Wolfgang Petersen

Last August, German film director Wolfgang Petersen died at the age of 81. He was one of the few successful European directors who also managed to triumph in Hollywood with blockbusters such as Air Force One, The Perfect Storm and Troy. During the corona pandemic, almost the entire world (re)watched his deadly virus thriller Outbreak. In our brief tribute however, we focus on the 2 films that brought about his transition from Europe to America. The German super-production Das Boot, along with René Clément's Les Maudits perhaps the ultimate WWII submarine drama, and the German-American co-production The NeverEnding Story, one of the most iconic children’s fantasy films of the 1980s.  Films that delighted both critics and the general public.