Wolfgang Petersen: Taking Das Boot through The Perfect Storm

By Ted Elrick

(Editor's Warning: Key Plot Points are revealed in this interview.)

German filmmaker Wolfgang Petersen's film Das Boot, the harrowing tale of a U-boat captain and his crew as they try to survive World War II, brought him to the attention of Hollywood. The film earned him 1983 Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.  Since then he's directed an impressive string of films: The NeverEnding Story, Enemy Mine, Shattered, In the Line of Fire, Outbreak and Air Force One.

His latest film, The Perfect Storm, is a return to the sea and again it concerns the crew of a ship fighting to survive, only this time it's a fishing boat against the storm of the century.

More than 350 very complex visual effects shots by Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) were needed to bring realism to the full fury of the storm. The film required a shooting schedule that lasted from July 1999 through December 23, 1999, with a five-month post.

With that kind of schedule, you must be relieved that it's over?

[laughs] You have to have nerves of steel, especially for the past four weeks when we're adding in the last of the effects shots. There's no room for error now. It better be good. Fortunately, we have top professionals at ILM as our partners. It's just amazing what they do.

Many directors have talked about the difficulties of working with water. You've already done that with Das Boot. What drew you to this story?

I'm always looking for stories that have a strong basis in reality that go beyond conventional Hollywood stories. But it's not easy to find these projects. 

How did you find The Perfect Storm?

I was doing post-production on Air Force One and one of my writers gave me the book by Sebastian Junger. He said, "I just read this book. It's perfect for you. It's all about water and people on a boat. You should read it." But I didn't really have time to read it then.

A week later my partner, Gail Katz, had a conversation with Bill Gerber, who was with Warner Bros., and Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, the head of production at Warner Bros. They owned the rights to the book and they said, "Maybe Wolfgang would be interested?" I couldn't believe it. Somebody had just mentioned it to me and now they wanted me to make it as a movie, so I thought, "I'd better read this."

Before I had the time to read it, I got a call from Bill Gerber who said, "So sorry guys, but it's already in Spielberg land. Steven's got the book and we didn't know." I said, "OK, fine." Another phone call came a week later saying, "Go ahead. Steven passed." 

I started reading the book and it was just what I had been looking and hoping for, a piece of real life, a world that is unknown to us. It was the chance to make a film about the world of fishermen in Gloucester, Massachusetts. It's a small town, with people who have a hard and very dangerous life. From Junger's book I also learned that the job of the fisherman is, per capita, the most dangerous job in the United States. I was hooked right away. It was such an emotional story. They go out and face dangers for what is really a small paycheck, but that check means everything to them. They might come home with only $5,000 or $7,000. I found that totally fascinating and non-Hollywood like.

These characters are certainly everyday people.

I think what we all love about movies is the big scope, the spectacular side, the great rousing-action sequences. When you combine that with real characters and a true story, you have it all. You follow these characters on the Andrea Gail fighting this incredible storm with 100-foot waves. It was a great chance to combine these two elements of filmmaking.

I watched your DVD director's cut of Das Boot recently, and when I saw The Perfect Storm, I appreciated the similarities in how both stories are told. You open Das Boot with everybody celebrating, like The Perfect Storm, and then you have the captain who is getting frustrated because of the difficulties in sinking merchant ships and the Andrea Gail captain who is frustrated because his skill in locating the fish seems to be failing him.

I like a very straightforward and simple way of telling a story. To say, "This is what their lives are all about." To them, coming home safe is the most important thing, but they also need a paycheck. If they come home two times in a row with no paycheck, they really face the desperation of going out again, going for broke on the last trip of the season to hopefully hit it big. As an audience, we totally understand this.

The book was much more complicated in its structure and I have the greatest respect for Sebastian Junger's book, but in a movie you have to tell it differently. What we had to do, which is what he could not do because his book is like a documentary, is stay with these people on the Andrea Gail. From the moment they went to sea, we had to fictionalize some of what happened to them because nobody really knows.

How did you develop the screenplay?

[Producer] Paula Weinstein was attached to the project by Warner Bros. before I came aboard. She had already worked with a writer on a concept. There was no screenplay, just a rough concept.

I had a different idea of how to tell this story. So we decided to go to a new writer and work out a new structure. When I was interviewing writers, Bill Wittliff's agent called to tell me that Bill was very excited about this project and he would love to talk to me. I knew of him because of his credits on Lonesome Dove and The Black Stallion. He lives in Texas and he wasn't really that involved in the day-to-day Hollywood business. I talked to him on the phone and he sounded great and I said, "Bill, why don't you get on a plane and come out here and we'll talk." When he came, we discovered that he was fascinated by the same thing that fascinated me - these so-called small people, the blue-collar world. We worked for months getting the structure down. He wrote a beautiful screenplay. When he was done, I brought Bo Goldman in to do some pretty extensive work on the dialogue. The combination of Bill Wittliff's and Bo Goldman's work created a great result.

