Das Boot

*i asked for it. ‘to be heading into the inexorable... where no mother will care for us... no woman crosses our path... where only reality reigns... with cruelty and grandeur.' i was drunk with those words. well, this is * a bleak, brutal, devastating film. it’s utterly incredible. a film that really emphasises first and foremost that not all german soldiers were evil, not all believed in or aligned themselves with nazism, and not all wanted to fight. we see the crew of the boat, their awful living quarters, the boredom that ensues their many days waiting, passively. we see the combat they undertake, the damage they endure, the mental toll it has on them. claustrophobia, anxiety, loneliness - everyone is a victim to these. there were three scenes i found awfully effective. the first is when johann has essentially a panic attack during warfare, and cannot speak nor obey orders and instead mumbles and screams and bangs incessantly on the ladders. he is overridden by fear. it’s truly saddening to watch and to see just how traumatic the war was for those who fought in it, and how they were expected to maintain composure no matter what. the second is when they shoot at the burning british boat to ensure it drowns, thinking all the crew are dead, only to have to watch the remaining survivors jump off, swim towards them whilst screaming for help. unable to help, and unwilling, the boat has to back away, but it is clear that they did not want the soldiers to reach that fate, enemy or not. the third, most obviously and most significantly, is that ending. words cannot even describe how soul-crushing it is. their brief glimpse of hope shot down in a singe second. death is everywhere in war; it is so eminent, even a victory for one side means defeat for another, and a defeat means that there is violence, death, loss and grief existing all around. i think bleak is the best way to describe it