Based on the novel by Lothar-Gunther Buchheim, Das Boot (The Boat) is the story of U-boat captain and his crew trekking around the Atlantic Ocean to find and destroy Allied ships while dealing with the daily grinding living and working in a submarine. Written for the screen and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, the film is an unusual war film that is largely inside a German U-boat where a captain and his inexperienced crew deal with the chaos of war. Starring Jurgen Prochnow, Herbert Gronemeyer, and Klaus Wennemann. Das Boot is a gripping and rapturous film from Wolfgang Petersen.
Set in October 1941, the film follows a war correspondent whose job is to be observe and look into the actions of a U-boat captain and his crew as they look for and destroy Allied ships during the Battle of the Atlantic Ocean. The film may have a simple story but it has a lot of complexities about not just life inside a submarine but what a captain must do to not just survive but also outsmart and evade the enemy in the sea. Wolfgang Petersen’s screenplay is also focused on the characters such as the captain (Jurgen Prochnow) who has seen a lot of battles and been through a lot yet finds himself dealing with a large crew who hadn’t had much experienced being in a submarine nor deal with the chaos of war. With the exception of the chief engineer (Kluas Wennemann) and chief mechanic Johan (Erwin Leder), much of the crew are young men as well as a few young officers with Lieutenant Werner (Herbert Gronemeyer) being new on board as he is the war correspondent.
The script is focused not just on the tedious atmosphere of being in a submarine as it mostly takes place inside the submarine but also what many had to do in their duties. Especially as the crew have to sleep in cramped bunks with little room as well as run through the narrow parts of the ship without the need to stop in case of an emergency or the enemy is nearby. For Lt. Werner, he sees what the crew had to do as many of them don’t like him at first because he is just there to observe. Yet, he would take part in helping them as it would be these little moments where he would gain their respect while he would befriend a young officer candidate in Ullmann (Martin May) who has a French girlfriend in France as he worries about her. The first act is about the life of being in a U-boat as well as the search for the enemy while the second act is about the encounters with a British destroyer and the need to survive.
The captain himself does whatever he can to oversee everything as he becomes weary as he also has to carry the weight of responsibility for his ship and his crew. Even as he has to cope with a ship that is often under attack by depth charges from the British destroyer as well as a moment in the aftermath of an attack where he and his officers look in horror over a British ship they destroyed. The third act isn’t just about the what the captain needs to do to get home but also the harsh realities of war as it’s something Lt. Werner would learn to cope with. Even as he and some of the officers during a stop before this trip home at a merchant ship become aware of the disconnect that those who aren’t even on the battlefield are unaware of.
Petersen’s direction is truly intense in the way he presents life inside a U-boat as the submarine itself is a character in the film but one that is quite menacing and eerie. While many of the exteriors including the film’s opening party sequence is shot partially near Munich with some of it shot around France. Much of the film is shot in a soundstage for the submarine interiors as it is very cramped and claustrophobic where Petersen creates that sense of feeling of how narrow and small the interior walls are inside the submarine. With the aid of the Arriflex-camera which is a smaller version of the steadicam, Petersen’s approach to fast tracking shots to capture the viewpoint of how a crew member would run from one side of the ship to another through these narrow holes in between. It adds to the frenetic tone of the film whenever some sense of danger occurs as Petersen just amps up that intensity. Especially in the quieter moments where it is about the battle of wits as the sub tries to hide itself from that British destroyer who keeps dropping depth charges as they can’t make a noise.
While there are some wide shots including some scenes outside of the ship with some unique backdrops to play into the intensity of the storms. Petersen would favor using medium shots and close-ups to not just play into the claustrophobia of what is going inside the sub but also in the moments where everyone is dealing with aspects of the ship that isn’t working or moments where nothing is happening. There are moments that are humorous from the opening sequence to a few bits inside the sub yet much of it is quite serious including its climatic third act where the boat has to go through an entire British fleet undetected yet it would be a major risk. It is a climax that is quite chilling and unsettling but it also proves what these men will do to survive under great danger inside this submarine. Overall, Petersen creates a harrowing yet visceral film about a U-boat captain and his crew trying to find Allied ships and destroy them in the Atlantic Ocean.
