The storm surge
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The storm surge |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2006 |
| length | 182 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jorgo Papavassiliou |
| script | Holger Karsten Schmidt |
| production |
Nico Hofmann , Sascha Schwingel , Peter Studhalter |
| music |
Harald Kloser , Thomas Wanker |
| camera | Yvonne Tratz |
| cut |
Ollie Lanvermann , Dietrich Toellner |
| occupation | |
| |
Die Sturmflut is a German television film that was produced by teamWorx Television & Film GmbH on behalf of the private broadcaster RTL and that was first broadcast on February 19 and 20, 2006 as a two-part series. It tells the story of the Hamburg flood of February 16, 1962. Directed by Jorgo Papavassiliou , the actors include Götz George , Jan Josef Liefers , Benno Fürmann , Heiner Lauterbach and Nadja Uhl . The first broadcast was watched by more than 11 million people.
action
February 14, 1962: In a weather station on Iceland , the resident observed that both his dog and the flocks of birds above the sea were reacting very excitedly. A severe storm appears to be approaching.
The Hamburg Maritime Weather Office also provides information about the first storms. The committed meteorologist Susanne Lenz warns her superior Friedrich Pröscher of an approaching storm surge . However, Pröscher does not take them seriously.
February 15, 1962: Katja Döbbelin and her family are preparing for Katja’s upcoming wedding to doctor Markus Abt. She is busy moving into her new house. In the evening she, her parents and her son Philip are invited to dinner with the wealthy parents of her future husband. The first storm warnings are published for Hamburg, but they do not worry anyone.
Meanwhile, the freighter MS Irina is in distress off the coast of England .
Shortly before dinner in the Abt house, Karl Abt once again made it clear to his son that he did not agree to the wedding with the “not befitting” Katja and wanted to dissuade him. Markus Abt makes it clear to him that under no circumstances will he comply with this request. He even threatens his father that he would turn away from him if he did not behave properly. Dinner then ends without any major problems.
February 16, 1962: Susanne Lenz takes a helicopter to the "Frieda I" oil rig , which also has a weather station. Meanwhile, the water levels are rising in Cuxhaven and a storm is raging in Scarborough off the coast.
While Lenz obtained information about the weather from Alexander Claussen, the boss of the oil rig, a lightning strike occurred on the oil rig. The foreman Bernd Riemann is seriously injured. There is also a radio failure.
Meanwhile in Hamburg. Jürgen Urban, who was a sailor, stopped in Hamburg. He wants to visit his sick father in the hospital. In the hospital he meets Katja's son Philip, not knowing that he is the child of his great love. He also had a conversation with Markus Abt about his father's state of health, not realizing that he was looking at Katja's future husband. Markus Abt tells Jürgen that he will marry Katja.
Jürgen learns from Katja's father that Katja is currently in the abbot's house and goes there because he wants to see Katja. He meets her there, and Katja seems confused. Jürgen asks her why she never replied to his letters, but Katja claims that she never received any mail from him.
Around 3:30 p.m., the first dykes began to crack.
Paul Döbbelin has a serious conversation with his wife Hilde. He learns that she has intercepted Jürgen's letters and that they are still in her possession. He asks her to give Katja the letters before their wedding.
After talking to his father, Jürgen decides not to go back to the ship and to stay in Hamburg.
In Cuxhaven the water level is now 3.50 meters above sea level . The "Frieda I" drilling rig has meanwhile reached an incline of 7 degrees.
In the evening the intended Polterabend Markus and Katja in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg take place. Markus Abt has to take on an on-call duty at short notice. But he should only be alerted in urgent emergencies. Katja's brother Stefan, on the other hand, has completely different worries, he can appear with his band as the opening act at a concert and asks his sister to be allowed to stay away from the hen party. His father doesn't like this, but his sister gives him her blessing.
Jürgen rents a room in the “Zum Anker” guesthouse. The landlady Lotte even provided him with a suit. Jürgen plans to confront Katja at her hen party.
