Das Shoebox

We drove up to the barrier with no I.D and no clue what we were going to say to the guard. Fortunately there was no guard. The barrier sensed the presence of our Volkswagen and raised. No questions. We'd infiltrated Bavaria Film!

Looking at the company's resumé you might wonder why on earth anyone might want to do such a thing. See film #176 on that list. Before he turned to schlock like Air Force One and Troy, Wolfgang Petersen made a superb war movie called Das Boot. (I should clarify here that it's an exercise in tension, boredom and the ultimate futility of fighting your fellow man. Very little gets blown up. For three hours. If you prefer "movies" to "films" you're really not going to like it so don't come crying to me. Likewise if you think feeling sympathy for sixteen-year-old Germans who have been sent to the bottom of the ocean in a tin can is somehow unpatriotic because they were the enemy.)

The original film set is preserved as a museum piece in the grounds of the studios. When I heard this I just had to see it. It's a replica of one whole level of a submarine with no missing "fourth wall" - so the cast had some help feeling claustrophobic and the camera crew captured every shot from inside that enclosed space, as if they were a documentary crew on a real Unterseeschiff. A guided tour arrived minutes after we left so it's a good thing my personal guide thought it was too risky to make love on one of the bunk beds (though I refuse to believe we'd be the first to try).

The model sub used in the film's pre-digital effects shots was outside in the rain, but I imagine it was quite used to getting wet.

My latent language skills got flexed a little last weekend and I'm keen to stay in practice. I'm working my way through the meagre amount of movies I own that have German dialogue and English subtitles. Das Boot arrived in the mail on Monday but I didn't watch it yet. I did, however, watch Woody Allen's Love And Death so I'm able to say that Russian Jews have horns and German Jews have stripes. Somehow I don't think that's going to be too useful in everyday conversation!