Colditz - Escape to Freedom

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Movie
German title Colditz - Escape to Freedom
Original title Colditz
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English ,
German
Publishing year 2005
length 185 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Stuart Orme
script Richard Cottan ,
Peter Morgan
production Stephen Smallwood
music Richard Harvey
camera Gavin Finney
cut David Yardley
occupation

Colditz - Escape to Freedom is the title of a two-part British television film from 2005 , the plot of which is based on a true story and takes place during the Second World War .

action

In London , the young British soldier Jack Rose says goodbye to his lover Lizzie Carter, only to be transferred to the front shortly afterwards. He was taken prisoner in Germany and was initially taken to the Lindele camp in Biberach an der Riss . Here he manages to flee with some other soldiers one night. Together with his fellow officers Nicholas McGrade and Tom Willis, there is only one goal for him: the neutral and safe Switzerland .

Shortly before the border, the three are discovered by German soldiers. While McGrade manages to escape at the last second, Rose and Willis are imprisoned again. The two are brought to Colditz Castle ( Oflag IV-C ), which, as the Germans propagate, is Germany's most escape-proof prison.

Over time, soldiers from other hostile countries, including Canadians , Belgians and French , including the Canadian pilot Rhett Barker, are interned here. Together with Willis and Rose, he plans one outbreak after another. It is not just a matter of planning, there are also spectacular attempts to break out, including through the sewer system or over the outer wall. But at the last second, the men are caught by the German soldiers and each placed in solitary confinement for a month as a punishment.

In England, McGrade is used by propaganda and is celebrated as the first British soldier to escape from a German prison camp. He made a career, was promoted to lieutenant , and got a job with MI9 . He also takes on Lizzie Carters, who works for the civil air defense. He falls in love with Lizzie and initially ignores the fact that she is in love with Jack. But when she rejects every expression of love, McGrade makes a momentous decision, forges a document and thus fakes Jack's death. At first everything goes well until more and more soldiers manage to flee Colditz, who do not know about Jack's death. McGrade, who is literally walking over dead bodies, then kills one of them, Captain Sawyer.

The situation in Colditz comes to a head. Jack, who learns through a letter from Captain Sawyer what McGrade is staging in London, dares one last attempt at escape, which surprisingly succeeds. He arrives in Warsaw via escape helpers and finds accommodation there with a Polish family who work with the British. McGrade, who learns about this, dares one last attempt to ignore his rival and denounces the family to the Nazis. Jack can escape at the last moment. Back in England, the two men confront. The MI9, which was able to determine the killer Captain Sawyers, finds McGrade, who is then shot. Jack and Lizzie are only slowly getting closer to each other.

Background information

The film, which was shot on locations in Kutná Hora ( Czech Republic ) and London, tells of both attempted and successful outbreaks that occurred repeatedly in Colditz during the war. Six British soldiers escaped on November 7, 1940 alone. The most famous refugee, Airey Neave , later became an adjutant in the Nuremberg trials .

Nevertheless, fictional characters and an equally fictitious love story were created for the film. The names of the German soldiers seen in the film are just as fictional. That was the name of Colditz's commander Max Schmidt, and not Fritz Werner. There were also three successive commanders, and not just one. Some historical mistakes in the film cannot be ruled out.

The two main actors Damian Lewis and Tom Hardy were already in Band of Brothers - we were like brothers together in front of the camera. James Fox and Laurence Fox are father and son in real life.

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