The airlift - only the sky was free

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Movie
Original title The airlift - only the sky was free
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2005
length 186 minutes
Rod
Director Dror Zahavi
script Martin Rauhaus
production Nico Hofmann ,
Ariane Krampe
music Paul Vincent Gunia ,
Oliver Gunia
camera Gero Steffen
cut Fritz Busse
occupation

The Airlift - Only the Sky Was Free (international title: Berlin Airlift) is a two-part television series that deals with the Berlin Airlift . It was produced in 2005 on behalf of Sat.1 by teamWorx and directed by Dror Zahavi .

action

Berlin 1948, three years after the end of the Second World War . The allied countries America, France, Great Britain and the Soviet Union have divided the defeated Germany into zones of occupation . The capital Berlin, surrounded by the Soviet zone, is a four- sector city with a democratically elected, social-democratically dominated magistrate. The western sectors are supplied from the zones of occupation of the Americans, French and British, the eastern sector from the Soviet zone. The deficiency situation prevails in the post-war period . Jobs and supplies of all kinds are scarce, and electricity is only available in phases.

Luise Kielberg and her little son Micha have been alone since her husband, Dr. Alexander Kielberg, was pronounced fallen. Luise urgently needs work to support herself and her child. Like so many, she is trying to get a job with the American occupation forces. She successfully applies to be a waitress in the canteen at Tempelhof Airport . Luise suffers greatly from the loss of her husband; Nevertheless, she lets her best friend, the hairdresser Leni, persuade her to look ahead, to regain some joy in life and to go dancing. There Leni falls in love with the pilot Harry. Luise remains alone.

The Soviet dictator Josef Stalin is provoked when a new currency ( D-Mark ) is introduced in the western occupation zones . From June 24, 1948 , the Soviets blocked supplies to the western part of the city by blocking all access roads. US President Harry S. Truman is initially considering the withdrawal of all US troops. But the military governor of the US occupation zone, General Lucius D. Clay, does not want to give up Berlin. He promised the leading Social Democrat Ernst Reuter that the city would be supplied with an airlift.

The Berlin Airlift is created. The Berlin-Tempelhof Airport is the hub for the supply of more than two million West Berliners. The task turns out to be very difficult: there are problems with the maintenance of the aircraft, the crews and the discipline.

An experienced organizer is ordered to Berlin from the highest level: General Philipp Turner, who had already carried out a similar action in Asia during World War II . He is tightening the use of the flight corridors, applying the assembly line principle for flight coordination and maintenance work, demanding the utmost from the pilots, demanding more and larger machines and the construction of additional airfields.

The outdated radar system in Tempelhof cannot distinguish between the planes flying close together, and serious accidents occur. Harry, now Leni's fiancé, is the victim of a plane crash. Leni loses all courage to face life. She later attempted suicide, which Luise prevented.

On September 9, Ernst Reuter directed against 300,000 Berliners his historic appeal to the "peoples of the world: Look at this city!" .

General Philipp Turner made Luise Kielberg, who immediately stood out for her energetic activity, as his secretary. Many hours of joint work on the airlift project follow. In a quiet minute you learn that General Philipp Turner is also suffering from a serious personal loss: his wife died after a serious illness while he was serving in the war in China. Two sons are waiting for his return in the USA. Turner's personal motivation for his commitment: Never again war.

The similar life situation of loss also brings Turner and Luise closer to each other: The two become lovers. A short time "somewhere over the rainbow" begins.

Then Luise's husband, who was believed to be dead, returns. Dr. Alexander Kielberg was in Soviet captivity. He throws himself into work at the Neukölln hospital , where he gets his job back as a doctor.

Luise loves Turner, but she also loves her husband. She is determined to save her marriage. The situation becomes more complicated when she realizes she is pregnant by Turner. She decides to have an abortion, but escapes from the operating table at the last second.

Meanwhile, the political situation is worsening dramatically: The Russians are increasingly trying to disrupt the airlift aircraft. Soviet fighters violate the western air corridors to Berlin. General Lucius D. Clay makes it clear to the Russians that the Americans are considering the use of nuclear weapons. The threat works; the situation in the sky over Berlin is easing again.

