Today’s motion picture is a war movie with a scene that happens on October 14. Watch and enjoy this film tonight.
DAS BOOT
The crew of the U-96 celebrates in La Rochelle, France prior to going to sea on a mission. An addition to the crew is Lt. Werner a navy correspondent. Ullman, one of the crew has a French mistress who is pregnant. They head for sea on Otober 14, 1941. The captain orders a battle drill and afterwards they are bombed unsuccessfully by a British plane. The only excitement is a false plane alarm. Some of the crew doesn’t like Werner because they think he is a useless pretty boy. A convoy is spotted and they head towards it, but they are spotted by a destroyer. They are depth charged, but escape. The boat and crew endure a storm that lasts for three weeks. We learn the uber-Nazi first officer who came home from Mexico City to enlist lost his fiancée in an air raid. They find a convoy and attack, but are immediately set upon by a destroyer. They hit three freighters. While the submarine is being depth charged the chief engineer goes mad and deserts his post. The boat escapes and the captain decides not to court-martial the chief engineer, but to get him off the ship as soon as possible. The captain refuses to try and rescue crewmen from a burning tanker. The ship is ordered to La Spezia in Italy, meaning they will have to pass through the narrow and dangerous straits of Gibraltar. They travel to Vigo in Spain where they pick up supplies from an interned German merchant ship. The captain had planned to put the chief engineer and Werner off here but this is not allowed. When the reach the strait, the captain plans on letting the current pull them into the Mediterranean, but they are spotted and attacked. They have to dive so deep they hit bottom. After a long and harrowing repair job they return to the surface and for home. They reach La Rochelle on Christmas Eve, but the base is attacked by an air raid. The boat is sunk at anchor and many of the crew including the captain are killed. Werner survives.
The best sub film ever made. Brilliantly displays the boredom and terror experienced by the U-boat crews. You almost want to cheer for the crew.
On the first day at sea at 30:21 the wall calendar in the officer’s dining area gives the date as October 14.
Director & Screenwriter - Wolfgang Petersen
Awards - The film was nominated for the Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Director, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Film Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars.
Runtime - 2 hours 30 minutes
Released - September 17, 1981
Starring - Jürgen Prochnow as the Commander, Herbert Grönemeyer as Ensign Werner, Klaus Wennemann as Chief Engineer, Hubertus Bengsch as 1st Watch Officer , Martin Semmelrogge as 2nd Watch Officer , Bernd Tauber as Chief Helmsman Kriechbaum, Erwin Leder as Chief Mechanic, Martin May as Senior Cadet Ullmann, Heinz Hoenig as Petty Officer Hinrich, Uwe Ochsenknecht as Boatswain Lamprecht, Claude-Oliver Rudolph as Ario, Jan Fedder as Petty Officer Pilgri, Joachim Bernhard as Theologian
Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015
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