Das Boot (2018 TV series)

This article is about the 2018 TV series. For the 1985 extended cut of the 1981 film, see Das Boot (film).

Das Boot
File:Das Boot - Cast.jpg Cast
Genre	War
Created by	Johannes W. Betz Tony Saint
Based on	Das Boot and Die Festung by Lothar-Günther Buchheim
Written by	Benedikt Röskau Colin Teevan Johannes W. Betz Judith Angerbauer Laura Grace Matthias Glasner Simon Allen Tim Loane Tony Saint
Directed by	Andreas Prochaska Dennis Gansel Hans Steinbichler Matthias Glasner Rick Ostermann
Composer	Matthias Weber
Country of origin	Germany
Original languages	German English French Italian Portuguese
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	32 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Moritz Polter Oliver Vogel Jan S. Kaiser Marcus Ammon Frank Jastfelder Jenna Santoianni
Producers	Caroline Fischer Judith Niemeyer Sebastian Rybing Nick Shuttleworth
Production locations	Czech Republic Malta United Kingdom
Cinematography	Armin Franzen
Production companies	Bavaria Fiction Sky Studios Samsung, in corporation (from s. 3) Sonar Entertainment (s. 1)
Original release
Network	Sky One
Release	23 November 2018 (2018-11-23) – present (present)
Related
Das Boot

Das Boot is a German television series produced by Bavaria Fiction for Sky One and a sequel to the film of the same name, based on Lothar-Günther Buchheim's book Die Festung, the series focuses on events on land and sea in World War II.

Plot

In late 1942, a mutiny occurs on against Captain Klaus Hoffmann, while French Resistance in La Rochelle recruit German translator Simone Strasser. In 1943, Captain von Reinhartz attempts to defect to America on , while Hoffmann's loyalty to Germany is divided. The war continues to exert its forces on unexpected territories, neutral Portugal and Kiel, while Royal Navy Commander Swinburne pursues U-949 in the Atlantic. Opposition to Adolf Hitler gains strength from within the Kriegsmarine, and Hoffmann's conviction to save Germany takes in the thick of the Allied invasion of Italy.

Cast

Introduced in season 1

• August Wittgenstein as Karl Tennstedt (seasons 1–2)
• Ben Münchow as Lutz Rizenhoff (season 1)
• Clara Ponsot as Nathalie (season 1)
• Fleur Geffrier as Margot Bostal (seasons 1–2)
• Franz Dinda as and Robert Ehrenberg
• James D'Arcy as Philip Sinclair (season 1)
• Joachim Foerster as Ralf Grothe (seasons 1–2)
• Julius Feldmeier as Eugen Strelitz (seasons 1–2)
• Kevin McNally as Jack Greenwood (seasons 1–2)
• Klaus Steinbacher as Josef Wolf (season 1)
• Leon Blaschke as Thorsten Hecker (seasons 1–2)
• Leonard Kunz as Bootsmann Günther Maas (seasons 1, 4)
• Leonard Scheicher as Frank Strasser (seasons 1–2)
• Lizzy Caplan as Carla Monroe (season 1)
• Olivier Chantreau as Émile Charpentier (season 1)
• Philip Birnstiel as Benno Schiller (seasons 1–2)
• Pit Bukowski as Pips Lüders (seasons 1–2)
• Rafael Gareisen as Max von Haber (seasons 1–2)
• Rainer Bock as Heinrich Gluck
• Rick Okon as Kapitänleutnant (Kaleun) Klaus Hoffmann
• Robert Stadlober as and Hinrich Laudrup (seasons 1–2)
• Stefan Konarske as Ulrich Wrangel (seasons 1–2)
• Thierry Frémont as Pierre Duval (seasons 1–2)
• Tom Wlaschiha as Hagen Forster (seasons 1–3)
• Vicky Krieps as Marinehilferin Simone Strasser (seasons 1–2)
• Vincent Kartheiser as Samuel Greenwood (seasons 1–2)