The winter is coming. A tuberculosis epidemic threatens Berlin. Dr. Alexander Kielberg calls for Mayor Reuter and General Lucius D. Clay to deliver the new highly effective drug streptomycin from the USA.

A further increase in the number of flights is necessary. A chance glance at power line masts, the lines of which are mounted on top of each other, brings General Turner to the solution: The flight corridors are staggered in "floors" of different heights. This is possible with the new radar. The flight frequency can be increased further.

Dr. One evening, as he was walking home alone from the hospital, Kielberg saw his wife hugging a man in a limousine. Now he knows that Luise loves someone else. A discussion between the spouses follows. Kielberg has seen too much death and misfortune to get angry. He gives Luise free choice; He welcomes the child - regardless of who - into this world. Kielberg's wise decisions increase the emotional pressure on Luise.

The American government is now cutting off the supply of coal from the Ruhr area to the Soviet Union. General Turner's airlift has reached a stage where the entire population of West Berlin will be permanently supplied with essential consumer goods.

The Soviet government reacts with hidden signs that it is thinking of lifting the blockade of Berlin. On May 12, 1949 at 12:01 a.m., the Soviet Union actually ended the blockade of Berlin.

Generals Clay and Turner did their job with flying colors, and they received praise. Turner is immediately ordered to a new assignment in Guam. Turner and Luise see each other one last time in their old office at Tempelhof Airport. Turner tries to make it easy for Luise to say goodbye. She can't and shouldn't go with him. "... One day I would have seen in your eyes that you paid too high a price for this happiness." He explains his waiver.

Turner leaves. Luise stays and returns to her family.

particularities

  • Audience response Berlin: “The response to 'Die Luftbrücke' was particularly high in Berlin: According to an evaluation by Media Control, 39.5 percent of West Berliners and 29.1 percent of East Berliners saw the documentary about their city. A total of 540,000 of the 3.3 million Berliners watched the film implementation of the time of 1948, when the western part of the city was supplied exclusively by airplanes, the so-called 'cherry bombers' ” .
  • The film character General Philipp Turner is a fictionalization of the historical General William H. Tunner . This fictionalization was necessary in order to be able to tell the fictitious love story between the general and the secretary apart from historical facts.
  • The final scene between Philipp Turner and Luise Kielberg at / on the starting field of Tempelhof Airport paraphrases the farewell scene between Rick and Ilsa ( Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman ) on the starting field of Casablanca Airport in the classic film " Casablanca ": Rick: Where I'm going you can't follow. What I got to do you can't be any part of. If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but soon and for the rest of your life. Airlift: Turner: I've received an order to go to Guam. (..) We would have been very happy ... many days, .... many months, ... maybe even many years ... Luise: You know that I cannot come with you. Turner: Yeah, I know. At some point I would have seen in your eyes that you had paid too high a price for this happiness. In Casablanca the woman gets on the plane to go away forever, here the man.

Reviews

  • “Here an interesting piece of the German past was staged in an exciting way, which informs its viewers but also touches them emotionally. The fact that the whole spectacle lasts for three hours is surprisingly not too tragic, as this film manages to entertain its audience the entire time and keep them happy. "
  • "The Soviet ruler Josef Stalin feels provoked and blocked all access routes with his troops on June 24th - 2.3 million Berliners are cut off from the outside world. But US General Clay (Ulrich Tukur) does not want to give up Berlin and plans to supply the city from the air. The implementation of the airlift is led by General Turner (Heino Ferch) ... Against this historical background, director Dror Zahavi stages the 7.5 million expensive two-part film as a gripping mixture of political and love drama with a star cast. Shiny: Ulrich Tukur as Clay and Ulrich Noethen as returning from the war. "
  • “There are worse ideas than filming German history. We think it's good that historical issues are brought to the fore in this way ” .

Awards

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ stern.de accessed on May 4, 2008.
  2. ↑ moviesection.de, accessed on May 3, 2008
  3. ↑ tvspielfilm.de accessed on May 3, 2008
  4. ↑ Bernd von Kostka, research assistant at the Allied Museum in Berlin.
  5. ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung of February 3, 2006 ( Memento of the original of October 3, 2009 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sueddeutsche.de

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