Years & Movies: 1981

As the best film of world cinema of 1981, according to FilmGourmand, was recognized the film of West German filmmakers "Das Boot (The Boat)". Directed by Wolfgang Petersen.

The film is based on the novel of the same name by Lothar-Günther Buchheim. In 1940, Buchheim joined the Kriegsmarine as a volunteer and served as a war correspondent with the rank of sonderführer (corresponding to the rank of lieutenant) in the newspaper Das Reich. Buchheim kept a diary while serving in the Kriegsmarine. After 25 years, he processed his diary entries, resulting in a novel published in 1973.

Initially, the producers planned to involve American director John Sturges (The Magnificent Seven, 1960) in the production of the film, but Sturges was not satisfied with the insistent recommendation of the producers to shoot the film as close as possible to the book Lothar-Günther Buchheim. Then the position of director was offered to Wolfgang Petersen.

Buchheim wanted to write the script for the film himself, but Petersen refused him and wrote the script himself. Buchheim was extremely offended by this and subsequently condemned the film and accused him of distorting reality. Most of all, he was outraged by the opening scene in the brothel. According to Buchheim, the Kriegsmarine sailors never had the behavior shown in Petersen's film. We do not know which of them is right, and we are not going to take one side or the other. But the subsequent work of this director showed that he always strived "to be holier than the Pope." That is, to be more American than the Americans themselves. And that's why, when the film (its TV version) was shown at the Los Angeles Film Festival, it was greeted with a long standing ovation. This is despite the fact that the United States was the enemy of Nazi Germany in World War II, and in Los Angeles itself there is a very high proportion of the Jewish population.

With a budget of DM 32 million, "Das Boot (The Boat)" became the most expensive film in the history of German cinema and remained so until the 2006 release of Tom Tykwer's film "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer".

The film "Das Boot (The Boat)" was released on the screens of 220 cinemas in West Germany simultaneously on September 17, 1981 and in the first 2 weeks grossed more than $ 5 million, which was a record for the German film distribution.

In early 1982, Wolfgang Petersen's "Das Boot (The Boat)" was nominated for the American Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film. But the Hollywood Foreign Press Association found the British film "Chariots of Fire" directed by Hugh Hudson more worthy of this award.

In the following year, 1983, the film "Das Boot (The Boat)" received as many as 6 Oscar nominations, of which the most significant was the nomination for Best Director. In this category, American film academics were favored by Richard Attenborough for his work on "Gandhi".

In the same 1983, the film "Das Boot (The Boat)" was nominated for two more prestigious film awards in the category Best Foreign Film: the British BAFTA Award and the Japan Film Academy Award. But again, preference was given to the competitors of Petersen's film. British film academics gave their prize to the Italian film "Cristo si è fermato a Eboli (Christ Stopped at Eboli)" by Francesco Rosi, and the Award of the Japanese Academy went to Steven Spielberg's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial".

At home, in Germany, Wolfgang Petersen's film "Das Boot (The Boat)", along with five more films, won the Award in Silver from the German Film Academy. However, if we take into account that among the six films awarded this prize, there was a very mediocre horror film "Die Nacht des Schicksals (The Night of Destiny)", then this prize can hardly be attributed to the number of serious festival successes.

The overwhelming majority of film critics have given the film "Das Boot (The Boat)" laudatory reviews. For example, Roger Ebert rated the film with a maximum of 4 stars, but, however, did not include it in his list of "Great Films". James Berardinelli also rated the film with the maximum 4 stars and noted in his review that "In addition to being a great thriller, Das Boot also makes pointed statements about human nature and war, and the visceral eloquence with which they are expressed highlights the film's power."

However, there were also negative reviews, albeit very few. So, Dave Kehr from Chicago Reader wrote: "the film has no qualities beyond its formal polish—and its careful avoidance (or rather, displacement) of the moral and political issues involved can seem too crafty, too convenient. "

The film was released in several versions: the theatrical version in 1981 (149 minutes), the miniseries in 1984 (300 minutes), the director's cut in 1997 (208 minutes), the original full version in 2004 (293 minutes). In total, all the versions released brought their creators almost $ 85 million, or almost 6 times more than was spent on the production of the film.

