Friday, April 04, 2008

Das Boot: The U Boat, The movie, The masterpiece


I was just surfing the mouthshut.com, a consumer review website where I normally repost the movie reviews I write to keep my sleepy blog alive. I just noticed the title in their list and found out that no one has so far written a review for such a timeless classic. So I posted a short review there and reposting it here for a change, of course with slight modifications keeping the context and target in mind.

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 ambiance 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 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 travelers 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.

Lastly I don't need to remind my regular readers of my love for German movies. So let me sign off with another round of applause for them.
Good Night & Good Luck(plagiarism regretted! Edward R. Murrow must be turning in his graves at my audacity! But is suited the mood and time (1 am)) !!!

1 comment:

rajarshi said...

Bored?
You are kidding, right?
I thought I was the only one who saw the movie, didnt u find the filming in such closed spaces enthralling?
Great review,,ever think of Moonlighting?