Movie Reviews

Das Boot (The Director's Cut)

27 Jan 1998

The 'director's cut' has been one of the most self-indulgent trends in cinema this decade - re-releases of classic films, complete with the excess footage and other new 'touches'.

In most cases, it seems that footage was removed not because the producers were a pack of Philistines, but because it added nothing to the film. Director's cuts tend to prove this.

So I was pleasantly surprised by Wolfgang Petersen's 'ideal' version of his 1982 film Das Boot [The Boat]. True, the original was excellent - but on the face of it, Petersen's updated vision didn't seem very promising.

A lengthy film in its first incarnation, it now has an extra hour of footage, making it a hefty 199 minutes long. As most of it is set in the ugly, claustrophobic world of a German U-boat (the detail is impeccable), it might seem that the audience would need to be as heroic as the soldiers.

Happily, it doesn't. While the viewer can feel the boredom and restlessness of the soldiers, the film itself is never boring.

But another feeling pervades: one of hopelessness - from an early scene, as the soldiers enjoy a final night of drunken revelry. Even without the benefit of hindsight, many of them believe they are doomed.

Occasionally, there are glimpses of hope. For a film known for its powerful indictment of war, much of it is spent in Hollywood-style heroics from its young, enthusiastic soldiers, accompanied by a Klaus Doldinger's thrilling score. In terms of his wits, courage and fighting spirit, Jurgen Prochnow (recently seen in The English Patient) as The Captain - at 30, the 'old man' of the crew - is a worthy substitute for Gary Cooper. Hopeless as it all seems, you find yourself cheering for The Captain and his motley crew.

It is one of those rare director's cuts where the added footage actually enhances the film. We learn (and care) more about the soldiers than before, adding to the power of the final scene. Unlike Hollywood's most famous anti-war movie, Schindler's List - two hours of poignancy, followed by a happy ending - Das Boot gives us action and adventure, followed by a final, ironic twist. In the end, the effect is even greater.