The border
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The border |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2010 |
| length | 2 × 90 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Roland Suso Richter |
| script |
Christoph Darnstädt Pia Hart Christoph Fromm Friedemann Fromm |
| production |
Nico Hofmann , Klaus Zimmermann , Jürgen Schuster |
| music |
Maurus Ronner Martin Todsharow |
| camera | Holly Fink |
| cut | Bernd Schlegel |
| occupation | |
| |
The border is a two-part German television film by the director Roland Suso Richter from 2010 , which was broadcast as an "event movie " on the television station Sat.1 . The shooting took place in Rostock , Warnemünde , Berlin , Stralsund and Sassnitz , among others .
action
Germany in 2010. The economic crisis is taking on catastrophic proportions as a result of global terrorist attacks on oil refineries . Petrol , oil and food are becoming scarce and increasingly expensive. There is panic shopping in the shops. The unemployment is rapidly increasing, violence and crime are increasing, and demonstrations there will be civil war-like conflicts.
In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , where soon state elections take place, is a threatening development in the offing. Due to the economic crisis, the left-wing extremist “New Left” with Franz Geri and the right-wing extremist “DNS” with the multi-billionaire Maximilian Schnell gained the upper hand in the election campaign, while the established parties have become insignificant. Geri wants to turn Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania into a socialist state and makes the voters believe that this will enable them to overcome the economic crisis. In doing so, he won the favor of those who wanted the GDR and the Wall back in times of crisis , such as Nadine Manz and her family. The former policewoman can no longer work in the police service due to an injury and during the crisis does not get a job that she had actually already been promised. Her father Erich Manz, a fisherman , is in debt, which is why his ship is being seized .
Maximilian Schnell presents himself as the strong man who acts decisively and takes on the problems of the citizens, which he tries to prove through generous relief efforts. With the way he appears in the media, he draws the masses to his side and, according to the latest polls, has a clear lead. In reality, however, he wants to build a National Socialist state and is therefore seen as a serious threat to democracy . Since he can finance his party and his expensive election campaign with his private wealth, he does not need to become dependent on donors.
Ultimately, the situation in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is getting out of hand, as the election campaign is being conducted with all the harshness and street battles between right and left groups are increasing. In Rostock , where Nadine Manz lives with her family, the police and authorities no longer have any influence on the events. A border in the middle of the city divides Rostock into a right and a left camp, controlled by self-recruited law enforcement officers. Since the Federal Government and above all the Federal Chancellor rejects an intervention with a massive police presence from other federal states or armed forces of the Bundeswehr , a political solution must be found. Ultimately, the decision is made to support Geri's election campaign in order to prevent a Schnell election victory. Her advisors propose to the Chancellor that Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania should be given independence and thus create a low-wage country . It is believed that, unlike Schnell, Geri can be controlled if an impoverished Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is ultimately even more dependent on the Federal Republic of Germany due to its independence.
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is given the task of smuggling someone into the DNA who is supposed to spy on Schnell's machinations and collect evidence in order to bring Schnell and the DNA down with it. Agent Linda Jehnert can win over Rolf Haas, Nadine Manz's ex-boyfriend and former friend and companion of Schnells. In return, Linda wants to help Rolf out of his private crisis, which he got into because of unemployment. Nadine's partner Robert Klaars is one of the party functionaries around Maximilian Schnell, but he has to keep this secret from Nadine and her family, as they are assigned to the left-wing camp in Rostock. He becomes a key figure for Rolf to get to Schnell. So there is a reunion with Nadine, eight years after Rolf left her. She reacts to the reunion with the request that Rolf keep away from her and her daughter.
Schnell unexpectedly appears on stage at a rock concert in order to use it for his propaganda . Since the Office for the Protection of the Constitution found out about it in advance from an informant, Rolf was smuggled in as a steward. There it comes to a bad escalation when police forces arrive and crack down on the concert-goers with brutal severity. The son of a friend of the Manz family is fatally injured. Nadine's daughter is so badly injured that unless she is operated on by an eye specialist, she will remain blind forever. However, Nadine cannot raise the money for the operation. It turns out that the police are not responsible for the massacre. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution suspects that the false police officers are Schnells people and Schnell wants to create the illusion that the state is no longer in control of the situation and is therefore acting with senseless violence.