Introduced in season 2

• Clemens Schick as Johannes von Reinhartz (season 2)
• Dimitrij Schaad as Gustav Eckermann (season 2)
• Joseph Konrad Bundschuh as Julius Fischer (season 2)
• Michael McElhatton as Deputy chief Thomas O'Leary (season 2)
• Paul Bartel as Gestapo auxiliary officer Anatole Desjesquier (season 2)
• Rochelle Neil as Cassandra Lloyd (season 2)
• Thomas Kretschmann as Friedrich Berger (season 2)
• Ulrich Matthes as Wilhelm Hoffmann (season 2)

Introduced in season 3

• Alessandro Schuster as Steuermann Pauli Müller (seasons 3–4)
• Aniol Kirberg as Funkgast Harry Weidner (season 3)
• Anna Schudt as Bettina Gruber (seasons 3–4)
• Artjom Gilz as Alois Erdmann (seasons 3–4)
• Elisa Schlott as Greta Nussmeier (season 3)
• Ernst Stötzner as Kapitän zur See a.D. Wilhelm Hoffmann (seasons 3–4)
• Florian Panzner as Albrecht Lessing (seasons 3–4)
• Franz Hartwig as and Rudi Vogts (season 3)
• Julius Nitschkoff as Obermaschinenmaat Öli Meierjohann (season 3)
• Laurids Schürmann as Matrose Willi Niedermeier (season 3)
• Fritzi Haberlandt as Ulrike Buchner (season 3)
• Jo Hartley as Daisy Swinburne (season 3)
• John Schwab as Lt Commander Tom Gardiner (season 3)
• Joana Ribeiro as Inês de Pina (season 3)
• Johann von Bülow as Gustav Gruber (seasons 3–4)
• Konstantin Gries as Franz Buchner (seasons 3–4)
• Luise Wolfram as Hannie Hoffmann Lessing (season 3)
• Pierre Kiwitt as Robert Schulz (seasons 3–4)
• Ray Stevenson as Commander Jack Swinburne (season 3)
• Samuel Valentine as Lt Commander David Mercer (season 3)
• Coalan Byrne as Lieutenant Mick Walsh (season 3)
• Simon Licht as SS-Obersturmbannführer Koch (seasons 3–4)
• Trystan Pütter as Reinhard Weiss (season 3)
• Yuri Völsch as Maschinengast Bernd Cremer (seasons 3–4)

Introduced in season 4

• Anne-Kathrin Gummrich as Mathilde Schorlau (season 4)
• Benjamin Schroeder as Oberleutnant zur See Matthias Breitner (season 4)
• Frederic Linkemann as SS-Gruppenführer Tobias Werner (season 4)
• Jakub Horak as Obersteuermann Bischof (season 4)
• Joshua Collins as Private First Class Clifford P. MacKenzie (season 4)
• Kai Maertens as Konteradmiral Kreutzer (season 4)
• Lara Mandoki as Dagmar DeWitt (season 4)
• Marco Leonardi as Sal "Toto" Giuliano (season 4)
• Roberto Thoenelt as SS-Oberscharführer Jäger (season 4)
• Rosalie Thomass as Hannie Hoffmann Lessing (season 4)
• Sascha Alexander Geršak as Oberbootsmannmaat Otto Rahn (season 4)
• Simon Rußig as Matrose Carsten (season 4)
• Stefan Murr as Konteradmiral Lothar (season 4)
• Steffan Rhodri as Admiral George Kenton (season 4)
• Sven Daniel Bühler as Mechanikermaat Röhrle (season 4)
• Waldemar Kobus as Vizeadmiral Knappertsbusch (season 4)
• Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht as Funkgast Nudel (season 4)

Episodes

Production

Conception and development

In June 2015, it was announced that a television series adaptation of the 1981 film, Das Boot, would be made. In July 2016, it was further announced that the series would be in eight parts, to be directed by Andreas Prochaska and produced by Bavaria Fiction, Sky Deutschland and Sonar Entertainment. The series was based on Lothar-Günther Buchheim's book Das Boot (1973) with additions from Die Festung (1995).

The director of season one, Andreas Prochaska, explained that it was important for the series to maintain the anti-war stance and "explore the perennial theme of what war does to people", but it would not be possible to sustain "the original film's relentless focus on a submarine crew ... over an eight-part TV series". Therefore, the decision by the creators and co-writers, Tony Saint and Johannes W. Betz, to set the series in late 1942, "after the Allies have cracked the German military's Enigma code and can track the movement of their submarine fleets", enabled a foretelling of the impacts of these events, not only upon the U-boat crews but also their loved ones and others connected to them. Prochaska discussed the series as "[going] a step further than the film did" by adding the Resistance storyline, stating, "[it] gives a chance to bring in strong female characters".

