VERSUS THE SCARECROW EPISODE NINE: Yes! German Foreign Films. I decided to challenge myself and really open the doors of my film knowledge and take on “The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide”. It’s 808 pages of movies and movie reviews from some of the most knowledgeable movie people you don’t know. It’s a book put together by a staff that praises, and destroys, some of our favorites and not so favorites. You can read the rest of my series here.
Just a quick refresher: each episode, I’m going to tackle three films from three different categories. Two films will be films I’ve never seen before and one will be one I’ve seen before or own. For the new films, well, new to me, I’m going to review them like a typical FTS review using the TOAST Rating system. But, for the films I’ve seen, I’m going give a quick paragraph or two about why I like or don’t like the film. We’ll try to include the poster and trailer for each film. “….and here. We. Go!”
In this week’s episode, I put my cleverness aside and take a look at German Foreign films. I’ll be looking at Herzog’s Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972), Das Boot (1981), and I’ll be reflecting on the first German foreign film I ever watched: Lola Rennt (1998)
Das Boot (1981) Directed by Wolfgang Petersen. Starring: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer and Klaus Wennemann. IMDB says: “The claustrophobic world of a WWII German U-boat; boredom, filth, and sheer terror.”
Das Boot caught me off guard in the best way possible. It’s hard to find a film, no matter what year it was made, that could be so engaging and emotionally involving with a run time of two and a half plus hours. At no point did I pause to go to the bathroom or get a drink or anything. I was sucked into this film and I even found myself rooting for these guys: and they’re NAZI’s! Granted, they’re not murdering jewish people in their U-Boat (also known as a submarine), but they’re still Nazi’s. It’s a stigma thing.
The film opens with a going away celebration as the U-Boat crew parties away the hours before their deployment. It’s here that we meet their worn out Captain, Lieutenant Henrich Lehman-Willenbrock, (We’ll call him Captain Henry) portrayed fantastically by Jurgen Prochnow. He takes the cliche alcoholic Captain who’s seen everything and slowly turns on himself and going through the things he’s been through, adds some empathy, and makes it seem like he created that character type. His performance is elevated by a solid cast that accompanies him through most of the film in the U-Boat.
Once the film locks itself inside the U-Boat, it begins to feel differently. Director Wolfgang Petersen captures the claustrophobia of the ship by keeping the camera low and the takes long. There are many one-shots on the sub that leaves ones imagination to wonder who many choreographed attempts it took. Whatever the answer, fantastic results were delivered as you were drawn into this claustrophobic lifestyle. Obviously the look changes, but what also changes is the feel. At no point does it feel like a war film. It actually feels Like Jaws when Brody, Quint, and Hooper are aboard the Orca in search of the Great White Shark. I can’t describe how it feels that way, but when the camerawork and the U-Boat crew member’s quirks all add up, you get a feeling very reminiscent of Spielberg’s 1975 classic.
There are two versions of this film, a theatrical and extended, and I’ve only seen the theatrical. But after first viewing, I’m very interested in the extended to see what was left out or scrapped from the theatrical cut. Maybe they took out scenes that began to drag out the film because not once are you bored or wishing a scene was over. Das Boot has a solid pace and maintains it throughout the film. I highly recommend this film.
Check back tomorrow for my thoughts on Run Lola Run and if you’re interested in more, you can find the rest of the Versus The Scarecrow series here.