Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen, 1981)

Since it’s nearly Christmas (eight days, just saying), school has become a very, very tiny bit more relaxed – as in, we got to watch a film in German, rather than the usual lessons spent learning the difference between regular and irregular imperfect and perfect tenses. This is undoubtedly a welcome change, but when my German teacher said it was ‘the best war film ever made’, I was expecting something better than this.

Having said that, when I looked it up to find out the director’s name, I was shocked that it was made in 1981. Perhaps, in 1981, it probably was one of the best war films ever made. However, I think that the past thirty two years have produced quite a few brilliant war films, and Das Boot didn’t really do it for me. Usually, I like foreign films, but war films aren’t the kind of films I’d choose to watch, given the option.

One of my pet hates is a film which is what I’d call a ‘dark film’. By this, I mean a film which is hard to follow because of the shadows and lack of light. Sadly, this is one of those films. It doesn’t help that I have to focus on the subtitles at the bottom of the screen too, as this makes it difficult to really follow what’s happening. Combine all this with my lack of knowledge about submarines and seafaring terminology, and it all adds up to, in my opinion, a very boring (and confusing) film.

Many people seem to disagree, however, as it grossed the equivalent of $205 million, and is one of the most expensive films in the history of German cinema… Which doesn’t say much for the reputation of German cinema, in my opinion. Maybe I’m being too harsh about it, but I actually think I’d almost prefer the irregular imperfect tense.