The news
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The news |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2005 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 0 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Matti Geschonneck |
| script | Alexander Osang |
| production |
Jutta Lieck-Klenke , Dietrich Kluge |
| camera | Wedigo von Schultzendorff |
| cut | Inge Behrens |
| occupation | |
| |
The 2005 television film Die Nachrichten is based on the novel of the same name by Alexander Osang ; it was shot on behalf of ZDF . The film, which is set in 1995 , is about the news anchor Jan Landers. Landers sees the fact that he is the only “ Ossi ” among all the “ Wessi ” colleagues as unproblematic. He is future-oriented and career-oriented, ready to adapt and is therefore hardly noticeable as a former GDR citizen . After rumors emerged that he was supposed to have worked as an unofficial employee of the Stasi , he was temporarily suspended from the station's management.
content
September 22, 1995, Hamburg. The news anchor Jan Landers, an "Ossi", reads the evening news. He is about to be appointed head of the news program. Landers comes from East Berlin and dropped out of a degree in cultural sciences at Humboldt University. He is alert and has a punch with women. At a vernissage he falls in love with the daughter of the millionaire brewery owner Johannes Beer, Margarethe Beer. Landers is looking at a loft directly on the Elbe for a move. Elsewhere in Hamburg, Spiegel editorial meeting: Doris Theyssen, an extremely tough reporter, is supposed to write an article on the subject of “Successful Ossis” about athletes, actors, business people and even Jan Landers.
Theyssen, who, like Landers, comes from East Berlin , searches for a tip from the head of the Berlin Gauck authority , Bernhard Blöger, who is known to her, in the Neubrandenburg branch of the Stasi records authority about the past life of the news anchor. The experienced local journalist Thomas Raschke got wind of this by chance. Raschke - quite drunk, but always on the quivive - promptly senses a "scoop" for the weekend edition of the naz (Neubrandenburger Allgemeine). An employee of the records authority secretly passes a Stasi file card about Landers to the reporter . A race between the two journalists for the best story begins. Through a call from Bernhard Blöger to Landers' boss Reichelt, the broadcaster learns that there is a Stasi file on Landers and that this may have been IM . Landers is suspended, "taken out of the line of fire".
The newscaster is perplexed. Since he is not aware of any guilt, but has almost completely forgotten or suppressed some details of his past, he takes the train to Neubrandenburg when Raschke calls. In the early 1980s he did basic military service there for a helicopter regiment of the NVA for 18 months . With Raschke, Landers goes in search of the truth. There he will also meet Carsten Zelewski, who was previously responsible for Landers' army unit as an MfS officer. In the meantime, Doris Theyssen has already visited Zelewski in his prefabricated apartment. After a period of reflection, he had agreed to look through his notes in order to help the Spiegel reporter - who offered him a fee of three thousand DM - with her story. As a long-term unemployed, Zelewski can use the money well, and his wife is alcoholic .
In the end, however, Zelewski made contact with Landers himself and collected him conspiratorially in his Lada. He wants to speak to Landers in private without the two newspaper writers noticing. In the open field in front of the city, he explained to the news anchor that he was never listed as an active employee of the Stasi. During entertainment evenings during his time in the army, Landers put on records , including a title by Udo Lindenberg with a sensitive East-West issue, "Mädchen aus Ostberlin". This of course made the Stasi aware of him. His "Pankow" file was only created as a precaution in the event that he would come to the Stasi. At that time, Landers appeared "accessible". The two separate again. Landers strolls through the countryside along the road, perplexed. Shortly afterwards, Margarethe happens to show up with her sports car. The happily united couple goes back to Hamburg.
Zelewski is back home. He sees no future for himself or his marriage and does not want to betray anyone. He leaves the mirror fee in the living room, writes a farewell letter and lets himself fall from the balcony. Shortly after Zelewski's death, Doris Theyssen appears in the apartment and, unmolested by his confused widow (who has not even noticed her husband's suicide), puts her money back, as does Zelewski's suicide note, which she later reads through and destroys. However, the Spiegel journalist did not pursue the matter any further and sent Landers his files, who after a brief review, relieved them and threw them into the trash can. After a call from Blöger, the editor-in-chief had to stop Raschke's sensational article in the naz shortly before printing.
November 22, 1995. Landers is back in his speaker's chair in front of the camera, moderating the news.
Reviews
"A film, almost perfect, which is dedicated to the broken biographies of the recent German-German past, carried by an exceptionally strong actor ensemble."
“A film that succeeds - at least - as well as the novel on which it is based. […] And what impressed the jury about this television film was not only the script and direction, which are awarded here, but also the successful interaction of all parts and trades. And really all of them, not just those who, like the camera and the acting (especially Henry Hübchen as an ex-Stasi officer), cannot be overlooked at first glance. From the casting of the supporting roles to the equipment and make-up and the selection of the locations - the whole of this excellent production is right here. "
“(TV) film about a German-German fate, deep trenches and uncertainties, but also about sensationalism in the media and the disdain for human beings of the former Ministry for State Security. Convincing thanks to the remarkable cast ensemble, less successful in scenes that are supposed to fulfill the obligation to smile. All gags based on Westerners using terms that Easterners do not know (and vice versa) do not work, even if they may be historically correct. "
Awards
- Television film award of the German Academy of Performing Arts 2005
- Adolf Grimme Prize in 2006 for directing and book
- German television award 2006 for the best director in a television film
- Bavarian TV Prize 2006 for the direction
Trivia
The template actually saw " Jimmy Page " as an alias, with reference to the song " Stairway to Heaven " by Led Zeppelin . However, since this could not be used for legal reasons, the allusion "Pankow" to the song " Sonderzug nach Pankow " by Udo Lindenberg was changed.
literature
- Alexander Osang : The news. Novel . Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2002, 446 pages, ISBN 3-596-15256-9
Web links
- Page about the film on www.herbertfeuerstein.de
- The messages in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The news at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Release for Die Nachrichten . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , March 2006 (PDF; test number: 105 769 DVD).
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 12, 2016 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.
- ^ The news. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 11, 2016 .
- ^ Statement by the director in an entertainment program on Deutschlandfunk on March 28, 2015
