THE GENESIS OF U-571

Writer/Director Jonathan Mostow always believed a WWII submarine story lent itself exceptionally well to the medium of film, for it presented a truly visceral type of experience. It was on a trip to San Francisco in 1992 that he came across a WWII submarine open to the general public for tours, which inspired him to begin drafting the script for what would become U-571.

"The real-life first-person accounts of submarine warfare written by sailors and officers are fascinating, but standing inside a real sub brought it closer to reality for me," Mostow says. "I am amazed by the amount of courage needed by these young sailors who went to war in these tin sardine cans with half-inch thick steel pressure hulls that creaked and groaned, and if you went too deep, would crush like egg shells."

"Although my primary goal in making U-571 is to recreate the experience of life aboard a WWII submarine during war, I also wanted to show audiences how young men in this environment rose above their fears to accomplish incredible feats of heroism," Mostow says.

For Mostow, one of the joys of U-571 was that it gave him an excuse to spend so much time researching the subject matter. Over a period of three years, Mostow traveled the world, visiting moth-balled World War II battleships and submarines, touring war museums, talking to veterans, and getting his hands on as many books, ship diaries and personal accounts of submarine warfare as possible.

U-571 is set during 1942, when advances in the Enigma system made the German codes unbreakable for a period of nine months. Also during this time, Hitler launched Operation Drumbeat, a devastating U-boat assault against the Eastern seaboard of the United States. Astonishingly enough, one-quarter of all the ships lost in the Battle of the Atlantic were sunk right off the American coast.

Mostow was particularly intrigued by the subject of the Enigma, as he thought it would make an effective mcguffin for an exciting war yarn set during the Battle of the Atlantic. He decided to construct a story inspired by several historical events, including: the capture of an Enigma machine from U-110 by the Royal British Navy in May 1941; the British seizure of a short weather Enigma cipher taken from the U-559 in October 1942; and the capture of U-505 by the U.S. Navy in June 1944. U-505 rests today in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

Mostow wanted the film to have as much realism as possible. He consulted extensively with WWII experts, including Lt. Commander David Balme, the courageous British officer who actually led the boarding party onto the U-110 in May of 1941 and captured the first Enigma machine.

"David had the incredibly scary job of going down the conning tower hatch feet first, into the bowels of the submarine," says Mostow, "not knowing if the Germans were waiting to shoot him or not."

Balme, who was decorated by King George VI with the Distinguished Service Cross, visited the set of U-571 in Malta, and viewed the completed film earlier this year.

"It was very realistic. Jonathan has done a marvelous job," states Balme. "His goal was to make a compelling film, and he succeeded."

Although Mostow was making a work of fiction, he wanted to ensure that the details of U-571 were are authentic as possible.

As a result of Mostow's exhaustive research Balme says, "I think Jonathan is now one of the world's experts on the Enigma. He has read all the books on it."

Balme also feels the British public will appreciate the film. "I think they will enjoy it, and that they will really be interested in it. It's a magnificent film."

Mostow's research also led him to contact the world's leading historian on Enigma cryptology, David Kahn.

"I reviewed the screenplay with David in tremendous detail and asked him to make sure that within the context of a fictional narrative, all the details were as authentic as possible," Mostow says.

Kahn, the author of Seizing the Enigma, was able to answer all of Mostow's questions about the technical matters dealing with codes and ciphers. He was also dazzled by what he saw on the big screen. "I was scared," says Kahn. "Some of the scenes‹especially the depth bombing charges‹were extremely exciting and frightening to me."

"One of the great joys of making movies is that it gives me an opportunity to encounter people I otherwise never would have met," says Mostow. "The fact that admirals, submarine veterans, the world's leading expert on Enigma cryptology and the war hero who actually captured the first Enigma device have seen the film and given it their blessing is very meaningful to me."