Wolfgang Peterson's celebrated film Das Boot, about members of the crew of a German U-boat during a fateful voyage towards the end of WWII, was originally released in Australia in a 2 hour 15 minute version in 1982. Now we have the "director's cut", running 70 minutes longer for a total of 3 hours and 26 minutes – and frankly the extra footage doesn't really add a great deal.
What impressed about the film before still impresses – the performances, especially Jurgen Prochnow as the Captain so disillusioned with the war and Hitler's Nazis, the extraordinary studio set of the submarine; the wonderfully fluid photography in those claustrophobic spaces and the tension as the vessel comes under attack.
The soundtrack, enhanced for this version, is a work of art all of its own. But this is one director's cut which seems a little excessive – it seems, frankly, over an hour too long.
Das Boot, or The Boat as it's being called on posters and advertising, is currently screening in Sydney and in Melbourne.
