Submersed in the deep seas by Wolfgang Petersen

Das Boot, the film that launched the international career of German director Wolfgang Petersen in 1981, will be screened this Friday at the Cinéma de la Plage. The film portrays a claustrophobic look at the experience of a German submarine crew on a mission during the Second World War.

One anecdote from the filming of Das Boot suffices to illustrate how meticulous Wolfgang Petersen was thirty years ago when he made this feature film, his third film when it was released in 1981.

The German filmmaker required his actors to avoid exposure to daylight for a whole year prior to the filming, in order to keep the sallow complexion that is typical of the crew members of a submarine fleet.

Das Boot  immerses the viewer aboard a German submarine that has set out in the heart of the Second World War. It relates the difficulties of daily life in this claustrophobic iron cage encountered by the crew, composed for the most part of young men who do not know they are on their final mission.

This feature film, a veritable saga (3h 36min), was honoured with six Oscar nominations, enabling Wolfgang Petersen to make his way toward international recognition and to launch his Hollywood career. He directed The Never Ending Story three years later (1984), and reached his apogee with A Perfect Storm (2000)and Troy (2006), presented in Cannes Out of Competition.

B.P.

The film will be screened on 13 May at 9:30 p.m., Plage Macé.