Cinematographer Jost Vacano does brilliant work with the look of the many interiors in the submarine with its usage of lights and shade to play into what is happening on the inside as well as some beautiful exterior scenes in the day and night to play into where the boat is as well as what is going on underwater. Editor Hannes Nikel does excellent work with the editing with the usage of jump-cuts for some of the abrupt moments of action as well as other stylized cuts to play into the suspense and drama that occurs in the film. Production designer Rolf Zehetbauter and art director Gotz Weidner do amazing work with not just the look of the interiors and rooms of the submarine from its engine room and where the torpedoes are but also in the party in the opening sequence and at merchant ship banquet early in the third act. Costume designer Monika Bauert does nice work with the costumes from the uniforms of some of the officers as well as the ragged clothes that the men wear inside the submarine.
Special effects supervisor Karl Baumgartner does fantastic work with the look of the exteriors of the submarine from underwater as well as the backdrops for some of the exteriors of the submarine during the storms as well as in some of the battle scenes. Sound editors Karen Baker Landers, J. Stanley Johnston, and Michael Keller, along with sound designer Scott Martin Gershin, for 1997 special edition director’s cut do superb work with the sound as it play into the atmosphere of what is happening inside a submarine and the way the metal is heard underwater as it goes very deep as it is a highlight of the film. The film’s music Klaus Doldinger is incredible for its bombastic orchestral score as it has moments that are quite serene to the moments of intensity during the action and suspense scenes while the soundtrack feature elements of classical or folk songs of the times.
The casting by Willy Schlenter is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Gunter Lamprecht as a merchant ship captain, Sky du Mont as an officer at the merchant ship, Claude-Oliver Rudolph as a mechanic named Arlo, Jan Fedder and Ralf Richter as two petty officers, Oliver Stritzel as a torpedo man, Jean-Clause Hoffmann as a diving planes operator, Uwe Ochsenknecht as a torpedo supervisor who is upset over the loss of his futbol team, Bernd Tauber as 3rd watch officer/navigator Kriechbaum, and Heinz Hoenig as the radioman Hinrich who is the jack-of-all-trades of the ship as he listens to everything while also being a medic and a sonar repairman. Martin May is terrific as the officer candidate Ullmann as one of the few Lt. Werner connects with as he deals with the fact that he has a girlfriend in France and worries about what the French will think of her being with a German.
Martin Semmelrogge is superb as the 2nd watch officer whose job is to decode codes as he is quite vulgar in his actions yet liked by the crew. Erwin Leder is fantastic as the chief mechanic Johann as a man who tends to the diesel engines with great care as he nearly loses it during a silent run. Hubertus Bengsch is excellent as the 1st watch officer as a by-the-book officer who always maintains a clean look and other quirks to make him very different from everyone else until he deals with the reality of war. Otto Sander is brilliant as Captain Thomsen as a fellow U-boat captain who is celebrated in the film’s opening party scene as he is this drunken yet wild captain who would meet them again in his boat during a storm.
Klaus Wennemann is amazing as the chief engineer as a veteran who is the captain’s second-in-command as he knows how to fix the submarine as well as do whatever it takes to raise morale. Herbert Gronemeyer is remarkable as Lt. Werner as a young officer who joins the sub as a war correspondent as he copes with being in a submarine as well as what to do there as he would eventually find his role and gain the respect o the crew. Finally, there’s Jurgen Prochnow in a phenomenal performance as the captain as a hardened U-boat captain who has been through a lot as he copes with having an inexperienced crew and trying to find a British fleet to attack as it’s a performance filled with humility and the need to do what is right even as he is willing to say he made a bad call.
Das Boot is an outstanding film from Wolfgang Petersen. Featuring a great cast, dazzling technical work, a fantastic soundtrack, and a thrilling premise. It’s a war film that isn’t just engaging but also filled with characters to care for as well as be an unusual war film where it is about survival and men dealing with the dark aspects of war. In the end, Das Boot is a magnificent film from Wolfgang Petersen.
