The sting of the scorpion
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The sting of the scorpion |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2004 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Stephan Wagner |
| script | Holger Karsten Schmidt |
| music | Irmin Schmidt |
| camera | Thomas Benesch |
| cut | Gunnar Wanne-Eickel |
| occupation | |
| |
The Sting of the Scorpion is a German television film from 2004. The political thriller is based on the autobiography of the escape helper Wolfgang Welsch , played by Jörg Schüttauf . At the Ministry of State Security of the GDR, Operation Skorpion was the code name for the order to murder Welsch. The film, directed by Stephan Wagner , was produced by Studio Hamburg Produktion for film and television with WDR and Arte .
content
Because of his attempted escape from the GDR , Wolfgang Stein spent years in the Bautzen prison . It is in 1971 by the West German government bought out and ends up in a detention center in Unna . There he falls in love with the nurse Anne, with whom he soon moves in, who he becomes pregnant and whom he will soon marry.
One day an old friend, Dieter Michaelis, a fellow prisoner from Bautzen, came to the rescue center and asked Stein to help his brother-in-law, who was living in the GDR, escape. The plan is simple: Stein travels to Bulgaria as a West German citizen, has the necessary travel stamp given there, which Michaelis then forges in Germany. With the help of blank passports, a West German passport can be forged for the brother-in-law. As an East German citizen, the refugee gets on a plane in Bulgaria, replaces his GDR passport with the false West German passport and, as a West German citizen, gets off the plane in Athens, from where he flies on to Frankfurt am Main.
Stein now discovers an inner obligation to help more and more GDR citizens to escape. He is supported by a mysterious man named Kruger (his code name is Bob). At some point a Stasi committee decides to liquidate Stein in order to put an end to the flight business. At this point in time, Michaelis had long since given up his activities because he was threatened by the Stasi. Volker Erler, also a freelance and good friend of Stein, has joined the company as his replacement.
When it was unavoidable at a company, Stein's wife had to travel to Bulgaria, where she was captured by Stasi people, but was released again surprisingly quickly. During her imprisonment, she was shown pictures that GDR agents took in their private lives - the family was monitored around the clock, day in and day out.
In order to get some distance from the company, Anne, Wolfgang, Volker, their daughter Natalie and Volkers make the strange but wonderful acquaintance Bianca vacation in Israel. There a poison attack is carried out on Stein, which he miraculously survives. But the family loses sight of Volker and Bianca. Stein later comes to terms with the fact that Volker is dead because he cannot be found in Argentina, where he actually wanted to travel, or in the Federal Republic of Germany.
When the wall came down in 1989, Stein wanted to see his Stasi files, but his wife tried to stop him. Stein still goes to East Berlin and is surprised: The files show that Volker and Bianca were spies and were set on him; For years, 14 Stasi agents were only busy observing him. But the worst: his wife also worked for the Ministry of State Security . When Stein comes home, he finds his wife dead. She shot herself. A farewell letter says that she was forced to do so after her capture in Bulgaria, as this was the only way to prevent Wolfgang's death.
Finally, Stein locates Volker Erler, who meanwhile lives with his family somewhere in Germany under a false name. He confronts him with the past and wants to shoot him. But Stein is stopped by the police. The inspector is Bob. Volker Erler is arrested. The film shows in the final scene Stein and his daughter crying at Anne's grave. Stein lives in Baden-Baden today.
criticism
“The escape helper drama 'The Sting of the Scorpion' is based on the autobiography of the actor and poet Wolfgang Welsch, 'I was Public Enemy No. 1'. He smuggled more than 200 East Germans into the West via Bulgaria and Romania. Because he thereby exposed the GDR system to ridicule, Welsch got on the 'hit list'. But he survived a sniper attack, a car bomb and finally a poison attack, which found its way into the highly suspenseful and gripping television film up to the last minute. [...] 'The Sting of Scorpio' is a great cast. All play entirely in the service of their role. Jörg Schüttauf repeatedly expresses Wolfgang Stein's traumatic experiences very physically. You can feel that this man has to help, even if it might cost him his marriage. Martina Gedeck as Anne Stein is seldom seen as withdrawn. Above all, Matthias Brandt, as is so often the hero's best friend, is almost a 'follower' in this film from a dramaturgical point of view, and he evidently shows the other way a former political prisoner can live in the West: inconspicuously and with regard to himself. "
Web links
- The sting of the scorpion in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The sting of the scorpion at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.wdr.de/tv/fernsehfilm/sendungsbeitraege/2012/0103/index.jsp
- ↑ tittelbach.tv: TV film “The Sting of the Scorpion” , accessed on January 3, 2012.