Movies and Films
This is the forum for Movie and Film discussions. Again, our topic is naval warfare in WWII for the most part.
Re: What did you dislike about DAS BOOT?
Posted by:
Ken Dunn
()
Date: January 20, 2004 09:33PM
<HTML>Hi Stefan,
My objection to the way those officers were depicted still stands as it has nothing to do with weather or not it ever really happened. There were hundreds of U-boat officers that served during the war and even if a few did do things like that (and shooting a gun in a crowded public place while in uniform is quite different from the examples you cited) it doesn’t excuse the way those scenes were shown. Had they been about specific real people and had they been true & accurate it might be different. We have to accept the way things really were warts and all. In this case however it gives the appearance that this was not unusual behavior for U-boat officers and it definitely was unusual for U-boat officers and I think that’s why it is offensive for the men that served in the U-bootwaffe.
I assume the attempt was just to show these men as human beings under great stress acting like human beings but it failed in my opinion. It wasn’t necessary to the plot either and it offended the very group of men it was meant to show support for.
Certainly these men had to let off steam however the officers typically did it in private, not in public. The German navy was a very formal service. Additionally, getting caught doing something like that in public could have substantial consequences for a U-boat officer. Any officer senior to the officers depicted that stood by and did nothing while it happened could have been in big trouble too. Even the actions of enlisted men in the U-bootwaffe could be punished quite severely if they were caught.
I think those scenes were in bad taste and should have been omitted. In the Eck case men in the water were machine-gunned but that isn’t a valid reason for the U-571 movie to include a scene like that either. It would be quite valid in a movie about the Eck case though. I find the way these officers were depicted in Das Boot to be the same kind mistake and I think many of the U-boat vets think so too. If it had been about specific real people and they had done what was depicted then I wouldn’t have any objection to those scenes and I don’t think many others would either. Like I said we have to accept whatever really happened warts and all.
I think it was Werner Henke who punched out an SS man but it certainly wouldn’t be accurate to have shown U-boat officers doing that in Das Boot (although I suspect the vets would have loved it). Just because something happens doesn’t make it right to show others doing it especially if it leaves the false impression that it was typical.
I don’t remember the details of Heydrich’s dismissal but I think some woman thought he was going to marry her and complained that she was jilted when he didn’t. The details aren’t important to this discussion though, my point was that it was a trivial private matter but it got him dismissed all the same. The German navy held its officers accountable for their public behavior – even during the war. They were a proud service.
Regards,
Ken Dunn</HTML>
My objection to the way those officers were depicted still stands as it has nothing to do with weather or not it ever really happened. There were hundreds of U-boat officers that served during the war and even if a few did do things like that (and shooting a gun in a crowded public place while in uniform is quite different from the examples you cited) it doesn’t excuse the way those scenes were shown. Had they been about specific real people and had they been true & accurate it might be different. We have to accept the way things really were warts and all. In this case however it gives the appearance that this was not unusual behavior for U-boat officers and it definitely was unusual for U-boat officers and I think that’s why it is offensive for the men that served in the U-bootwaffe.
I assume the attempt was just to show these men as human beings under great stress acting like human beings but it failed in my opinion. It wasn’t necessary to the plot either and it offended the very group of men it was meant to show support for.
Certainly these men had to let off steam however the officers typically did it in private, not in public. The German navy was a very formal service. Additionally, getting caught doing something like that in public could have substantial consequences for a U-boat officer. Any officer senior to the officers depicted that stood by and did nothing while it happened could have been in big trouble too. Even the actions of enlisted men in the U-bootwaffe could be punished quite severely if they were caught.
I think those scenes were in bad taste and should have been omitted. In the Eck case men in the water were machine-gunned but that isn’t a valid reason for the U-571 movie to include a scene like that either. It would be quite valid in a movie about the Eck case though. I find the way these officers were depicted in Das Boot to be the same kind mistake and I think many of the U-boat vets think so too. If it had been about specific real people and they had done what was depicted then I wouldn’t have any objection to those scenes and I don’t think many others would either. Like I said we have to accept whatever really happened warts and all.
I think it was Werner Henke who punched out an SS man but it certainly wouldn’t be accurate to have shown U-boat officers doing that in Das Boot (although I suspect the vets would have loved it). Just because something happens doesn’t make it right to show others doing it especially if it leaves the false impression that it was typical.
I don’t remember the details of Heydrich’s dismissal but I think some woman thought he was going to marry her and complained that she was jilted when he didn’t. The details aren’t important to this discussion though, my point was that it was a trivial private matter but it got him dismissed all the same. The German navy held its officers accountable for their public behavior – even during the war. They were a proud service.
Regards,
Ken Dunn</HTML>