Rolf manages to move into Schnells direct environment and to become his PR advisor after Robert Klaars was blown up as a traitor in the left camp and Rolf released him unnoticed from captivity. However, some party officials are suspicious of Rolf, especially the security chief Kai Jansen, who has Rolf constantly monitored and Schnell warns of Rolf. But Nadine's family is also becoming more and more suspicious of Rolf because they don't know what his intentions are. Finally, a surprising triumph against Schnell succeeds when Geri brings up a lie Schnells in a TV duel. Schnell's parents, who supposedly live in a nursing home and are lovingly cared for by their son, actually passed away ten years ago and were abandoned by their son. Quickly gets into distress and leaves the studio after desperate words of apology. His poll results are falling rapidly. However, he does not want to give up the election campaign and exposes the traitor in his own ranks to whom Geri leaked this explosive information.
The traitor is tied up and locked in a room with Rolf and a gun. Rolf is given five minutes to execute the traitor in order to prove his loyalty to Schnell and the party. He shoots the surveillance camera to be unobserved and frees the man from his bonds, who seizes the gun and shoots himself to protect Rolf, who can now pretend to have shot the traitor. Fast now wants to play his last trump card to save the election victory. He wants to finance Nadine's daughter's operation if Nadine becomes a party member and presents herself with him in the media. Rolf explains to Nadine that he works for the protection of the constitution and against Schnell. Nadine agrees to appear at the press conference and put on a good face for the bad game so that Rolf does not get even more dangerous after Linda has promised to take care of the daughter's operation and to keep her away from Schnell and the DNA. Meanwhile, Rolf copied video material from the computer network in the party headquarters, which proves that Schnell is building a fighting force comparable to the SA , which is also responsible for the massacre at the rock concert.
Rolf is caught and an attempt is made to drown him in a pool of water. Nadine appears at the party headquarters and saves Rolf's life. Then she beats up her partner Robert Klaars when he tries to put her under pressure. Rolf passes the video material to the media, which immediately publishes it, then leaves the party headquarters and is brought to safety by Nadine's family, who now know what he is fighting for. Afterwards, Rolf and Nadine, who have made up again, fly with their daughter to the hospital in Berlin, where she is successfully operated on. An arrest warrant is issued against Schnell, but he is no longer arrested because he is shot by Robert Klaars. This takes over the party chairmanship and wants to save the hopeless situation with a press release, but the end of the DNS and its functionaries is sealed.
Franz Geri wins the state election and puts his announced plans into action. He inspired the citizens with a so-called people's share , you can participate in the state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with, however, conceals that mitträgt through the purchase of shares and sovereign debt. Masses of people come from the rest of the Federal Republic to immigrate to the new state, where they hope for a better life. Linda Jehnert foresees a bleak future for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and advises Rolf to get Nadine's family out of there, who now recognize for themselves which direction Geris' policy will lead. Since Rolf has been amply rewarded for his cooperation with the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, he can buy Erich's ship free again. He goes out on the high seas with Nadine and her family and everyone longs for a place where they can live in freedom and without financial worries.
In a final scene, Geri announces in front of the camera that the borders will now be closed so that more people don't immigrate and the new prosperity is endangered.
Charisma
The film was produced by teamWorx , in co-production with Sat.1 . A cooperation with RTL was originally planned, as producer Nico Hofmann would need a channel for the production “that staged the topic in an attention-grabbing and provocative manner, using all the possibilities of cross- promotion ”. The first part of the film was broadcast on March 15, 2010. The second part was broadcast on March 16, 2010. In the run-up to the television premiere, “The Border” was shown on March 2, 2010 on the BILD newspaper's Internet portal . In the run-up to the premiere, poster advertising was placed across Germany at stops and in large magazines (e.g. Der Spiegel ). Furthermore, various other self-produced magazines and news programs of ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG referred to the television premiere before the broadcasts in or after contributions that were partly only remotely related to the topic, such as the Berlin Wall .
