongst the men is also incredibly realistic, I’m thinking of the hunt scene when the captain is so excited he begins reminiscing about a sail boat he used to sail with hull the size of a church!
They really don't make movies like this anymore. A once in a generation, genre defining masterpiece.
In fact, the entirety of hollywood seems utterly incapable of producing anything on that level of cinematic quality. Especially in the current decade.
Thank you for pronouncing "Das Boot" correctly.
One of my favorite films! The tension is so palpable you can cut it with a butter knife.
I'll drop this das boot music video I made here for you. I think you'll like it 👉 ruclips.net/video/_yvygu_X1H4/видео.htmlsi=T4uiXjKgH8rRQVGR
4:56 - fun fact: the Brazilian Portuguese translation of the title was The Boat: Hell in High Seas (O Barco: Inferno em Alto Mar)
Quite fitting with the themes
I love these ild war films from back then where they used practical effects. A Bridge Too Far, Battle of Britain, Das Boot, and the like. Now everything is CGI. Two modern movies i’d put up there with the oldies is 1917 and Dunkirk. They went out of their way to use many original items and practical effects.
Interesting all the movies you named are European!
In a Bridge Too Far there is a scene where hundreds of paratroopers are jumping from dozens of aeroplanes in the sky. They achieved this effect by getting hundreds of parachutists to jump from dozens of aeroplanes in the sky, and filming it.
Imo 99% of modern films (i.e. post 2000) are crap and I am not interested in them, remake upon remake, and hundreds of childish superhero films. My favourite film from this century is ''Der Untergang'' (Downfall). RIP Bruno Ganz.
Not old, vintage.
🍷
Agree
What about "All Quiet on the Western Front?"
"Not yet kameraden...NOT YET!"
What a great line
The movie not only brings out the humanity of a German U-boat crew but makes you cheer for them as well. No small feat. The film is a masterpiece and one of the best war movies of all time. War movies are always shown as exciting and adventurous when they should really be shown more as dark and terrifying, the way war truly is. Those who think of war as some patriotic adventure are usually the people who never had to fight in one.
Brilliant movie - outstanding casting, story and cinematography
Nice shoutout to the miniseries. From talking to other fans of this absolute classic film, it seems clear that the word is not really out in force that there’s a version from German TV that spends even more time with the characters.
It's so nice to hear anything but great compliments about "Das Boot" in the language of our former enemy. Let's thank god together that this times have changed. 🇩🇪 🇬🇧
The film and your analysis of it are sublime. Especially the way you highlighted the theme of overcoming at the end, something I'd personally never realized when watching it. It's something I really connected to, especially at the moment with stuff I'm dealing with personally, as well as the general mood I'm seeing in the world at large. Good job with this.
The ending I think is one of the greatest scenes in war film history. And it's frighteningly honest about the pitilessness that is war. After going through utter hell, barely able to make it back, The boat might even need to be scrapped after returning to port it's so badly damaged. After all that where we think they have made it, they're safe. A bombing raid comes in to make those poor people suffer even more. Just when everyone was convinced we could all at long last relax, no the war doesn't give them a break. And we see how cruel a mistress it can be. Among the dead are Johan who snapped and redeemed himself. Wanting so desperately to escape this hell. And just when we thought he had, a random bombing raid killed him. The jovial 2nd officer, who was always upbeat and tried to keep in good spirits, Ullman a mere boy who was going to be a father, Chuch boy, the pious one with the long face who prayed and looked to god... Hinrich the sound man, who was probably the most mild mannered, spent his time trying to save lives as he was also the medic on board.
Those that survived, a part of them died, sullen broken faces all around. One even having a panic attack, Like Johann he just cracked with a fellow crewman trying to hold him down so he doesn't hurt himself or anyone else. The Chief Engineer has a look of complete despondancy on his face. He was still alive, but the war killed him at that very moment. We know when he returns to his wife, he is not the same man as the one she married. And finally Der Alt [The old man, aka Herr Kaleunt.] Bent over holding an anchor for support, bleeding from the mouth, watching something precious to him, his boat finally succumb to the war and sink right after bringing them home, only then does he finally succumb himself. Though historically the captain of U-96 survived, indeed he was a consultant on this film.
Where war often gives a kind of gravitas at the end, that it was somehow worth it, or just, where the ordeal had meaning. In this it shows the ugliness of war that there is no meaning. The almost random, cruel, pitilessness that is war is laid bare for all of us to see. This scene is forever burned into my memory, a sober reminder that in war, everyone loses.
