Submarine films

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File:Bavaria Filmstudio Das Boot 4 b.jpg
The cramped, equipment-filled set of a submarine film (Das Boot, 1981)

The submarine film is a subgenre of war film in which most of the plot revolves around a submarine below the ocean's surface. Films of this subgenre typically focus on a small but determined crew of submariners battling against enemy submarines or submarine-hunter ships, or against other problems ranging from disputes amongst the crew, threats of mutiny, life-threatening mechanical breakdowns, or the daily difficulties of living on a submarine.

The genre plays on the psychological tension of the submarine's crew and their unseen enemy, signified by a soundscape that may feature explosions, the ping of sonar, the creaking of the submarine's hull under extreme pressure, the alarm ordering the submarine to dive, and the threatening sound signatures of a destroyer's propeller or of an approaching torpedo.

Some 150 films have been made in the submarine genre between 1910 and 2010, variously depicting submarines in relatively realistic stories about World War I, World War II or the Cold War, or purely fictional and fantastic scenarios.

Characteristics

Submarine films have their own particular semantics and syntax, creating a film genre concerned specifically with submarine warfare. A distinctive element in this genre is the soundtrack, which attempts to bring home the emotional and dramatic nature of conflict under the sea. For example, in the 1981 Das Boot, the sound design works together with the hours-long film format to depict lengthy pursuit with depth charges, and as the critic Linda Maria Koldau writes,<ref name=Koldau>Template:Cite journal</ref>

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Koldau identifies the basic syntactic structure of the submarine genre as "outside is bad, inside is good."<ref name=Koldau/> The unseen outside means the enemy: this may be from nature, with elements such as water pressure threatening to crush the hull, sea monsters, or underwater rocks; or human opponents. Meanwhile, the inside of the submarine represents the human warmth and trust of the crew for each other and for their captain, their lives bound together by the situation.<ref name=Koldau/> To this scenario can be added elements from within such as mutiny, fire, discord, or accidents including radiation leakage; and from outside such as water, terrorism, disease, and weapons, while the plot may feature sudden switches from being the hunter to being the hunted.<ref name=Koldau/>

The soundscape may depict the creaking of the hull under pressure: as Koldau observes, this is both realistic and metaphoric, standing in for the fear and the responsibility on the shoulders of the crew.<ref name=Koldau/> Stress may further be expressed in the acoustic signature of specifically submarine threats, such as the swelling sound of an approaching destroyer's propeller, the soft buzz of an enemy torpedo, or the submarine's own alarm ordering an immediate dive.<ref name=Koldau/>

Another element of the soundscape less often remarked upon is simply silence, which can mean both safety (nothing is happening) and unseen danger, creating tension.<ref name=Koldau/>

List of submarine movies

This is a list of movies, grouped by the era in which they were made, in which a submarine plays a significant role in the storyline.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> From 1910 to 2010, some 150 fictional films about submarines have been made.<ref name=Koldau/> Many of these are set in World War I, World War II, or the Cold War; others depict relatively "authentic" terrorist scenarios.<ref name=Koldau/>

Some movies depict historical events from actual battles or incidents, such as Above Us the Waves, a 1955 film which depicts the true story of the British Royal Navy's midget submarines attacks on the Template:Warship.<ref name=AboveUsTheWaves>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Other submarine movies develop a fictional plot created using more or less realistic details of naval warfare, such as the film U-571, which tells the story of a fictional U-boat in World War II.<ref name=U-571>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Other submarine films from the fantasy, science fiction or occasionally horror film genres depict entirely fictitious events,<ref name=Koldau/> such as the various film versions of Jules Verne's novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Set before World War I

Made before World War II

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  • Civilization (1916) – US allegorical-drama directed by Reginald Barker, Thomas H. Ince, Raymond B. West, et al. depicting pacifist German Count's construction of submarine with order to sink ocean liner Lusitania presumably also carrying enemy munitions; a.k.a. La cruz de la humanidad, a.k.a. Civilização
  • The Little American (1917) – US action-drama directed by Cecil B. DeMille and Joseph Levering, depicting ship of young Americans returning to ancestral French home torpedoed by a German U-boat and witness to German brutality while imprisoned; a.k.a. A Pequena Americana, a.k.a. La petite américaine
  • On the Jump (1918) – US comedy directed by Raoul Walsh, depicting US reporter who joins Liberty Loan campaign before he must rescue his girlfriend and stolen secret fuel formula from German agent rendezvousing with a German U-boat
  • Patriotism (1918) – US mystery-drama directed by Raymond B. West, depicting search in Scotland for German agent sending vital information to German U-boat fleet off the Scottish coast
  • Behind the Door (1919) – US action-drama directed by Irvin Willat, depicting German-American naval officer who takes revenge against the German U-boat commander who brutalized his wife after sinking his ship; a.k.a. Detrás de la puerta<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • The False Faces (1919) – US espionage-drama directed by Irvin Willat, depicting a thief who becomes a reluctant US agent and infiltrates German U-boat to deliver vital enemy information; a.k.a. The Lone Wolf
  • The Isle of Conquest (1919) – US adventure-drama directed by Irvin Willat, based on Arthur Hornblow novel, about a man and woman marooned on a deserted isle after their ship is sunk by a German U-boat<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Morgenrot (1933)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Made during World War II

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  • Submarine Alert (1943) – US thriller directed by Frank McDonald, depicting a former gangster supplying German U-boat commanders with torpedoes in South America<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Later films depicting World War II

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  • Operation Pacific (1951) – fictional USS Thunderfish<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Submarine Command (1951) – US drama directed by John Farrow, depicting a US submarine commander forced to confront the consequences of sudden high-sea submersion while the crew remain outside the submarine<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Ubåt 39 (U-Boat 39) (1952) – Swedish drama directed by Hampe Faustman, depicting the crew of Template:GS
  • Torpedo Alley (1953) – US drama directed by Lew Landers, depicting a US Navy pilot rescued at sea by submarine before applying for submarine duty; a.k.a. Down Periscope<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Korean War

Cold War

Post-Cold War

Other conflicts

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Future or fantastic past

See also

References

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