An emergency call from "Frieda I" is intercepted on the Frisian coast. A little girl takes it first and then informs her father. When the latter then wants to get an impression for himself, the dike is flooded just at this point.
Katja's brother Stefan showed up for a hen party before his big gig to sing a song for his sister. Then he goes to her performance with his two friends. They learn that the main band of the evening is not present and that they should now do the entire program on their own. The three boys find out that they don't even have a band name.
In the meantime, Jürgen turns up at the hen party and there is an argument between him and Markus. However, this goes off lightly and Jürgen leaves the hall.
In the meantime there are considerable problems on the "Frieda I". The drilling platform now has an incline of 15 degrees. Alexander Claussen and Susanne Lenz want to try to get the failed machine back into operation in order to stabilize the drilling platform. You can do this, but now water also enters the base of the drilling rig. You are faced with the decision to flood your foot and then escape through the hatch through the flooded corridors. You choose to do it and the water will be directed into the foot. After the chamber is full, you can open the hatch and swim upstairs. Claussen gets stuck on a valve and Susanne Lenz turns back to free him. She succeeds, but in the process she passes out. With the last of his strength, Alexander Claussen comes to the surface with the unconscious Susanne.
The bachelorette party dissolves more and more after Markus Abt was first called for an emergency and State Secretary Abt was also alerted about the approaching storm surge. The women as well as Philip and the best man Katjas wait in the pouring rain for a taxi.
In the city's situation center, Karl Abt must find out that the first dike breaches have occurred in the Hamburg area. Among other things, the Köhlbrand dike has broken in several places and the districts of Finkenwerder and Wilhelmsburg are said to be flooded. He wants to go back immediately, but is strongly advised against it.
Jürgen is just about to enter the pension when he sees a horse running in panic. He wants to know the reason and is confronted with the approaching tidal wave. He flees the water on his motorcycle and wants to warn Katja and her family. He arrives just in time and the family begins to flee. Katja, her son, Katja's best man and Jürgen are caught by the water and separated. Philip desperately clings to a sign while best man Mario tries to come to his aid. During this attempt he is hit by a box floating in the water and injured. He drifts motionless past Katja, while Philip is also driven on by the water. But he can cling to a car.
Both Jürgen and Katja try to help Philip. At that moment a car is driving right towards Philip.
On the “Frieda I” drilling rig, Alexander Claussen has to revive Susanne Lenz, which he succeeds in doing. In Wilhelmsburg, Jürgen and Katja continue to fight for Philip's life. He can save himself from the car drifting towards him just in time. With the help of Jürgen and his mother, all three of them can save themselves on a house roof. You decide to go to the nearby church.
February 17, 1:43 a.m.: The first power outages occur in Hamburg. In the Harburg hospital - Markus is on standby at this time - the emergency generator starts up. Markus and the rest of the hospital staff learn that several levees have broken in Hamburg. The first victims arrive at the hospital and the necessary medicines quickly become scarce.
Meanwhile, Stefan cancels the appearance in the Star Club to go looking for his family. He steals a rubber dinghy in a hospital camp.
Katja, Philip and Jürgen make it to church. There they also meet their mothers and Katja's colleague Nicola. In a conversation with Katja, Jürgen confesses that he still loves her.
In the early morning, Interior Senator Helmut Schmidt arrives at the situation center in the police headquarters. He has an initial status report and then takes over the management of the crisis team . Karl Abt is not enthusiastic about this approach and points out to Schmidt that it would exceed his competencies. Schmidt explains clearly to him that emergencies also require unconventional and, above all, quick help. The first helicopters of the Bundeswehr take off from Faßberg Air Base in order to get an initial overview of the situation from the air. Paul Döbbelin is among them.
Philip passes out in the church. He has a high fever. Jürgen leaves the church by boat to get help. Katja and Nicola meanwhile make their way in a coffin to a nearby pharmacy.