Casting

The cast for season one, announced in September 2017, included Vicky Krieps, Tom Wlaschiha, Vincent Kartheiser, James D'Arcy and Thierry Frémont, Lizzy Caplan, Rick Okon, August Wittgenstein, Rainer Bock, Leonard Scheicher, Robert Stadlober, Franz Dinda, and Stefan Konarske.

In season two, Clemens Schick, Thomas Kretschmann, Michael McElhatton, Ulrich Matthes and Rochelle Neil joined the cast.

The new cast in season three included Ray Stevenson, Luise Wolfram], Elisa Schlott, Anna Schudt, Joana Ribeiro, Florian Panzner, Artjom Gilz, Jo Hartley, Fritzi Haberlandt, Johann von Bülow, Trystan Pütter, Franz Hartwig, and Ernst Stötzner who replaced Ulrich Matthes as Wilhelm Hoffmann. Jürgen Prochnow, who starred in the original film, was offered a role but refused.

Joining the cast season four are Sascha Geršak, Steffan Rhodri, Marco Leonardi, Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht, Lara Mandoki, Stefan Murr, Benjamin Dilloway, Joshua Collins, and Rosalie Thomass, who replaces Luise Wolfram as Hannie Hoffmann Lessing.

Cinematography

From 2020, the series is filmed in 8K resolution. Cinematographer Armin Franzen explains that an advantage of the larger 8K format is not having to use wide camera lenses such as the 21mm when shooting inside the small enclosed interiors of the submarine sets. By using longer focal lengths, such as the 29mm, 35mm and 50mm, the subjects are brought closer to the camera, thus allowing the audience to "be closer to the characters' emotions" as the tragedies of war mount.

Filming and locations

Filming for season one started on 31 August 2017 and finished on 20 February 2018. The budget was 33 million euro (USD 39 million). In December 2018, plans for a second season were announced. Malta, Germany (Munich), France (La Rochelle) and Czech Republic (Prague) were chosen for the location shooting.

Filming for season two began in April and completed in July 2019, taking place again in Malta, Prague and La Rochelle, and a new location, England. In England, specifically, Liverpool and Manchester were used for the scenes set in New York. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020 and it was no longer possible for the production team to travel to the Prague studios, some of the post-production work, such as visual effects and sound mixing, were completed by the remote work arrangement.

In season three, Prague was the location for the exterior scenes set in Kiel and Liverpool, while Malta was used for the interiors of Lisbon and Liverpool.

For the fourth season, filming of the six episodes began in June 2022 and wrapped in September 2022. The locations for season four included Kalkara, Marsa and Kordin in Malta.

Languages

With dialogue in German, French, English, Portuguese and Italian, the series features characters (e.g., Simone and Frank Strasser) who not only speak in multiple languages but also embody different language identities. German and British writers, Johannes W. Betz, Tony Saint, Colin Teevan and Judith Angerbauer, among others, collaborate to ensure that the nuances of the languages are appropriately translated and deployed.

Music

For the opening theme, composer Matthias Weber added to composer Klaus Doldinger's anthem for the 1981 film "a simple piano" melody and "an underlying bass pulse". Working with director Andreas Prochaska in season one, their goal was to find a balance between the emotional and the abstract in order to express "a sense of loneliness" as well as "vast space". For the remainder of the score, Weber also wanted to achieve a contemporary feel in a similar way to Doldinger by employing only the sounds of the Haken Continuum without accompaniment and adding drone-like rhythms. After previewing the first episode of the series in 2018, Doldinger commented: "it was fascinating to see how the world of Das Boot is brought to life together with the play of images and Matthias Weber's interpretation of the main motif. I'm happy to be back on board Das Boot and compliments to Matthias Weber". The score for season one was nominated for the 2019 German Television Award for Best Music, and the score for season three won the 2022 Hollywood Music in Media Awards for Score - TV Show/Limited Series (Foreign Language).

Picture format and sound

Das Boot is produced in 8K resolution and Dolby Atmos three-dimensional audio technology.

