Depths of despair on the high seas ...

Press, 4 July 1983, Page 6

Depths of despair on the high seas ...

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hans petrovic

THE BOAT Directed and written by Wolfgang Petersen “The Boat” (Regent) is the first German film about the real conditions aboard one of that nation’s submarines during World War 11, and is already considered a classic on the subject which outdistances by many leagues America’s “Run Silent, Run Deep.”

For its unromantic, almost documentary approach, it must be considered closer to such past classics as “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “The Cruel Sea.” Hitler is believed to have lost 30,000 of the 40,000 men he sent out in these vessels — a figure very close to that of the men lost by the British Air Force during those years of conflict.

Ironically, both forces were looked up to as the elite, the ultimate heroes within their own countries. If one considers, however, the conditions under which they served, one may think twice.

The conditions on most of the German submarines were so cramped and claustrophobic that the 45 men on a typical U-96 could virtually touch both sides with outstretched arms; there was only one toilet,

which must have proved a problem under the stress of battle conditions.

The lights stayed on day and night, the mechanical din never ceased, the men slept in shifts on tripletiered bunks, while the sausages, sides of bacon and bananas gathered mildew hanging from the vessel’s numerous pipes. Wolfgang Petersen, the writer and director of this film says: “Young men were fed a steady diet of propaganda. Words like honour and strength had a glorious ring to them. “This was the rallying cry for the myth of the submarine fleet and its celebrated sailors. The fallacy of this myth is at the heart of this story.” Who wants that, or even a film about it? I certainly don’t.

Last week, I reviewed “Sophie’s Choice,” a film about the psychological aftermath of life in a Nazi concentration camp; this week, we are going through the agonies suffered by young Germans while they saw the walls buckle, and the rivets pop in their “invincible” U-boat.

It is ironic that two such films should come to Christchurch so close in time. One must realise, however, that war — both its horrors and

heroics — will always remain an ideal subject for making movies.

What sets both of these films apart is that they are also brilliant from the acting and cinematic point of view. (In other words, if you want to see people suffer, don’t miss them.)

On its first release in Germany, “The Boat” was criticised by the political Right wing as being too pacifist, while those on the Left saw it as warmongering idealism.

Neither point of view is quite true if you look at it as excellent cinema — certainly not propaganda, although it makes its point strongly about the idiocy of war.

Technically, and with its Teutonic fetish for detail,

"The Boat” is the best ever made.

It is based on a semifictional novel by LotharGunther Buchheim, who had been a German war correspondent in one of the submarines in 1941.

As a technical adviser, the captain of one of these vessels, Lehmenn Willenbrook, was called upon.

The wartime memories were too much for him the first time Willenbrook visited the film set — he broke down and cried when he saw the interior of the reconstructed sub.

Life on “The Boat” does not provide many lighter moments, except when the crew joins in rousing choruses of “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” — probably while the men on the other side were singing "Lili Marlene.”

P.S. For those who wonder, this film version has been well dubbed into English, which may make it a little easier to understand what people are saying during the depth charge explosions.