Double English

I finally saw Das Boot. It's a great film, though not really my type of movie because I'm not interested in war movies or thrillers or plots that are overwhelming suspenseful with disturbing scenes--there's enough stress in life without the need to get lost in a movie that is relentless. It clearly shows how awful war is and how humans can suffer and inflict suffering and express degradation and debauchery in difficult situations.

I was fortunate to see the director's cut which I guess has lots more scenes in it than the original. I recommend that version, though I have nothing to compare it to, but the director said that this version allowed him to show what he wanted without the constraints of time and content that international distribution required back in the early 80's. It was a big-time hit back then, and I was actually old enough to be able to tolerate it when it came out, though I doubt I would've appreciated the subtleties and artistically presented scenes.

One cool feature of the director's cut is that you can play it in dubbed English (the original is in German, of course), and you can watch it with subtitles in French, Spanish, or English. But what's really a weird experience is watching it in dubbed English with English subtitles--they don't match up! The idioms are different and so are the phrases. So if you're really into the variations of English, you can be exposed to both at the same time.

I am looking forward to seeing the extra features: The Making of/Behind the Scenes and Director's Commentary, which I'll probably watch later this week.

What's weird is that it wasn't made in Germany, but WEST Germany, ie, when there was Free Germany and Commie Germany. Which reminds me of the awesome German movie I recently saw about East Germany.