Submarines, replicas and emblems

Like U-96, the featured submarine of the 1981 film, the U-boats in the series are also of the Type VIIC. The submarine used in filming the series was the non-diving replica built in Malta as the 'modified' S-33 for the film U-571, also shot in Malta. Footage, sets and models from that movie have been reused for other productions, including Submerged, depicting the loss of , and the fictional HMS Scorpion in Ghostboat. The replica is still afloat, moored at Cassar ship repair yard, Marsa, in the inner part of the Grand Harbour. A special rig was built for the production by a Maltese armoury team, that allowed the submarine's anti-aircraft gun to both fire and recoil, which had not been done before with a blank-firing gun.

The submarine set is designed by production designer Nick Palmer and is constructed in Barrandov Studios in Prague, Czech Republic. It is 45 metres long, 5 metres wide, filling up an area of 235 square metres, and able to simulate the motion of a submarine in water.

Like the iconic laughing swordfish (Der lachende Schwertfisch) emblem that adorned U-96 in the film, each featured U-boat in the series also bears an emblem on either side of the conning tower which represents, at times incongruously, the characters of the boat's captain and its crew. The emblem for Wrangel's U-113 is a skeleton; Hoffmann's first U-boat, U-612, a scorpion; Reinhartz's U-822, a falcon; Buchner's U-949, a sewer rat; the boat scuttled by Swinburne, a fox; and Hoffman's last U-boat, U-330, a cockroach.

Tropes

The trope of the hunter becomes the hunted, a plot device that was used in the film, continues to be developed in the series. Other nautical fiction and non-fiction tropes include: mutiny, sailors' superstitions, Ahab-like obsessions, and the cliches of the submarine screen genre, namely "claustrophobia, fire and flood, creaking hulls, dwindling oxygen, an unstable crew member, ... periscope POV, playing possum, depth charges, silent running", and frantic calls of "Alarm!".

Release

Broadcast

The series premiered on 23 November 2018 on Sky One in Germany. The broadcast rights were sold to more than 100 countries before the series premiered. It was broadcast on Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom in February 2019, Hulu in the United States in June 2019, SBS in Australia, and TVNZ in New Zealand. Season three was originally scheduled to screen in Europe on 9 April 2022 but was deferred until 14 May 2022 out of consideration for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Marketing

According to Samsung, in 2020, "the series was the first native 8K produced TV series ... [to be] launched exclusively in 8K on Samsung TV Plus in Germany". In 2022, streaming for season three was available on Samsung QLED 8K SmartTVs via Sky Q in Germany.

Reception

Viewership

For season one, it was reported in Europe that there were 1.44 million viewers on Sky Deutschland during the first month of screening, between 23 November to 16 December 2018, and an additional 2.8 million viewers on non-linear distribution platforms. Outside Europe, one source in the United States reported 1.13 million linear viewers and 1.89 million on-demand viewers.

Critical response

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 85% based on 34 reviews. The critics' consensus reads: "Das Boot possesses the atmospheric pressure of its cinematic forebear while adding new depth to its compelling ensemble, making for a riveting international production".

The reviews for season one from Germany were mixed. German historian, Sven Felix Kellerhoff, criticised the plot around the industrial family Greenwood and their financial ties with Nazi Germany as potentially relativising German guilt. Kathleen Hildebrandt from Süddeutsche Zeitung found the portrayal of the women to be rather clichéd, and the series could have been more relevant if it had not cared so much about getting good audience numbers. Thomas Klein from Berliner Zeitung noted that there were "no Nazis in Das Boot, no 'Heil Hitler', no staunch party members", and the series was more about the commercialisation of a famous brand.

Irish writer Colin Teevan, who became the lead writer of season two, found that "critics everywhere love the show, except in Germany" because, in Germany, the critics considered to be unacceptable the perspective that "Germany is not totally and wholly responsible, wrong and guilty".

Outside Germany, the reviews were favourable. Some critics found season one to be "clever and utterly thrilling", season two, innovative in taking the WWII film and television genre to "somewhere new", and season three, sensitive to the grief that was experienced on both sides of the war. According to Adam Sweeting of i [newspaper], Das Boot stands apart from its predecessor by going beyond inducing the feeling of claustrophobia inside a submarine and offers instead a "satellite-vision scope". In season two, in particular, this perspective shows how von Reinhartz, Simone, Frank Strasser and Margot Bostal, react to the pains of war and make compromises which they know to be "soul-destroying" in order to survive and stand up to the Nazis.

