U 47 - Lieutenant Prien
U 47 - Kapitänleutnant Prien is a German anti-war film from 1958. The black and white film directed by Harald Reinl depicts the horrors of the submarine largely fictitiously, but against the background of the historical events surrounding the submarine U 47 and its commander Günther Prien - Atlantic Warfare during World War II . The world premiere took place on September 25, 1958 in the Stuttgart film theater Universum.
action
At the beginning of the war, Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien was considered one of the most capable German submarine commanders. He is therefore selected by the commander of the submarines, Karl Dönitz , for a special mission: He is to penetrate the heavily guarded British naval base Scapa Flow and cause the greatest possible damage there. Prien copes with this task and is hailed as a hero by German propaganda.
At the same time, pastor Kille, who offers shelter to those persecuted by the Nazi regime , remembers his school days with Prien. Hoping that with Prien he could win a war hero as a prominent supporter, he asked him about his request and asked for help. However, Prien categorically rejects the request on the grounds that he is a soldier and has to stay out of politics. The attempt by Killes sister Alwine to achieve something through her fiancé Birkeneck, who is the first officer at Prien, also fails.
However, as the war lasted and intensified, Prien began to doubt whether his attitude was the right one. The crew of U 47 had a particularly drastic experience when two castaways of a sunken freighter, rescued from the Atlantic, turned out to be German refugees and preferred death in the water to the prospect of having to return to Germany.
Finally, Prien realizes - even after speaking to Birkeneck - that he can make a difference in his prominent position and visits Pastor Kille, who has meanwhile been imprisoned, in his cell. He promises him his help, not realizing that the conversation between the two of them will be overheard. Prien is also targeted by the Gestapo .
But this visit to Kille had no consequences for Prien: U 47 was sunk on the ensuing patrol. He and the Smut are rescued by a British freighter, which in turn is torpedoed by a German submarine. Its commander is Birkeneck, who completed his first patrol as a captain. When Prien's hat is fished out of the water, he realizes what has happened and, in shock, delays the timely order to dive: Birkeneck's boat is bombed and sunk by attacking aircraft.
background
The film is based on the true story of the U 47 submarine, which penetrated the British base Scapa Flow in October 1939 under the command of Günther Priens and sank the battleship HMS Royal Oak there . Until his death in March 1941, Prien was considered one of the most capable German submarine commanders of World War II.
Except for Prien and the unnamed Admiral Dönitz (commander of the submarines), all the characters in the film are probably fictitious, and the portrayal of Prien as an avowed and active resister is fictional. The end of Prien in the film is also fictitious, since he has been missing with his boat in the North Atlantic since 1941.
The film was shot from June to July 1958 in the Arca film studio in Berlin-Pichelsberg and on the coast near Cartagena . The submarine shown is the Spanish boat G 7 , the former German boat U 573 , which had to call at a Spanish port in 1942 after being severely damaged and was ultimately bought by the Spanish Navy.
Reviews
“Curved biography [...]; uncritical adulation of heroes and lying anti-war morality in a technically poor naval war spectacle. "
"A fashionable, generally disingenuous mixture of German naval heroism, a stubborn resistance and a soulful anti-war allure."
Web links
- In the little harbor bar . In: Der Spiegel . No. 39 , 1958, pp. 60-62 ( online - 24 September 1958 ).
- U 47 - Lieutenant Prien in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- U 47 - Kapitänleutnant Prien at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ CineGraph - Lexicon for German-Language Films - Harald Reinl
- ↑ In the little harbor bar . In: Der Spiegel . No. 39 , 1958, pp. 60-62 ( online - 24 September 1958 ).
- ↑ https://uboat.net/boats/u573.htm
- ↑ Rating: 2 stars = average - Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz in the lexicon "Films on TV" (extended new edition). Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 844.
- ^ "Lexicon of international films": U 47 - Kapitänleutnant Prien in the Lexicon of International Films (the Catholic film critics had already assessed the film earlier with almost the same wording; cf. 6000 films. Critical notes from the cinema years 1945 to 1958. Handbook V of the Catholic film criticism, 3rd edition, Verlag Haus Altenberg, Düsseldorf 1963, p. 443).