This is one of my favorite films, I have very fond memories of watching it with my Dad when I was growing up. I didn't think that it was possible to appreciate it more, but then you showed up with this incredible analysis and I'm absolutely blown away.
My Grandfather served with the Royal Navy in WW2 and was sunk by U boats. He survived. Yet still I watch Das Boot and almost root for the crew.
Only to a point of course; don’t fire at my Grandfather’s cruiser, but a great film to make you see all sides.
I watched this film with my dad as a kid. I am thankful for my dad and for finding empire of the mind.
You have a gem of a channel here. I really hope you pick up traction, especially with the amount of effort you put into these videos. Keep it up man, I love everything you put out.
Amazing film. And the sound track to it. Wow
The idea of being on a submarine scares the hell out of me, but I couldnt imagine the absolute terror of being on a sub during WWII
Best movie ever. Should be mandatory in schools.
One of the truly great films. I am so looking forward to your analysis.
The one series that ticks all the boxes and I will continually revisit. Thank you for dissecting why I love this film of courage and endurance
I saw that movie in 1982 in Montreal Canada french version with my first love who hated every war movie before. But she kept watching captivated for every single minute of the film for more than 4 hours and a half. I have watched das boot dozens and dozens of time. Feeling the emotions and many climacs at the same time. A roller coaster but with the hill getting steeper and steeper not only during combats but during the long time when nothing was happening. A masterpiece.
The first time I saw this movie I rented it from Netflix back in the DVD days. I put it in, hit play, and watched a brilliant 2 hour film. I took out the dvd and realized it was 2 sided... Flipped it over... And watched the first half of a brilliant 4 hour film 😂
I get so stoked everytime I see you post a new video. I hate to repeat what so many others have said elsewhere, but you're nailing it for me. Your thoughts on America, religion, and what it means to be human are so nice to hear
the only thing that i was missing in this review was music design. How it perfectly reflected mood of the crew. Both boredom and action, hell and rise. till today listening to the OST gives me goosebumps.
Yes, the music is OUTSTANDING!
Our history teacher showed us this film in class. I loved it. Got the series, the directors cut, and the book. Loved it. You made a great vid here! Thanks a LOT 👍
Greets from the Netherlands 🌷🇳🇱, T.
I saw this movie on Netflix, and I was focused for the entire almost 3 hours - next to Ghandi these are the only 2+ hour films I can enjoy from start to finish without losing focus
Das Boot is truly incredible a masterpiece
"Grizzled, old uboat captains?"
These guys are in just 30.
There was a discussion about Jürgen Prochnow being way too old for the role, but when they looked at the photos of the crew the characters are based on, they all looked decades older than they actually were.
on of the best non-german analysis ive heard. my deepest gratitude for this quite poetic piece and best wishes from austria-vienna
Total masterpiece, no point watching any other submarine film after this. Job done.😳🙏
short but sweet, i think youve eloquently conveyed what makes this film special, and why it still blows so many others out of the water (hehe)
thank you for the video!!
The author of the novel "Das Boot", Lothar-Günther Buchheim was a war correspondent on a submarine himself. The novel follows his experiences.
The book is a fictional version of his experiences so it didn't actually happen that way, but it is in fact based on several real sorties he experienced yes. He remained good friends with the captain of U96 who in real life actually survived.
excellent presentation. great narration and diction. best youtube post ever.
Thank you for this video. Excellent work.
Expert analysis and remarkable editing. The stilted, overly dramatic pauses in narration are beyond distracting. They. Are. Maddening.
Yes! I grew up on this movie.
I still have this on VHS and DVD
This has become one of my favorite channels. Such quality content with so much to say.
Real Heroes!!! Everyone who served in WW2 Kriegsmarine 👍👍👍🇫🇮🇩🇪🇫🇮🇩🇪🇫🇮🇩🇪 Greetings from Helsinki, Finland 🇫🇮
I'm so grateful that i found your channel today. This is by far the best analysis i saw on RUclips about Das Boot. If not the best film analysis of any film PERIOD. Instantly subscribed.
Fun Fact: Steven Spielberg borrowed the full size U-Boat model used in Das boot for his scenes in Raiders of the lost Ark. He also shot his U-Boat pen sequences (after the U-Boat reached the island) in the same bunker as Das Boot did.
If you liked Das Boot i can recommend to watch Downfall (Der Untergang) from 2004 by Oliver Hirschbiegel, another great German "War/Anti-War" Movie about the last days in the "Führerbunker" in Berlin. Easily as good as Das Boot in my opinion.
IIRC the bunker is still there, it remained in possession of the German navy until fairly recently when it was auctioned.