Since nobody really knows what happened to the crew, how did you create the story and still maintain the realism?

What Sebastian Junger offered in his book were possible scenarios based on his research of other boats in other storms. Most of the big dramatic scenes that we have in the movie are from his suggestions on what could have happened. For example, he said that in all likelihood, they could have lost their antennae, because it happened to a number of other boats. If a boat was caught by a wave that hit from the side, the antennae might just break; communication would be lost. Rescuers did lose communication with the Andrea Gail. So, either it had already sunk, or they still were alive trying to run away from the storm. But nobody knows for certain.

What about the scene where Murph is dragged overboard?

That did happen to Murph, but not on this trip. He was actually helicoptered off the boat to a hospital. We did a lot of research and we talked to a lot of fishermen. Our main adviser was Richard Hayworth who is one of the former skippers of the Andrea Gail and he told us a lot of stories that we used.

You cast George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg together again, and they're very good. How did you cast the townspeople and the rest of the Andrea Gail crew, many of whom provide standout performances? John C. Riley is terrific in this.

I give a lot of credit to the casting company. I work with Janet Hirshenson and Jane Jenkins. It's sort of easy to come up with the idea of the superstars to play the lead, right? But then go into the supporting parts, that's where casting really becomes an art form. There's John Hawkes, who plays Bugsy, and Rusty Schwimmer as the woman he tries to pick up in the bar. William Fichtner who plays Sully and Diane Lane, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Janet Wright playing the mother, I'm so proud of these actors. It is not your stereotypical Hollywood cast. 

Was there anything that stood out for you when you were doing research in the community? 

I'll never forget one night in Gloucester. I was in the actual bar, The Crow's Nest. I was watching and talking with these people. There was a guy dancing and he had a few too many beers. He came to me knowing that I was the filmmaker who was going to make The Perfect Storm. He said, "Make it real." That was a very touching moment for me. They were all frightened that a movie company would come into town and put a light on their lives, because nobody cared much about them before. 

Sebastian Junger did a great job in opening the door to these people's lives, but now a film company wants to do the same thing. Everybody in town was fascinated, intrigued and proud, but at the same time they're all hoping that we don't make a Hollywood movie out of it. It was wonderful to sit with these guys, talk to them and feel the responsibility that we had.

Judging by the depth of characters in Das Boot, which you also wrote, The Perfect Storm, even In the Line of Fire, I'd say you do a lot of research into the worlds of the stories you're telling.

Yes. On In the Line of Fire I especially wanted to understand the world of the Secret Service. Clint Eastwood was playing one of the Secret Service agents, so they were very open to letting me into the reality of their world. It was the same with The Perfect Storm. 

You also used a lot of townspeople for the film?

We had so many of them working as extras and advisers. During one of the final scenes, we filmed in the real church with 800 or 1,000 townspeople who were linked to the real situation nine years ago. You can imagine how emotional that was. When Mary Elizabeth stood there saying the eulogy at the end, there were no dry eyes. It was unbelievable.

We had great support in Gloucester as soon as they realized how serious we were and how much respect we paid to them and their world, their hopes, their dreams and their losses.

Because this was a special moment, how many cameras did you have?

I think we had three cameras going at the same time. I made a little speech at the beginning thanking them for coming and saying that it was really a special moment for all of us to shoot this. That we knew how difficult it is for them to go through this again. That we were there with all due respect for the pain they went through and the loss that they still feel. It was maybe the most moving day for me as a filmmaker.

You've been working with effects in films for quite some time. Das Boot, Enemy Mine, The NeverEnding Story, you've seen effects grow up over the years. Are you locked into your shots with storyboards because of the effects?

I try not to get locked into it because it's so much fun when you're shooting to come up with ideas. In the real big sequences where you have to map the shots out with storyboards and computer animatics, I would guess that I stick with 80 percent of what I planned in pre-production. But I still have 20 percent where I can improvise and do things a little differently and correct them with ILM from the way we originally planned it. But, you have to commit to quite a bit. It's a special kind of discipline that keeps costs under control. 

I know how easily costs can get out of control and letting that happen is against my nature. I consider myself a pretty organized person so I go through all the worst case scenarios and always try to have a backup plan. Then, of course, with the filmmaking tools we now have, like CGI, if you use it correctly, it limits the risk factor. 

