Wolfgang Petersen, ‘Air Force One,’ ‘Das Boot’ Director, Dies at 81
variety.comCarmel Dagan Staff WriterWolfgang Petersen, who rode his acclaimed German-language film “Das Boot” into a career directing Hollywood blockbusters such as “In the Line of Fire,” “Air Force One,” “The Perfect Storm” and “Troy,” has died.
He was 81.The news was confirmed by his production company.“Das Boot” (1981) was the harrowing story of life aboard a German U-boat during World War II; the genius of the film was that Petersen accomplished the unlikely feat of making audiences feel for the ordinary men serving on the submarine, who were all at least nominally in service to the Nazi cause — even the captain, played by Jurgen Prochnow, who himself parlayed the role in the film into a career as a character actor in Hollywood.
Offering suspense and tragedy, “Das Boot” was nominated for six Oscars — an enormous number for a foreign film — including two for Petersen, for director and adapted screenplay.
On the IMDb’s list of 250 top-rated films, “Das Boot” is No. 71. (A director’s cut running 293 minutes was presented as a TV miniseries in Germany in 1985 and on DVD in the U.S.
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