On March 15 and 16, Sat.1 not only showed the first broadcast of the film, but also the documentary The Border - Danger for Our Land after the first part . The documentation by Thomas Riedel and Falko Korth shows neo-Nazis at camaraderie parties, demonstrations and secret meetings as well as the appearance of NPD members in the state parliament. A Kerner special followed on the second day of broadcast . Johannes B. Kerner discussed with prominent guests, including Marie Bäumer and Jürgen Heinrich as well as the former boxer Axel Schulz and experts, about the “border” scenario and the question of whether a federal state could even be split off. A former neo-Nazi who reported on his life as a terrorist in the former GDR was also invited.
reception
Audience ratings
The film achieved good ratings on both broadcast days and in the advertising-relevant target group for Sat.1 a market share of well above the broadcasters average of 10 percent.
| date | Spectators (total) |
Market share | Spectators (14 to 49 year olds) |
Market share (14 to 49 year olds) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15th Mar 2010 | 4.71 million | 14.2% | 2.60 million | 19.1% |
| 16. Mar. 2010 | 3.47 million | 11.0% | 1.79 million | 13.7% |
criticism
The Junge Union Rostock criticized the fact that the film contributed to the “wall in the heads” and damaged the reputation of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Norbert Nieszery , SPD parliamentary group leader in the state parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, also criticized the film, which was funded by the state with 160,000 euros, because it cast Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in a bad light. David Denk described the screenplay as crude in the taz and asked Nieszery whether Die Grenz could be less dangerous than “Meck-Pomm”, “but only to the people who, for a lot of money, have come up with this half-baked, long-winded, cliché-riddled stirring piece with thriller bonds. "
On Spiegel Online, Christian Buß believes the two-parter is “trash at a high level” by attesting the film “an endless distribution of simple charms and slogans”. Nevertheless, "this highly speculative civil war action reflects the current upheaval in the party spectrum against the background of the economic crisis". So go from this "pointed B-film a thoroughly topical explosiveness". His conclusion is: "There was seldom so much bad joke in an event movie from Sat.1."
In the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper , Michael Hanfeld called the border a gripping political thriller and an “exciting story about love, friendship and betrayal”. But the film “does not reach the intended height”, because the right-wing extremists seem too unreal and the left-wing extremists too cute: “It's not a game with the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. And despite all the astonishing things that the current federal government has to offer, we are still a long way from being as far as 'The Border' needed to really act as a morality. "
“A lot of effort doesn't always mean good entertainment. The first part of the Sat.1 event film 'The Border', aimed at provocation, unfortunately got tangled up in half-baked ideas and annoying clichés. [...] To describe the dramaturgy of this two-part play as bumpy flatters the pothole-ridden streets in the new federal states, which this outrageous story represented as an intelligence-free zone. Fanatic old communists and militant right-wingers, led by Thomas Kretschmann, as a mixture of Jörg Haider, Doctor Evil and Florian Silbereisen, declared Rocking Rostock a war zone and proclaimed the new Republic of New Doofland. Or something like that."
"The authors Christoph and Friedemann Fromm take Nico Hofmann's mind game to extremes - that is sometimes heavily exaggerated, often uses old clichés, but is always exciting."
The reviewer of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung panned the film. The political explosiveness previously emphasized in advertising is "nothing more than a big bluff".
Nico Hofmann himself said in the SPIEGEL interview about the poor ratings of the film: “That is terrible, because I found this project to be the most important of my entire life so far. We wanted to break new ground with a television experiment, but for the first time my own assessment and my gut feeling didn't work out. Some of the critics reacted extremely maliciously, and many viewers did not even find their way into the program. I can't tell you how it still affects me. "
Awards
2010: German TV Award nominated in the categories:
- Best multi-part
- Best Actor: Thomas Kretschmann
Web links
- The limit in the Internet Movie Database (English)
supporting documents
- ↑ Information from teamWorx ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Worth seeing: "The Border" arouses quiet hopes DWDL.de of March 14, 2010
- ↑ DWDL.de - Strong start: "The Border" wins the day
- ↑ DWDL.de - Sat.1: “The Border” loses a quarter of the audience
- ^ Criticism of the Sat.1 film "Die Grenz" from Junge Union , published on March 15, 2010, 1:21 pm, on Ad-Hoc-News
- ^ The pain limit taz from March 15, 2010
- ↑ Meckpom is building the wall again on Spiegel Online from March 14, 2010
- ^ The people hear the wrong signals Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung from March 15, 2010
- ↑ Boundless Boredom on moviepilot.de, published on March 16, 2010.
- ↑ tvspielfilm.de - review ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Claudius Seidl in Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, March 14, 2010, No. 10, page 33.
- ↑ Martin U. Müller and Thomas Tuma in the Spiegel : SPIEGEL conversation with Nico Hofmann - Ultimately, it's never about size (issue 17/2010)
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
