I just noticed
the title in the list and found out that no one has so far written a review for
such a timeless classic. As I am short of time at the moment, I will finish off
quickly unlike my previous reviews.
About the plot, it is about the sailor on board of a German U Boat at the time
of WWII. They try too hard to carry on difficult missions and also keep encountering
near death situations at times. All the while there is an undercurrent of
confusion over the ideology of their leaders who have sent them to those treacherous
waters. Let me not disclose too much of it for the sake of the future viewers.
The film works in all aspects due to meticulous attention to details and
carefully crafted claustrophobic ambience that might suffocate the faint
hearted. The coexistence of high sense of duty along with the fear of death
under the sea in the minds of those brave soldiers is so realistically
portrayed that you are almost able feel the suffocation, terror and dedication
of them and it keeps haunting you for a long time even after the movie is over.
Coming to the credits, Jürgen Prochnow has done an excellent job as the Captain
as well as the rest of the rest of the cast whose name I don’t really know! And
if you thought Wolfgang Petersen was all about the tepid Troy, you should watch this one. He
was far more accomplished a filmmaker than his time. He made this film way back
in 1981 when Spielberg was still busy with the extra terrestrial third kinds,
humorous time travellers and that action buff archaeologist. *Schindler’s list
was still more than a decade away and we mostly had "war" movies
rather than "anti-war" movies. In that sense Das Boot is and will
remain one of the greatest anti-war movies ever made.
To wind up, I have always loved the German movies for their honest portrayal of
the tainted past. The one’s who has never tried any German movie should start
with this one to get a feel of their class.
Also, interested people can read my review for Good Bye Lenin,
another brilliant and honest film about the unification of Germany in my
blog.
https://somnificsoliloquy.blogspot.com/2007/11/good-bye-leninof-lenin-berlin-wall.html