The film is the story of a single patrol of one World War II U-boat, U-96, and its crew. It depicts both the excitement of battle and the tedium of the fruitless hunt, and shows the men serving aboard U-boats as ordinary individuals with a desire to do their best for their comrades and their country. The story is based on an amalgamation of the exploits of the real U-96, a Type VIIC-class U-boat commanded by Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, one of Germany's top U-boat "tonnage aces" during the war.
One of Petersen's goals was to guide the audience through "a journey to the edge of the mind" (the film's German tagline Eine Reise ans Ende des Verstandes), showing "what war is all about." Petersen heightened suspense by very rarely showing any external views of the submarine unless it is running on the surface and relying on sounds to convey action outside the boat, thus showing the audience only the claustrophobic interior the crew would see.
The original 1981 version cost DM 32 million to make. The director's meticulous attention to detail resulted in a historically accurate film that was a critical and financial success, grossing over $80 million ($190.2 million in 2009 prices) worldwide between its two releases in 1981 and 1997. Its high production cost ranks it among the most expensive films in the history of German cinema. It was the second most expensive up until that time, after Metropolis.
The story is told from the viewpoint of Lt. Werner (Herbert Grönemeyer), who has been assigned as a war correspondent on the German Submarine U-96 in October 1941. In the opening scene he joins its Captain (Jürgen Prochnow), Chief Engineer (Klaus Wennemann), and the drunken crew in a French nightclub. Thomsen (Otto Sander), another crew's captain, gives a crude drunken speech in which he mocks Adolf Hitler in celebration of his Ritterkreuz award.
The next morning, they sail out of the harbor to cheering crowds and a playing band. Werner is given a full tour of the boat and becomes acquainted with the tight quarters and the rest of the crew. As time passes, he observes ideological differences between the fresh crew members and the hardened veterans, particularly the Captain, who is embittered and cynical about the war. The new members, including Werner, are often mocked by the rest of the crew, who share a tight bond. After days of boredom, the crew is excited by another U-boat's spotting of a near-by enemy convoy. They soon locate a British destroyer but are bombarded with depth charges while preparing to attack. The explosions are deafening but the boat narrowly escapes with only light damage and they resurface safely a few hours later.
The next three weeks are spent enduring a relentless storm. Morale drops after what seems like an endless series of misfortunes, but the crew is cheered temporarily when it has a chance encounter with Thomsen's boat. Shortly after the storm ends, the boat encounters a British convoy and quickly launches four torpedoes, successfully sinking two ships. However, they are spotted by a destroyer and must dive below the submarine's rated limits to escape. The entire crew falls silent to minimize noise and avoid detection, and are repeatedly depth-charged. The Chief Mechanic, Johann, has a massive panic attack and has to be restrained. The boat sustains heavy damage but is eventually able to safely resurface in darkness. An enemy tanker remains afloat and on fire, so they torpedo the ship only to realize that there are still surviving British sailors aboard it; they watch in horror as the sailors, some on fire, desperately leap overboard and swim towards them. Following orders not to take prisoners, the Captain gives the command to back the ship away. They start heading back towards La Rochelle with a nearly exhausted fuel supply.
U-boat bunker at the harbor of La Rochelle (2007)
46°9′32″N 1°12′33″W / 46.15889°N 1.20917°W / 46.15889; -1.20917The worn-out U-boat crew looks forward to returning home to La Rochelle in time for Christmas, but the ship is ordered to La Spezia, Italy, which means passing through the Strait of Gibraltar — an area firmly controlled by the Royal Navy. Fearing for their safety, the Captain orders Werner and the Chief Engineer ashore, under the pretence that the Chief's wife is seriously ill. The U-boat makes a secret night rendezvous at the harbour of Vigo, in neutral Spain, with the SS Weser, an interned German merchant ship that clandestinely provides U-boats with fuel, torpedoes, and other supplies. The filthy officers seem out of place on the opulent luxury liner, but are warmly greeted by enthusiastic Nazi officers who are eager to hear their exploits. The Captain learns from an envoy of the German consulate that his request for Werner and the Chief to be sent back to Germany has been denied.
The crew finishes resupplying and departs for Italy. As they carefully approach Gibraltar, and are just about to dive, they are suddenly attacked by a British fighter plane, wounding the Navigator. The Captain orders the boat directly south towards the African coast at full speed. British ships begin closing in and she is forced to dive. When attempting to level off, the boat does not respond and continues to sink until, just before crushing, it lands on a sea shelf. The crew must now make numerous repairs before running out of oxygen. After over sixteen hours, they are able to surface by blowing out their ballast of water, and limp home under the cover of darkness to La Rochelle.
The crew is pale and weary upon returning to La Rochelle on Christmas Eve. Shortly after the wounded navigator is taken ashore to a waiting ambulance, Allied planes strafe the facilities. Werner and some others take refuge in the secure U-boat bunker, though most of the men are wounded. After the raid, Werner exits the bunker and discovers the lifeless bodies of four crew members. He then finds the Captain, with multiple bullet wounds and bleeding from the mouth, watching the U-boat sink at the dock. The Captain collapses after the boat disappears under the water, and Werner rushes to his side, only to recoil in horror upon
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