Author of war novel ‘Das Boot’ dies

If you’re going to see it…see the full five hours…somewhere you can have the volume turned up high. 😉

I can second that. Do not even consider the abridged or dubbed versions. The original 6 hours with subtitles is the only way!

Roy.

A recent question asked …
What is the German term for the act of deriving satisfaction or pleasure from someone else’s misfortune?

The correct answer is … anybody?

My far better half had a far better answer … Das Gloat!

Grone…

Schadenfreude (I had to look up the spellink.)

On a serious note … it’s a fantastic piece of work and Lothar-Guenther Buchheim deserves to be remembered for it.

On a more whimsical note … every day there’s a set of 10 questions in the world section of our local paper – hugely wide ranging, good fun to have a stab at, and quite a stretch at times. A recent question asked …
What is the German term for the act of deriving satisfaction or pleasure from someone else’s misfortune?

The correct answer is … anybody?

My far better half had a far better answer … Das Gloat!

I bought it on DVD yesterday – I think it’s the director’s cut, however, but I’m still looking forward to watching it.

If your DVD has the option, try watching it in the original German (with subtitles if necessary). I think it is much better than the English dubbed version – but either way it is a great film.

Allan

I bought it on DVD yesterday – I think it’s the director’s cut, however, but I’m still looking forward to watching it.

Some more trivia about the film “Das Boot”…

Hi gentlemen,

to me (being German, therefore having seen the movie dozens of times in cinema and on TV) “Das Boot” is the definite war film. None other even comes close.
This is one of the few movies that you can see a dozen times and still find new details (watch the sonar operator call out his bearings and move his direction finder correctly!).

But even more amazing to me is that “Das Boot” was the start of a big career for most of the participating actors (not to mention the Director, Wolfgang Petersen, who became the only internationally successful German movie producer). For nearly *any* of Germany’s top 20 actors of the 1990s “Das Boot” was the first movie they starred in.

The actor who played the reporter, Herbert Grönemeyer, was an unknown rock musician when he starred in “Das Boot”. Sunsequently he became Germanys top rock star (which he still is 15 years later).

Greetings from Germany
Andreas

Sad to hear of his passing..The book and the film are brilliant.

I haven’t seen it in ages, but I was absolutely hooked on the TV version when the BBC first transmitted it in the mid-1980’s.

For me the best war film I have watched so far. Excellent. I remember when it was first shown and making sure I got back in time from my shift to catch each episode.

See here
http://uboat.net/special/movies/item/1

And Indiana Jones was made at the same time, not later, and Spielberg borrowed the sub and the set of Das Boot to save on his budget

Does anybody know which U-boat ‘pen’ was used at the beginning (for the interior shots)? The film portrays La Rochelle but was it?

IMDB states that (without wishing to spoil it for anybody) the He111 scene was footage shot for the ‘Battle of Britain’.

Also the full-scale Type VIIC was used later for ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ but I wonder was the same U-boat ‘pen’ used?

There also seem to be two completely different versions of the ‘party’ scene at the beginning.

My favourite clip is the drunken Kriegsmarine officer in the gents, the dazed looking one propping himself up against the wall – we’ve all been there! :rolleyes:

Does anyone agree that the chap playing the journalist who goes aboard with the crew looks like a young Clive Anderson? 🙂

Sad to hear of Buchheim’s death. One of my favourite books is his photo journal ‘U-Boat War’ (1978). He was an accomplished artist, trained at the Dresden Academy of Art and later went on to become a newspaper artist/illustrator. When war broke out, he joined the Kreigsmarine and reached the rank of Lieutenant and eventually served aboard U-Boats as an official Naval correspondent. Although he was an illustrator and not a photographer, the photos which he took were largely for his own record and form the basis of ‘U-Boat War’.

Chris

If you happen to get the Director’s Cut DVD, listen to the director’s commentary over the top of the film. In fact it’s both director Wolfgang Petersen and the actor who played the Captain. It’s fascinating to hear the lengths they went to to make the film. The worked on shooting for a year, which is extraordinary in itself, but the actors were told not to go into the sun at all outside of filming, and to all grow real beards, which is why their beards grow naturally longer and longer and why they all get pastier and pastier, it’s not clever makeup. It’s real.

They shot about three more hours that’s never been used apparently, as they originally hoped for a longer miniseries! They also discuss the technical aspects of the submarine replicas, etc and it’s amazing.

Plus, the author of the book who was the real captain worked with them on the film and the actor who played him had great admiration for him.

I have the “Original Uncut Version Digitally Remastered”. According to the back of it, it runs for “4hrs 42mins approx”.

If anyone has an interest in what life is like in a WW2 Submarine (either Allied or Axis), then I can recommend this film.

The BBC website is incorrect when it states the running time as ‘six-hours’.

Six parts maybe, but only ever around 300 minutes running time.

So it is possible (and well worth it) to buy the entire film/series.

….Also ensure that you have surround sound for the full effect. With the speakers far enough apart, you can get the effect of the ships above moving from one side to the other

i picked up a copy of the book last summer at a boot sale for 10p, a really thick paper back with some 560 or so pages.
its a bit slow in places, but its well worth the effort to get into it, and think it might be even better that the film/series in creating the atmosphere in the boat.

keep an eye out for it, and take the time to read it, and once you’ve finished it you’ll not be disappointed.

If you’re going to see it…see the full five hours…somewhere you can have the volume turned up high. 😉

RIP 🙁

That’s one film I’ve never seen – really must get it on DVD.

.There were a couple of versions around.
Just looked on play and theres the mini series [5 hours long] or the directors cut 3 hours 20 mins.
http://www.play.com/Search.aspx?searchtype=r2alldvd&searchstring=das+boot&page=search&pa=search&go.x=42&go.y=6