Anita Singh in The Telegraph gave it three out of five and was unimpressed by the plot. Other reviews were also mixed, comparing it negatively with the original film. Prochnow said, "it has absolutely nothing to do with [the film]. Not even with [the] book... [This is] a completely different story and shouldn't be called ["Das Boot"] in my opinion".

Awards and nominations

Award	Year	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
American Society of Cinematographers Award	2020	Episode of a Series for Non-Commercial Television	David Luther for Das Boot: Gegen die Zeit (S1, E6)	Nominated
Bavarian TV Award	2019	Special Prize of the Jury for the Outstanding Achievement in Production	Das Boot	Won
	2021	Best Actor	Rainer Bock	Won
C21 International Drama Award	2019	Best Non-English Language Drama Series	Das Boot	Nominated
German Academy for Television (DAfF)	2022	Best Director	Hans Steinbichler and Dennis Gansel	Nominated
	2019	Best Music	Matthias Weber	Nominated
	2019	Best Production Design	Nick Palmer	Nominated
	2019	Best VFX/Animation	Viktor Muller and Vít Komrzý	Won
	2020	Best Sound Design	Ed Cantú, Peter Hilcansky, Dominik Leube, Kath Pollard, Pavel Rejholec, David Titera, Manuel Vogt	Won
German Camera Award	2019	Cinematographer	David Luther for Das Boot (S1, E6)	Won
German TV Award	2019	Best Actress	Vicky Krieps	Won
	2019	Best Cinematography	David Luther	Won
	2019	Best Actor	Tom Wlaschiha	Nominated
	2019	Best Directing for a Movie Made for Television or Miniseries	Andreas Prochaska	Nominated
	2019	Best Drama Series	Das Boot	Nominated
	2019	Best Editing	Ueli Christen, Karin Hartusch	Nominated
	2019	Best Music	Matthias Weber	Nominated
	2019	Best Writing	Tony Saint and Johannes W. Betz	Nominated
	2019	Best Production and/or Costume Design	Nick Palmer (production designer) / Chattoune (costume designer)	Nominated
Golden Nymph Award	2019	Outstanding Actress	Vicky Krieps	Won
	2019	Best Actor	Tom Wlaschiha	Nominated
	2019	Best TV Drama Series	Das Boot	Nominated
GQ Men of the Year Award	2018	TV National	Das Boot	Won
	2021	Best Actor National	Tom Wlaschiha	Won
Grimme Award	2019	Fiction	Das Boot	Nominated
Hollywood Music in Media Awards	2022	Score - TV Show/Limited Series (Foreign Language)	Matthias Weber	Won
Jupiter Award	2021	Best TV Series (National)	Das Boot	Nominated
	2022	Best Actor (National)	Tom Wlaschiha	Nominated
	2022	Best TV Series (National)	Das Boot	Nominated
New York TV & Film Award	2020	Best Camerawork	David Luther	Gold
	2020	Drama	Das Boot	Finalist
	2021	Best Costume Design	Chattoune	Gold
	2021	Best Sound Design	Pavel Rejholec	Gold
	2021	Drama	Das Boot	Silver
Operators Award Television Drama	2021	British Society of Cinematographers	Benjamin Treplin	Won
Quotenmeter TV Award	2019	Best Actress	Vicky Krieps	Nominated
Rockie Awards	2021	Drama Series: Non-English Language	Das Boot	Nominated
ROMY Award	2019	Prize of the Jury	Das Boot	Won
Rose d'Or Award	2020	Drama	Das Boot	Nominated
Seoul International Drama Awards	2021	Best Mini-Series	Das Boot	Nominated
Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Award	2019	Best Foreign Film/Miniseries	Das Boot	Won
	2021	Best Foreign TV Series	Das Boot	Nominated
TBI Innovation Award	2019	Best Debut Drama Series	Das Boot	Nominated
TV Choice Award	2021	Best Drama Series	Das Boot	Nominated

External links

• Official website
• at IMDb