Das Boot Author Dies…
The most vivid submarine movie I ever watched when I was a young boy was “Das Boot.” It was made into a movie by the famous director, Wolfgang Petersen with Jürgen Prochnow playing the lead role of the Captain of the boat… The following year it was also able to get nominated for an Academy Award.
Fast forward two decades later, when I saw a video of this being sold in a local video shop, my heart lept and I immediately grabbed it and rushed to the counter… afraid that somebody would snatch it up before I did…
Das Boot, which is translated to “The Boat”, is a World War II submarine story told in the eyes of a young german press officer who had to live a tour in a German U-Boat in order to write a story on the lives of its occupants. From there he experiences the thrill of the hunt, as well as the fear of the hunted. This story was told on the latter part of the war, when Germany was already experiencing a general defeat in its submarine campaign.
So it saddened me to hear that Lothar-Guenther Buchheim, the author of the novel Das Boot, passed away at 89 due to a heart attack. I always get sad when authors die, especially those with immense talent to spin good stories. An example of which was when James Clavell died, that was one damn good author…
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Tags: Das Boot, Lothar Guenther Buchheim, Wolfgang Petersen, Submarine, U-Boat