The success of Wolfgang Petersen's film "Das Boot (The Boat)" among viewers around the world is evidenced by the following figures: 77% of IMDB and Kinopoisk users gave the film ratings from 8 to 10, and 22% of users rated the film with the highest score - "ten". Taking into account this indicator and the above, the rating of the film "Das Boot (The Boat)" according to the version of FilmGourmand was 9.066, thanks to which it took 150th Rank in the Golden Thousand.

In addition to the film "Das Boot (The Boat)" by Wolfgang Petersen, the following films were included in the "ten" best films of world cinema in 1981 according to FilmGourmand:

- Mephisto, director István Szabó, Hungary. Movie's Rating - 8,897; 190th Rank in the Golden Thousand.

- Raiders of the Lost Ark, director Steven Spielberg, USA. Movie's Rating - 8,715; 238th Rank in the Golden Thousand.

- Мужики! (Muzhiki!), director Iskra Babich, USSR. Movie's Rating - 8,189; 481st Rank in the Golden Thousand.
- Вам и не снилось… (Love and Lies (Could One Imagine?)), director Ilya Frez, USSR. Movie's Rating - 8,187; 486th Rank in the Golden Thousand.

- Znachor (The Quack), director Jerzy Hoffman, Poland. Movie's Rating - 8,152; 526th Rank in the Golden Thousand.
- Le professionnel (The Professional), director Georges Lautner, Франция. Movie's Rating - 8,068; 623rd Rank in the Golden Thousand.
- Vabank (Go for Broke), director Juliusz Machulski, Poland. Movie's Rating - 7,999; 712th Rank in the Golden Thousand.
- Родня (Family Relations (Relatives, Kinfolk)), director Nikita Mikhalkov, USSR. Movie's Rating - 7,920; 840th Rank in the Golden Thousand.
- Przypadek (Blind Chance), director Krzysztof Kieslowski, Poland. Movie's Rating - 7,824; 959th Rank in the Golden Thousand.

10 most "cinegenic"*, in our opinion, events of 1981:

- Martial law in Poland. General Wojciech Jaruzelski has been appointed Prime Minister of Poland. A sharp escalation of the political confrontation in Poland – 13 million people took part in the strike. Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law in Poland. Because of the Polish events, US President Ronald Reagan announced the introduction of sanctions against the USSR.
- An attempt on the Pope's life. Far-right militant Mehmet Ali Ağca, who was convicted in Turkey for murder and escaped from punishment to Bulgaria, while in Italy, made an attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II. Pope was shot in the stomach and in the arm, but he survived.
- The trial of Peter Sutcliffe. In the British city of Sheffield, Peter Sutcliffe, known as the "Yorkshire Ripper", was arrested. At the trial, the murders of 13 women committed by Sutcliffe over a period of 5 years were proved. Sutcliffe was sentenced to life in prison. In November 2020, he died in prison from the coronavirus.
- The hunt for presidents. In Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini dismissed Banisadr as president. Rajai, who succeeded him as president, was assassinated after less than 2 months in office, as was Prime Minister Bahonar. Along with the Iranian president, Bangladesh's President Ziyaur Rahman and Egypt's President Anwar Sadat were killed.
- Death of Natalie Wood. Natalie Wood died under strange and not fully clarified circumstances.
- Attempted military coup in Spain. In Spain, military supporters of the Franco regime carried out an attempt at a coup d'état. The refusal of King Juan Carlos to support the plot thwarted the plans of the putschists.
- Irish hunger strike. Irish nationalists, led by British MP Bobby Sands, imprisoned at Maze Prison near Belfast, went on an indefinite hunger strike. 10 hunger strikers died of starvation, but Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister, did not make concessions to the Irish Republicans.
- Assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan. Obsessed with the actress Jodie Foster, John Hinckley, the son of the owner of an oil company, attempted the assassination of Ronald Reagan, who had assumed office two months earlier. Reagan and three of his entourage were seriously injured. Before the assassination attempt, Hinckley watched Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" 15 times.
- Train crash in Bihar state. India has the largest train disaster. More than 800 people died. Among the versions of the reason for the overturning of the train is an attempt by the driver to avoid a collision with a cow, a sacred animal in India.
- The beginning of the AIDS epidemic. The first 5 cases of AIDS have been reported in the United States.

Also, Natalie Portman was born. William Wyler died.

* -With "cinematic" in the present context, we mean events that either have already found their reflection in world cinema, or deserve to become the basis of the plot of a future film.