Das Boot. - gino - Films/DVD Asylum

Das Boot.

63.224.65.186

Posted by gino on July 31, 2000 at 10:55:33

I read with much interest the series of posts below re: TRL and SPR, and attendant comment suggesting war movies are all, in some way, propagandistic, stereotyped, over-the-top, etc.

"Das Boot" remains for me, the most haunting and unforgettable portrayal of armed conflict I have seen.

DB, sans Hollywood trappings, showed the hot, stinking, physically demanding, mentally crippling "other worldly" existence of a German submarine crew during WW2 living claustrophobically in their potential coffin. The brief topside respites, including a suicidal open-water run--the sub was recharging batteries under cover of darkness when sighted by enemy surface craft--and the narrowest of escapes. This punctuated by survival-driven repair attempts underwater by the crew when subjected to depth-charge attacks, and the faces of men facing death on the sea bottom when one of the endless repair sessions failed. The incongruity of clean, well-dressed officers dining sumptuously at a presentation of medals for heroism to the exhausted sub captain and his men--the crew and captain in scruffy, unpressed uniforms invited to join in the feed. The crew became flagless; you just wanted to see these very human, very vulnerable guys-I've-known survive.

The close left you empty. The crew coming home for shore leave and R&R; the battered sub docking to the kudos of the gathered officers; well-wishers smiling, laughing and waving; the band playing; the welcoming committee saying all the great words. These guys deserved the Hollywood ending. It was over in an instant--British fighters strafing and bombing the docks and the sub pens. The sub sank in its berth and the crew was cut to pieces. No "good guys," no greatness, no glory, just blood and agony and death.

Stripped of Hollywood trappings, war is "Das Boot."

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Topic - Das Boot. - gino 10:55:33 07/31/00 (26)

Re: Das Boot. - hank 08:24:33 08/05/00 (0)

Re: Das Boot. - MikeP 07:01:55 08/04/00 (0)

Re: Das Boot. - Colby 18:56:55 07/31/00 (21)

Re: Das Boot. - Bruce from DC 14:58:40 08/01/00 (19)

Re: Das Boot. - Victor Khomenko 15:04:01 08/06/00 (3)

Victor; Dmitry - Bruce from DC 08:12:28 08/07/00 (1)

Re: Victor; Dmitry - Victor Khomenko 09:06:17 08/07/00 (0)

Excellent and lucid!(nt) - Dmitry 17:03:59 08/06/00 (0)

Re: Das Boot. - Shawn Harvey 11:39:03 08/04/00 (12)

Dying at sea-- and rescue. - Bruce from DC 13:15:10 08/04/00 (11)

Re: Dying at sea-- and rescue. - Dmitry 16:23:08 08/04/00 (10)

Chivalrious muderers and petty pucky sentimentalism - Victor Khomenko 10:02:45 08/05/00 (9)

Re: Chivalrious muderers and petty pucky sentimentalism - Dmitry 13:18:57 08/05/00 (8)

Re: Chivalrious muderers and petty pucky sentimentalism - Victor Khomenko 14:35:36 08/05/00 (7)

Re: Chivalrious muderers and petty pucky sentimentalism - Dmitry 00:48:19 08/06/00 (6)

Getting closer - Victor Khomenko 08:17:26 08/06/00 (0)

KHATYN or KATYN? - Victor Khomenko 07:02:50 08/06/00 (4)

Re: KHATYN or KATYN? - Dmitry 09:23:44 08/06/00 (3)

Re: KHATYN or KATYN? - Victor Khomenko 15:35:23 08/06/00 (2)

Re: KHATYN or KATYN? - Dmitry 17:07:40 08/06/00 (1)

Re: KHATYN or KATYN? - Victor Khomenko 18:12:57 08/06/00 (0)

The very point, Bruce, I attempted to make. Thank you. (nt) - gino 20:51:25 08/01/00 (0)

Re: Das Boot. - Dmitry 19:11:51 08/01/00 (0)

Interesting, but Kehr missed Das Boot . - gino 10:26:33 08/01/00 (0)

Re: Das Boot. - Justin 14:51:14 07/31/00 (0)

Re: Das Boot. - Jim Treanor 13:47:21 07/31/00 (0)

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