The scenario:
The enemy in my boat: The young "Kaleu" Hoffmann (Rick Okon) sets sail from the French La Rochelle with the U-612 to the Atlantic War, but the opponents are not only in the British ships - but also on board. The ambitious lieutenant (August Wittgenstein) works against the commander, the radio mate (Leonard Scheicher) is linked to the French resistance on land. In this confusing situation, the submarine also receives a special order.
The picture:
Pumping machines, booming orders, exploding water bombs, vibrating steel walls, a soldier jumping out of the on-board toilet with his pants down and his bare bottom: In the first five minutes the audience can see a submarine drowning with a man and a mouse. The intro is both homage and song on U-96, the original "boat" by Wolfgang Petersen.
The highlight:
The scenario from Petersen's template with men who are sealed off from the rest of the world in the submarine belly and drift in machine oil and body exhalations like in a uterus is expanded into a transatlantic scenario with a female perspective: In La Rochelle, the women practice resistence (including Vicky Krieps) acts of sabotage, and "Kaleu" Hoffmann has to take on board a US industrialist who apparently benefits from the war business alongside the Germans.
The critic:
The "Boot" new edition was created by the German-English team of authors in the manner of contemporary thriller series as a complex conspiracy plot. It is often not so easy to distinguish between good and evil here. But how far can you fictionally spin a historical event like the submarine war on the Atlantic? Critics complain that a US industrialist who bought Reich bonds from Hitler is driving the war of extermination at sea. American capitalists as a warmongers' association - is that still creative freedom or is it history clashing?
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Classic remake: "Homeland" with depth sounderThe costs:
The series project produced by Bavaria Fiction and Sky, which has now been sold to ZDF for free TV evaluation, is said to have devoured 26.5 million euros, according to Bavaria. In terms of cost per minute of broadcasting, "Das Boot" is therefore more expensive than the mammoth production "Babylon Berlin" (season 3 from January 24th at Sky). The costs should have paid for themselves in the meantime, the series was sold in over a hundred countries.
The future:
The second season of "Das Boot" is currently being worked on and will be aired later this year. Part of the financing is now being taken over by the newly founded, London-based company Sky Studios, which is positioning itself as a European series supplier. From here, the aim is to stand up to the major US streaming providers that are preparing for the international crowding-out competition. This is how "Das Boot" becomes a weapon in the Streaming Wars of Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Co.
The conclusion:
The Re-Boot is a daring and visually stunning eight-part that tells the war episode according to the rules of current high-end series - "Homeland" with depth sounder.
The detailed analysis:
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"Das Boot", from Friday, 8.15 p.m., ZDF