Best of the Letter "D:" Das Boot (1981)

Submarine movies tend to have a clausterphobic tenseness that is simply unlike other kinds of movies.  And of all submarine movies, Das Boot is king.  There had been submarine movies before, and lots since, but Das Boot was and remains the best.  And on top of it all, it is also a fantastic overall film

Director Wolfgang Peterson weaves together a magnificent tale of a German U-boat  and its adventures on a mission during world war 2.  What is immediately noticeable is that these are not evil men, nor Nazi robots.  They are not faceless or nameless or without basic qualities of human life.  They are men, no more so or less so than any of us.  For me this represents a "humanization" of the enemy.  I was raised a red-white-and-blue blooded American, and most of the movies about WW2 that I've seen present Germans as more or less stereotypical bad guys.  Germans of the 30's and 40's in film are typically wicked or simple nameless uniforms -an obstacle for the hero to overcome but certainly not people in their own right.  I mean, the Germans of WW2 couldn't have been caring or capable of heroics, could they?

We need movies like Das Boot to remind us what war makes us often forget: that people on the "other side" are still people.  And there is nobility and goodness possible in them.

Ok, let's get this out of the way: Das Boot is filmed entirely in German, which means I need English subtitles to understand it.  And I like it that way.  It means it is much more authentic and real.  Don't let the subtitles put you off or you will miss out on one of the most human war tales of all time.

And the realism stands out.  Other movies have imitated that tense wait for depth charges and the harrowing, violent chaos as the explosions come.  Yet none have ever done that experience as well.  Das Boot will bring the viewer into that confined space with those crewmen, and even for only a minute we feel part of that terror.

After a while we feel like we know these men.  We share with them the terror of the depth charge bombardment, the frustration of trying to make difficult repairs, the joys of wind in the face and the thrill of the hunt.  And we share in their humanity as they weep over having to leave stranded sailors from a torpedoed ship, knowing they will drown.  That scene is one of the most effective anti-war war scenes of all time.  They have rejoiced over hitting the ship with a torpedo a few hours previous, yet weep when they realize that the sailors on the now sinking ship will not be rescued and are doomed.  They killed them, yet did not want them to die.  It's an amazing and effective scene.

Anyway, watch Das Boot.  You'll cheer for the crew, then feel conflicted.  You'll see a great example of action film making.  And you'll be watching the best movie ever that begins with "D."

Entertainment: 10/10
Artistic Value: 8/10
Technical Merit: 10/10

Overall: 10/10


Runners up for the letter "D:"

• Die Hard
• District 9
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

And films worthy of mention: Deliverance, Dawn of the Dead, The Departed