Wolfgang Petersen Films: (One or the Other of Us) - (The Consequence) - (Black and White Like Day and Night) - (The NeverEnding Story) - (Enemy Mine) - (Shattered (1991 film)) - (In the Line of Fire) - (Outbreak (1995 film)) - (Air Force One) - (The Perfect Storm) - (Troy (2004 film)) - (Poseidon)
© thevoid99 2016
Based on Arthur Schnitzler’s novella Dream Story, Eyes Wide Shut is the story of a doctor who learned about his wife’s desire to stray from their marriage as he goes into a night-long adventure where he encounters all sorts of things including a secretive ceremony that nearly gets him into big trouble. Directed by Stanley Kubrick and screenplay by Kubrick and Frederic Raphael, the film is an exploration into the world of marriage and sex as a couple face their devotion when one reveals the desire to be with someone else. Starring Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Todd Field, Marie Richardson, Vinessa Shaw, Leelee Sobieski, Rade Serbedzija, Alan Cumming, Thomas Gibson, Julienne Davis, Sky du Mont, and Sydney Pollack. Eyes Wide Shut is an evocative yet hypnotic drama from Stanley Kubrick.
Dr. Bill and Alice Halford (Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman) attend the party of their friend Victor Ziegler (Sydney Pollack) where Alice flirts with a Hungarian (Sky du Mont) while Bill chats with his old friend Nick Nightingale (Todd Field) while he is being hit on by two models. Later that night, Bill is called by Victor to deal with the overdose of a young woman (Julienne Davis) he was having sex with as Bill took care of things. The next night while smoking pot in their bedroom, Bill and Alice have a heated discussion about infidelity where Alice if Bill would’ve slept with those women as he says no. Alice then reveals about a fantasy she had about a naval officer she encountered last summer that disturbs Bill who then leaves after getting a call about a death of one of his friends. Bill goes to the home where he meets the man’s daughter Marion (Marie Richardson) who professes her love to Bill as she tries to kiss until her fiancee Carl (Thomas Gibson) arrives.
Still uneasy about Alice’s confession, Bill goes on a walk around Greenwich Village in New York City where he encounters a young hooker named Domino (Vinessa Shaw) and later goes to a jazz club where Nick was playing. Bill and Nick chat where Nick reveals about a secret gig that he has to play blindfold as he wrote “Fidelio” as the password and reluctantly revealed to Bill about the location. Bill then goes to a closed costume shop now run by a new owner named Milich (Rade Serbedzija) who gives him the costume while dealing with a couple of Japanese men who were with his teenage daughter (Leelee Sobieski). After traveling away from New York City to a reclusive estate, a masked Bill finds himself in a strange underworld full of orgies and other quasi-religious rituals as a woman tries to warn him to leave. Instead, the woman offers to sacrifice herself to spare Bill from further trouble as he returns home where Alice had woken up from a nightmare that disturbed her.
Bill goes to Nick’s hotel to ask him what happened only for a hotel clerk (Alan Cumming) to reveal that Nick was taken away with a bruise in his face. Things get stranger when Bill returns his costume to Milich without the mask that he lost where things get weirder as Bill notices he’s being followed. Later that night while working, Bill goes to Domino’s apartment where he meets her roommate (Fay Masterson) who reveals some startling news about her. Things get darker when Bill learns about a model dead from an overdose as he goes to the morgue where he learns who she is. After getting a call from Victor, Bill gets some startling news about the events that he had went through in the past few days as he begins to ponder the strange adventure he had just been through.
The film is essentially an exploration into the dangers of marriage and the idea of how jealousy can drive someone to do something in the heat of passion. In this film, it is about a man who goes into a journey one night around New York City after being disturbed by his wife’s confession about thinking from straying from their marriage. After some strange encounters with various individuals, he goes into a secret ceremony that is held by secretive people only to realize he’s stepped into somewhere he shouldn’t have gone into as it forces him to reflect on his own feelings of marriage as well as the fact that he might not have been honest to his wife after all. It’s a film that contains a lot of ambiguities and complications about marriage and infidelity as well as jealousy driven by this couple who do love each other but are compelled to ask big questions by their faithfulness.
The screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Frederic Raphael is quite conventional in terms of a traditional narrative structure but it is filled with a lot of ambiguities and themes about marriage. The first act is about Ziegler’s party where both Bill and Alice encounter people who flirt with them where Alice seems to enjoy herself though Bill tries to play cool only to help deal with Ziegler. Then it is followed by a montage of their daily activities where they later smoke pot the next evening and have this discussion about marriage where Alice asked if Bill is ever jealous. Bill is being cagey about being jealous and acts very smugly about the idea of Alice not cheating on him. Instead, her revelation would send him into an emotional tailspin that leads to the film’s second act.
The second is about Bill’s odyssey into the unknown from the encounters he makes with women who tries to seduce him such as a friend’s daughter, a young hooker, and a promiscuous teenage girl while he would also meet that girl’s father, an old friend, and encounter a bunch of drunk college kids who mistake him for being gay. Then Bill’s journey goes into a dark, suspenseful turn once he enters this very exclusive underworld filled with sexual rituals, orgies, and very strange things that occur where he finds himself in great danger. He returns home only to go further into a path of the unknown in the third act as Bill wonders about the journey he had previously taken as well as the fact that it involved people he knew as it forces him to ask big questions about himself and his wife.
It’s a script that is filled with some very frank yet realistic dialogue on not just about marriage and jealousy but also the idea that one would stray from their marriage just to make the other person jealous. Yet, both Bill and Alice do take each other for granted in the fact that Bill doesn’t seem to pay enough attention to Alice and the fact that Alice doesn’t seem to appreciate Bill enough. Both characters are very flawed as they both deal with the rules of marriage and each go into their own adventures. For Alice, it’s in her dreams while Bill goes into something much darker where both of them realize what they have to do to stay together.
Kubrick’s direction definitely bears a lot of the visual trademarks and cinematic style that he’s known for. Notably the tracking dolly shots, gazing close-ups, eerie medium and wide shots, and slow zooms to help maintain the sense of drama that occurs. Yet, there’s also a lot of elements that Kubrick brings to the film that feels fresh and new for the fact that it takes place in a world where it is contemporary but also with a sense of something that feels more 19th Century due to the Venetian masks that are worn at the secret society party. One element of the film that is very unique that plays into Bill’s journey is the fact he walks around the world of New York City.
Even though it’s shot in London and some of it on a soundstage with some second unit work providing scenes actually shot in New York City along with backdrops in some scenes in the car. It’s not really the New York City that most people know but rather a surrealistic idea of New York City since Bill is in a world where he’s lost and disturbed by his wife’s revelations. The people he meets during this journey are definitely off as they don’t really play to any kind of conventions. A young hooker who lives nearby as she doesn’t exude any of the usual traits. A costume shop owner with a teenager daughter who is very promiscuous. Then things get even weirder where it’s almost as if Bill is living in a dream world that isn’t just off but also unlike any kind of reality that is out there.
He goes inside this very exclusive place where it’s later revealed to be a place that only the elite can be part of. It’s a world where it’s almost this very religious ritual where people are in tuxedos, wearing cloaks, covering their faces with Venetian masks, and do things as if there were no rules. There’s orgies where there’s a lot of happening though Kubrick doesn’t go too far in terms of sexual content. Still, he maintains that sense of mystery that does occur in the third act as well as creating some very chilling moments in the sexual fantasy scenes involving Alice and the naval officer that plays inside Bill’s head. Things become more intense by the film’s third that includes this amazing climatic meeting between Bill and Victor where it is about what Bill encountered. Kubrick maintains the ambiguity in Victor’s exposition where he could be telling the truth from his view but is anything he saying is true?
This is then followed by more revelations as it returns to the story of Bill and Alice where it seems that both of them had just had a major wakeup call not just about themselves but their marriage. It seems like everything they had been through was just a dream as they both would have these major encounters about a life that was filled with rules and no rules. The film’s ending is really the culmination of everything Bill and Alice had gone through and them ready to take a major step into their lives. Overall, Stanley Kubrick creates a film that is very provocative but also entrancing film about the world of marriage and temptation.
