Above, Jon Bon Jovi (left), Matthew McConaughey (centre) and Bill Paxton (right) are the officers in command of US Submarine 571, whose task is to steal a top-secret code from a stranded Nazi U-boat during World War II.
“I see U-571 as being a seat-edge suspense movie first; a submarine movie second; and a World War II movie third,” Mostow insists. “It’s very much in the tradition of those classic sub pictures like Run Silent, Run Deep and The Enemy Below, yet it also echoes the conventions of sea-faring stories going back thousands of years to Homer’s Odyssey.
“My goal is to give the audience a taste of what World War II submarining was like as well as an appreciation of the strategic issues that dominated the Battle of the Atlantic - all within the context of a realistic and entertaining Hollywood yarn. The texture of the movie is completely authentic, and all the technical aspects - the commands issued and the details - are the way it was. The guys who were on the submarine were young, usually between 17 and 30 years old, just like most of our cast.”
Starring in the all-male U-571 cast are Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Jon Bon Jovi, Jake Weber, David Keith and the cream of up-and-coming Hollywood talent, including Jack Noseworthy, Matthew Settle, TC Carson, Thomas Kretschman, Thomas Guiry, Erik Palladino, David James Power, Derek Cheetwood and Will Estes.
“It’s 14 other guys and me, Lieutenant Andrew Tyler,” laughs McConaughey. And that, says the Texas-born star, pretty much went for the on-set situation, too. “That’s a lot of testosterone. But, you know, there hasn’t been one out-of-control ego. Everyone came in knowing their character and how they served the twisting story.
“A submarine unit cannot function unless each man does his specific job the best way he can,” adds the actor, “and the movie reflects that. Before shooting started, we all attended Sub School set up by a retired Admiral. He taught us what our individual tasks were, the right way of marching and saluting, and all the technical dynamics about how a submarine works. We also watched newsreels and learned everything about the Enigma encryption device. Going through those manoeuvres was invaluable for the verisimilitude of the film.”
Rock legend Jon Bon Jovi plays Lieutenant Pete Emmett, McConaughey’s best friend on U-571. “Matthew is the wild one, the great leader of men, and I’m the stoic administrator,” jokes the musician, who decided to start acting after composing the Young Guns soundtrack. “I clean up the mess when he gets into trouble.
“I’ve veered away from action movies until now,” he adds, “because I’ve never found them satisfying as all-round entertainment. But this was a genuine character piece based on fact and something I could really get my teeth into. Plus Jonathan Mostow impressed me with his kindness and work attitude when I did my screen test. I wanted to play another role, but he promised me he’d beef up my part and make it something I’d really want to do. And he was true to his word. I couldn’t turn down the opportunity of working for someone that honourable in a movie I know is going to equal the quality of Das Boot.”
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