Das Boot: The Limit of Human Endurance in The Boat 🌊
Wolfgang Petersen’s claustrophobic classic Das Boot (The Boat) remains one of West Germany’s most famous films. It was adapted from Lothar-Günther Buchheim’s 1973 semi-autobiographical book.
Set during WWII, the story follows the German submarine U-96 and the difficulties its crew faces. A relentlessly bleak film, it holds a clear anti-war message alongside several Nazi characters clearly having reached a point of total disdain for the regime. Timely, then, and still a very impressive film.
The Very Strong Anti-War Message of Das Boot
Interesting starting point, but Lothar-Günther Buchheim (1918-2007) didn’t make much of the film adaptation. He felt it didn’t properly convey his book’s anti-war message.
Our first viewing of the film wasn’t that at all. It has very clear anti-war messages and the bleakness of its ending alone makes that abundantly obvious. Not a big spoiler here, but after some horrendous ordeals out at sea the U-96 crew is all blown to smithereens by the Royal Air Force. On Christmas Eve when back on land.
What’s impressive about the film is how it portrays the ship’s crew. Although Nazi members, some have clear anti-Hitler stances, such as Kapitänleutnant Philipp Thomsen (Otto Sander). Suffering PTSD and a clear raging alcoholic, he mocks Hitler during a party.
And if that seems like too convincing a bit of drunk acting, it’s because Sander was very drunk when he filmed it. Method acting.
Another cynic is the submarine’s Kapitänleutnant (Jürgen Prochnow) who openly mocks Nazi state messages and propaganda. His crew also just come across as desperate, trapped in the submarine whilst being bombed and spending months out at sea.
For viewers, Das Boot is a psychological onslaught. Seeing this in a cinema must have been draining, but the message is very clear. At 149 minutes, you don’t get any room to breathe.
There are the tense conflicts in confined quarters, flooding, and then the long periods of intense boredom for the crew. And as the viewer, you live through all that and feel the cold, sweat, and tears.
PTSD kicks in for several crew members. With Kapitänleutnant fighting to uphold morale as his belief in the war effort dwindles. All of which builds to a crushing conclusion of total nihilistic defeat—all the suffering, for nothing.
Yes, then, not an uplifting film in any respect.
But a technically very impressive one, with a very convincing set of actors. And as you can read below, they were so convincing as they genuinely had to endure a hellish time of it.
The Production of Das Boot
This was a major West German production involving the studios Bavaria Film, Radiant Film, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, and SWR Fernsehen. They cobbled together the impressive budget of DM 32 million (€17.4 million in 2021 cash).
The film was a hit, too, making a 2025 equivalent of $283 million.
Production initially began in 1976 with Robert Redford involved in the project as Kapitänleutnant. But then the effort was cancelled, before being picked up to become the most expensive German film of its day (only beaten in expensive come 2006).
Rutger Hauer was also offered the lead role, but chose instead a role in a certain film called Blade Runner (1982).
Filming took 12 months and was chaotic and gruelling, with most of Das Boot shot in sequence (unlike most other films). This meant beard growth and weight loss is very real in the film, alongside the increasingly haggard looking actors.
The actors were warned to avoid sunlight as much as possible. The guys do end up looking very pallid by mid-way into the film and that’s why.
For scenes inside the submarine, a giant mock-up was created for the actors to do their thing in. Crew members would shake it, rock it, and tilt the shell at angles.
The director’s obsessive approach paid off with critical and commercial success.
It got six Oscar nominations, too, but didn’t win any. On the plus side, he did win the German Film Award for Best Film. All good going, even if the book’s author didn’t rate the work.
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