When you have control of the budget, you are freed creatively. But if you're suddenly losing millions of dollars on the budget, where is your creative freedom? You're struggling to get the movie finished. How horrible is that? 

I've had an incredible group of talent on this picture. From the hundreds of people up at ILM, to my cinematographer John Seale, my production designer Bill Sandell, my editor Richard Francis-Bruce, and my special effects supervisor John Frazier who is a genius. There's this whole army helping to get this picture made. The right planning and investing more time in pre-production always pays off when you're shooting. With the right people and planning you'll have a wonderful experience making a film. I must admit, I've never had more creative freedom on a film before.

Really?

Yes. It's by far the most expensive film I've done yet I still I feel I have the most freedom to bring my vision onto the screen. I think the studio felt they had the right guy for this film; they watched the dailies and saw that the budget was under control so they never interfered with anything. It's like they said, "Don't even stir the pot. Let him do it."

Did you storyboard a lot of the film?

No. I only storyboard and do animatics where it's absolutely necessary for technical reasons. I'm not a big fan of storyboards.

What about rehearsals?

I've never done any rehearsals for any movies I've done. I just like the moment of getting on the stage. The actors are ready and the adrenaline's high. I work it out right there and then.

What about a read-through?

I did that once on Shattered and we didn't really need it. I know a lot of directors like that, but I don't. You're better off getting your script in good shape before you go to the actors. If there are big problems, they'll show up early on. Sometimes I'll have the writer with me on the set like I did on In the Line of Fire with Jeff Maguire and on Outbreak.

Do you talk with the actors about their characters beforehand?

Absolutely. I like to spend time with them, not only before but also during the shoot. When I've had difficulty on this film it was very often because the actors were on this boat in a huge soundstage in a water tank on a gimbal. It seemed like I was miles away from them and I had to talk to them on a walkie-talkie. Sometimes I had to get on a boat and drive all the way over and climb onto the Andrea Gail to talk to the actors. I consider myself a real actor's director. I love actors. When we don't have all this technical stuff, I stay very close to the camera and watch their magic. I think actors appreciate that. I'm not a director who is interested as much in the technical. It's what I told you earlier, I'm more interested in dramatics and the characters. That means you stay close to the actors.

You seem to have a fondness for the sea.

Oh, yes, yes. I was born in Emden, a small port in Germany on the North Sea. I grew up there and then moved over to Hamburg, a huge port in the northern part of Germany. Until my mid-20s I lived around the waterfront. The element of water, boats, fishing, I love it. 

How did you pick your AD?

I had worked with Peter Kohn on Shattered, In the Line of Fire, Outbreak and Air Force One. When it came to The Perfect Storm, Peter said to me that he had developed a script and he wanted to become a director. He said, "Would you understand if I wanted to do that?" I said, "Absolutely. Everybody, at some point, has to move on." I had never worked with anybody else like Peter in all these years. 

I was flying to Gloucester for our scout with my line producer Duncan Henderson and John Seale and I told them, "I need a first AD." They both looked at each other and said, "Alan Curtiss." I figured that if they both suggested him, we had to get him. Fortunately he was available. He was unbelievable. He's such a cool guy and never lost his temper. He is great on the set with keeping things calm and organized.

You've been in the United States since 1987. What are the differences you've noticed between making films here and making films in Germany?

It's sort of an underdeveloped industry in Germany. It's hard to find the level of professionalism that you find here in Hollywood. The best of the best, in the world of filmmaking, are here in Los Angeles. It's an incredible pleasure to work with these crews. You just don't find that standard in Germany. How could you?

There are not many films being made in Germany. Those that are, are made on a lesser scale. There is less money because German films, shot in German language, have a very limited market. So it goes full circle and you don't find the passion for film. In Europe, especially in Germany, some of the people look a little bit down on the movies. It's not the kind of passion the Americans have of having fun at the movies. This whole feeling of "What a great entertainment movies are" is very strong in the United States.

What's your favorite part of the filmmaking process?

Definitely not pre-production. That's meeting after meeting after meeting. My favorite, and also the most nerve-racking, is shooting. I like to go out on the stage and see what happens that day. My second favorite is post-production, when you have everything in the can; now you can play with what you have and put it all together. I really love when the music comes and you put that together with your picture. That's what we're doing right now, and putting in all the sound effects. The terrible part is when you watch the first assembly. It's just feels like nothing goes together. The first time you watch, you feel it doesn't have any rhythm.

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