Cinematographer Larry Smith does incredible work with the film‘s lush and intoxicating photography from the usage of available light to create beautiful scenes for many of the film‘s interiors at night to the more darker scenes in the streets as Smith‘s work is a major highlight of the film. Editor Nigel Galt does excellent work with the editing from the use of dissolves for the transitions as well as a few montages for Bill‘s look into Alice‘s fantasy as well as other stylish cuts to play out the mood of the film. Production designers Leslie Tomkins and Roy Walker, along with supervising art director Kevin Phipps and set decorators Lisa Leone and Terry Wells, do amazing work with the sets such as the look of the world of Greenwich Village as well as the places Bill encounters including the elusive estate that he visits.
Costume designer Marit Allen does wonderful work with the costumes from the look of the cloaks and tuxedos the characters wear to the clothes that Alice wears as well as the look of the Venetian masks. Sound editor Paul Conway does superb work with the sound from the way some of the dialogue is heard in Bill‘s head as well as the atmosphere in some of the locations including the exotic party that he attends. The film’s music consists of various classical pieces from the waltz theme by Dmitri Shotstakovich that opens the film to the more striking, suspenseful piano pieces of Gyorgy Ligeti. Original music by Jocelyn Pook is very ominous as it is played largely in the ritual scenes to maintain the eerie tone of the film. The rest of the soundtrack consists of jazz renditions of love songs along with some opera pieces and a playful rock song by Chris Isaak.
The casting by Denise Chaiman and Leon Vitali is brilliant for the ensemble that is created as it features some noteworthy small performances from Madison Eginton as Bill and Alice’s daughter Helena, Louise J. Taylor as one of the models who flirts with Bill at the party, Julienne Davis as Ziegler’s mistress Mandy, Togo Igawa and Eiji Kusuhara as the two Japanese men at the costume shop, Fay Masterson as Domino’s roommate Sally, Gary Goba as the naval officer that Alice fantasizes about, and Leon Vitali as mysterious Master of Ceremonies at the strange ritual that Bill attends. Other notable small roles includes Sky du Mont as the dashing Hungarian that Alice flirts with, Vinessa Shaw as the hooker Domino that Bill encounters, Rade Serbedzija as the costume shop owner Milich, Leelee Sobieski as Milich’s promiscuous teenage daughter, Alan Cumming as the hotel clerk, and Thomas Gibson as Marion’s fiancee Carl.
Marie Richardson is terrific as the daughter of Bill’s patient who tries to seduce Bill through her grief while Todd Field is great as Bill’s friend Nick Nightingale who unknowingly gets himself and Bill into trouble over the secret ritual party. Sydney Pollack is excellent as Bill’s friend Victor Ziegler who tries to assure Bill about everything that Bill had encountered in his journey. Finally, there’s the duo of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as both of them give incredible performances as Bill and Alice Halford. Kidman displays a lot of charisma and drama as a woman who feels like her husband doesn’t respect her enough as well as someone who feels guilty about some of her revelations. Cruise gives a chilling performance as a man who is a bit aloof about the idea of him being jealous only to embark into a dark journey that has him thinking about himself and his own flaws. Cruise and Kidman together are wonderful together in the way they interact as well as display the kind of tension in marriage as both of them give remarkable performances.
Eyes Wide Shut is an incredible yet entrancing film from Stanley Kubrick that features superb performances from Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. While it is a film that dares to ask big questions about marriage as well as infidelity and other big themes. It is a very intriguing film that explores that world as well as a film that features exotic visuals and intoxicating music that bears a lot of Kubrick’s trademarks. In the end, Eyes Wide Shut is a tremendous and grand final film from Stanley Kubrick.
Stanley Kubrick Films: Fear and Desire - Killer's Kiss - The Killing - Paths of Glory - Spartacus - Lolita - Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - 2001: A Space Odyssey - A Clockwork Orange - Barry Lyndon - The Shining - Full Metal Jacket
Related: Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures - The Auteurs #18: Stanley Kubrick
© thevoid99 2012
