DAS BOOT (1981) (****)
Sometimes just watching people do their jobs is fascinating. That’s what makes this film so great. The job this film watches is a grueling and life-threatening one.
The film follows a German U-boat mission from start to finish. That’s pretty much it. They experience depth charges, enemy fire and sinking to the bottom of the Straight of Gibraltar. The crew is led by Capt.-Lt. Henrich Lehmann-Willenbrock (Jürgen Prochnow, THE ENGLISH PATIENT), a career sailor who is not a Nazi and has little respect for the fools running his country. Along on the mission is photographer Lt. Werner (Herbert Grönemeyer), who serves as the viewer’s eyes and ears into the world of operating a submarine. The Captain’s right hand man is Chief Engineer Fritz Grade (Klaus Wennemann), a man with sad eyes, but an optimistic heart.