ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

What happens when you put a cast and crew of over 300 people through a movie that has cramped and claustrophobic sets, lots of water, night-time exterior shooting, manufactured saltwater rain and open seas? This was the one question that was on everyone's mind when principal photography began.

"We felt like we were spread all over the Mediterranean. We spent a little over 10 weeks shooting the interiors of both the American and German submarines in Rome and then went to Malta for all the exterior photography," explains Ms. De Laurentiis.

Mostow always insisted upon authenticity to all departments during pre-production, and the crew delivered when it came time to shoot.

He explains, "If you do things for real, it looks real and has a certain quality. It not only helps the visual quality on film, but it also helps the performances because the actors have to manufacture less in their own heads about what's going on. The more stimuli that you can give them on set, the better performances you get."

The director went so far as to have retired WWII submariners on the set during every minute of shooting to ensure the authenticity of the action.

"We put the actors through technically complex submarine instruction, the curriculum of which was designed by our technical advisor, Vice-Admiral Hannifin," says Mostow.

The actors agreed. Bill Paxton admits, "When I first saw the sets of these boats, I was amazed. They went to great expense and effort to create the details of this movie."

David Keith continues, "It's by far the best art direction I've ever seen. It was pure realism when you saw the sets both in Rome and in Malta."

Matthew McConaughey agreed, saying that the film's realism made the acting come that much easier.

"Sometimes you didn't feel like you had to act; you were really reacting to what was happening because it was all so real, from the rain and wind to the gimbal simulating the depth charges."

According to Ms. De Laurentiis, "Every day was a challenge for every department and it was demanding for Jonathan. There was a lot of homework that had to be done for what would happen tomorrow as well as the following week. Production was a handful."

Cinematographer Oliver Wood adds, "This was a very strange picture to shoot. We started off inside the submarine where the biggest lights were 150-watt tiny little peppers. Then when we were outside, we used gigantic Musco lights, lighting vast areas of ocean. We went from the smallest to the biggest, making this a movie of extremes for me."

As for shooting in the tanks in Malta, Wood had an even bigger challenge on hand. "When shooting in the tank, we can only shoot in one direction which makes it rather like shooting a stage play," he says. "The other problem is that we're on the edge of a cliff on an island that is known to be windy. Whenever the wind blows differently, everything changes. This made each night different. Even when we thought we had it figured out, we'd come in the next day and have to start all over."

Costume Designer Ferry, too, faced many challenges during filming, thanks to the needed rain sequences in the tanks.

She says, "I've never had to make as many clothes as I had to on this film because we were always in water. The challenge for me was to keep the actors as comfortable as possible in the many miserable situations."

Fortunately for the crew‹as well as the cast‹the relationships forged during the production was a welcome respite to some of the exhausting shooting locations.

"It's been a killer collaboration," McConaughey proclaims. "Everyone has been happy to work with each other. We're all here to make the best movie possible and stay true to our own characters."

This made for the ideal working environment for the actors during production. "One of the producer's job is by definition to create a space where everyone can do their best work," McConaughey continues, "And from the way I feel, I think we've done some really good work."

For Mostow, the fact that the cast and crew enjoyed the entire production was more than gratifying, given the diverse mix of ages, races and nationalities who lent their time and expertise to U-571.

"I believe what united everyone," says Mostow, "was the sense that we were paying tribute to a generation of brave men that went before us."

"The sad truth is that many young people today have no idea what occurred in World War II, much less the Battle of the Atlantic," he says. "It is my sincere hope that people will see U-571 and be motivated to study about the real-life heroes who fought to preserve world freedom."