Adumbration

I've never before seen a three+ hour movie go by so quickly, all the more significant by the film being in German and subtitled.  Suspense, action, and drama -- a war film that looked as harrowing and awful as I can imagine submarine operations in the Atlantic to have been.  Great sound and picture quality;  the thundering crashes and rumbles as depth charges threaten to collapse the boat, the image of the captain so clear I could see the pores in the skin on his face.

Interesting that the suspense of simply waiting for the destroyers to find you could be shown on film and not bog down the flow of things.  Easy to see how some of the crew could nearly crack under such strain:  the engineer, the lieutenant sent from Berlin to document the crew for propaganda, probably everyone.

And the tight quarters;  "permission to pass" always requested as the crew went from one end of the boat to the other, having to interrupt the officers at meals.  The breads hanging in nets everywhere as they embark; the mold being cut away weeks later as they try to salvage the remains, still far from port.

Thier own disgust at the destruction they wreak, and the excitement at the prospect of that destruction.  Quite the dichotomy.

Das Boot(1981), Director's Cut; Wolfgang Petersen, Dir