Movie: Das Boot

 "If you want to be wrong, then follow the masses." - Socrates

I watched the movie "Das Boot" recently.  The translation into English is "The Boat".  It's a movie that critics widely recognize to be the best submarine war film ever made.  

I can't vouch for its accuracy, but the film's director, Wolfgang Petersen, had two former WW2 German U-boat captains advising him on getting it right.  Petersen insisted that the movie sets be correct down the layout of each panel screw of a period-correct Type VIIC U-boat.  I would imagine he took the advice of the knowledge of the two captains while making the film.

The cast was not allowed to be in sunlight for 90 days prior to filming, so they had that ghoulish skin pallor that my shipmates and I used to have.  Speaking of which, the only other time I have watched Das Boot, was underwater in the Pacific Ocean somewhere.

Of course the experiences of the crew portrayed in the movie were nothing like my own experience in the 1980's.  They were war-time combatants in a diesel-electric sub, while I was fortunate enough to operate in a peacetime environment aboard a nuclear-powered ship. 

It was interesting to review the movie again as a more mature man, and now from a civilian perspective.  There's a lot of nuance there that I didn't pick up on the first time around.  During that previous viewing, I was mostly watching it from the perspective of a submariner and engineering guy watching an action movie.  Upon this more recent viewing, I realize that it's more than that, on many levels. 

I won't give spoilers for the film.  You can watch it on YouTube for free.  The film is (appropriately) in German, with English subtitles.  The dialogue isn't difficult to follow, because most of it follows the action.  It's very much worth watching.

Historical note:  The movie starts and ends in German-occupied France, at the submarine pens in La Rochelle, but events also occur in the North Atlantic, and at Vigo and Gibraltar, in Spain.  See map. 

The submarine pens are still standing in La Rochelle.  Their removal would be incredibly expensive, due to the immense reinforcements against allied aerial bombing.  So they continue to stand.

EDIT:  The timing of this post was poor - and a bit interesting in that.  I watched a YouTube-recommended video, enjoyed it, and mentioned it in a post. Why did it come up in my feed this week?

I do not subscribe to, nor admire that ideology.  I find it appalling that the Canadian Parliament is actively trying to rehabilitate the reputation of it.  The Canadian government's standing ovation for an ex Waffen SS officer who pledged an oath of loyalty solely to the fuhrer is horrifying and shocking.  It's difficult to decide which is more disgusting; the original evil behavior or currently honoring that evil behavior.

My interest in the film is not about the ideology that brought the war about.  It's about the horrific human condition:  The terror, the anguish, the suffering.  The drunkenness before setting sail, and perhaps dying.  The boredom and the euphoria.  And the resignation of knowing they might all very well be killed.