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Author
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Topic: Das Boot
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Jean-Marc Toussaint
Film God
Posts: 2392
From: France
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted March 17, 2019 09:19 AM
DAS BOOT
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Germany - 1981
Super 8 digest released as 3 x 400ft by Piccolo Film (also distributed by Revue)
Part 1 - Tauchfarhrt des Schreckens (Terror Dive) - ref 3427
Part 2 - Der Untergang (Shipwreck) - ref 3428
Part 3 - Die Hölle von La Rochelle (Hell in La Rochelle) - ref 3429
Colour - mono sound (German)
How do you manage to create a cut-down of a 150 minutes feature, that's already a cut-down version of a 5 hour-long tv-series? With much difficulty and some serious editing skills (forget the shoehorn and the vise).
Well, this is exactly what the persons in charge of putting together this fine digest have succeeded to do.
The Piccolo version links a few of the essential scenes to make for a continuous plot:
During WWII, we follow the adventures of a German U-Boot crew, led by a strong-willed captain (brillantly portrayed by Jürgen Prochnow). On a mission in the Mediterranean Sea, The German sub is attacking Allied convoys. After barely escaping depth charges launched by a destroyer, the Captain receives the instruction to head back to base in La Rochelle, France.
The catch is to try to go unnoticed through the Strait of Gibraltar. The submarine is detected by a bomber plane and, after suffering much damage, it is forced to "land" on a sand bed located way below its safe maximum depth. As the water is rising inside, the crew has to work wonders to put the ship back in operating order. They manage to resurface and reach their base. Only to encounter a tragic fate.
This action-packed mini-feature runs for 50 minutes or so and it's quite hard to catch your breath (pun intended). It's very well-paced and features the same claustrophobic feel that was already present in the original film. There are some great camera shots following the crew on duty as well as some nice pre-CGI special effects.
When I purchased this cut-down, aeons ago, colours were vivid. Halas, it has started to fade. Blues and yellows are still there, and it's not disturbing during a lot of scenes as they are only lit by emergency light (ie-red) but skies and skin tones start to show a slight pink tint.
Redubbing this into French was an ordeal. The only available material at the time of recording was a director's cut of the TV series, with a lot of alternate shots, meaning slight differences in dialogs and scenes. But thanks to non-linear editing softwares (and a lot of sleepless nights), it's barely noticeable (just a couple of sentences out of the whole digest sound a little off).
If you're a fan of submarine movies, this is a must-have.
[ March 18, 2019, 04:21 AM: Message edited by: Jean-Marc Toussaint ]
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