The tunnel (2001)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The tunnel |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2001 |
| length | Television: 188 minutes, theatrical version: 157 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Roland Suso Richter |
| script | Johannes W. Betz |
| production |
Nico Hofmann Ariane Krampe |
| music |
Harald Kloser , Thomas Wanker |
| camera | Martin Langer |
| cut |
Peter R. Adam (cinema) , Eva Schnare (TV two-part) |
| occupation | |
| |
The tunnel is a German film from 2001, which is based on a true story (see: Tunnel 29 ). Among others, Heino Ferch , Nicolette Krebitz and Alexandra Maria Lara are involved. The film was shown on television in two parts, but there is also a theatrical version.
action
After Harry Melchior won the GDR swimming championships in 1961 , he managed to escape to the West . At Checkpoint Charlie he crossed the border in disguise and with a fake passport, following his friend Matthis Hiller, who had recently managed to escape through the sewer system. However, his pregnant girlfriend Carola was arrested during the attempt to escape and is now in prison. Harry desperately wants his sister, brother-in-law and their daughter to be brought to the West by the escape workers, but he has to learn that the trick with the forged passports only works for one member of a family.
Harry then has an ingenious, but almost impossible idea: Since the GDR has closed all above-ground possibilities to get to the West and also controls the sewer system, Harry makes the decision to dig a tunnel under the wall. He benefits from the fact that Matthis is an engineer by profession. Together with Vittorio "Vic" Costanza and Fred von Klausnitz, who were also Harry's escape helpers, Matthis and Harry rent a disused factory, from whose cellar they want to dig a tunnel under the wall.
As the troupe was sitting in a café one evening and making plans, Fritzi Scholz overheard them. She finds out where the troops are digging from and breaks into the old factory the next day while they are working. Caught and captured by the men, Fritzi confesses that she overheard them and that she also wants to bring her fiancé to the West. After the last doubts that Fritzi could be an informant have been dispelled, Fritzi now completes the team.
The work is progressing slowly. When the troops have already passed under the Berlin Wall , a tank rolls over them across the street, which almost collapses the tunnel and buries Harry. However, Fritzi manages to save Harry, which also dispels the last of his doubts about her person. At a border crossing, Vitt is suddenly arrested by the police on suspicion of helping people escape and put in prison until further notice. However, he does not reveal anything about the tunnel in prison and claims to be innocent despite the torture, so that he was released on Christmas Eve 1961.
However, the work is not progressing as quickly as expected. The troops therefore decided to take in more people, which also significantly increased the number of refugees from the west. Harry is not enthusiastic about it at first, but given the long time it takes to build the tunnel, he has no other choice.
As the tunnel work is now progressing faster, the American television station NBC gets wind of it and offers financial security as well as a not inconsiderable sum for the exclusive rights of the tunnel construction.
criticism
Lexicon of international film : a convincing and oppressive portrait of the time, carried by good actors and effectively using the means of tension cinema for the purpose of its committed story .
Awards
- Heino Ferch and Roland Suso Richter won the Bavarian TV Prize in 2001 for the film .
- In 2002 Heino Ferch was awarded the Golden Camera .
- The production was awarded the German TV Prize in 2001 in the category Best TV Film / Multi-Part .
- At the Jupiter Awards 2002 , the film was voted the best TV film of the year.
More escape films
Web links
- The tunnel in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The tunnel. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 24, 2017 .