In the meantime, Interior Senator Schmidt is on the phone with a general at NATO headquarters in Paris . He describes the situation in Hamburg and asks for immediate help. It is granted to him, while Karl Abbot Schmidt again points out that he far exceeds his competencies.
Stefan hears a weak voice looking for his relatives. In a building he discovers a pregnant young woman. When he tries to get to her, he destroys the dinghy. He stays with her and provides her with essentials. In the evening they hear a helicopter and use a door to get to some of the other victims on a roof who are being rescued by the helicopter.
The "Frieda 1" can be evacuated in the morning. The seriously injured Riemann dies on the flight to Hamburg.
The situation is coming to a head in the Wilhelmsburg Church. Little Philip already has a fever of 40 degrees. Katja also learns from her friend Nicola about the relationship between her and Markus. But she gives her to understand that she had already suspected something like this and, on the other hand, that she too has a secret with her.
The helicopter with Katja's father on board runs out of fuel. All people can be rescued from the roof and the pregnant young woman can still get into the helicopter. Only Stefan has to stay behind. His father does not want to leave him alone and jumps out of the helicopter into the water to get to his son. When the helicopter returns, the pilot realizes that Paul Döbbelin did not make it.
Jürgen has meanwhile arrived at the hospital. In a conversation with his father he learns that he is the father of Katja's son Philip. Jürgen wants to go back to church. A short time later, Markus also lets himself be flown to the church in a helicopter. Since the helicopter cannot land there, Markus jumps out of the helicopter.
In the meantime, in the crisis team, Karl Abt again takes on Interior Senator Schmidt. He wants him to be held responsible for exceeding his competence. However, Helmut Schmidt is not intimidated by this threat.
Philip is bleeding from his ear, he probably has a fractured skull base . Jürgen and Markus go to the pharmacy again to get more medication. At the same time Karin Abt and Hilde Döbbelin talk about their marriages and how they went. Hilde Döbbelin then goes to her daughter and confesses that she made Jürgen's letters disappear. Katja is horrified.
In the pharmacy, Jürgen and Markus discover the drugs they want, but escaping gas causes a gas explosion. At first it seems as if only Markus survived the explosion, but Jürgen is still alive too, but he is trapped. Markus notices this, but simply leaves Jürgen behind in the collapsing house without any help. After returning to church, he first takes care of Philip and then tells Katja that Jürgen couldn't have made it. Katja doesn't believe in it and wants to convince herself of it. She tells Markus that he is not Philip's father and then goes looking for Jürgen. Markus stays with Philip and remembers various incidents that he experienced with him.
Katja discovers Jürgen in the pharmacy, but cannot free him on her own. Jürgen begs her to leave the building as it threatens to collapse at any moment. Katja refuses until Markus suddenly appears. Together they can free Jürgen and at the last second they can leave the house before it collapses.
At the hospital, Stefan has to tell his mother that her husband and father have died.
In the following scene you can hear the Interior Senator addressing the disaster, in which he thanks the many helpers and organizations, as well as the Bundeswehr and NATO for their support. During the address one sees pictures of the flooded areas, of the victims and the rescued.
After the funeral service for Paul Döbbelin, Stefan meets the pregnant woman and her husband in front of the church. She has given birth to a son and asks Stefan his name because they want to name him after his savior. Stefan replies that his name then has to be Paul.
Jürgen, Katja and Philip move to Jürgen's father on his farm to support him. Markus takes a job in Berlin. At a meeting there is a final discussion between Katja and Markus.
criticism
“What begins as a (television) action film with elaborate processing of the fictional events only comes down to a positive family drama, whereby it is only in the catastrophe that it becomes clear who really belongs to whom. Unimaginatively staged, the side story disappears from the failure to warn the population and the quick and unbureaucratic help. "
“Director Jorgo Papavassiliou [...] lavishly staged this two-part series with prominent cast, which skillfully mixes facts and fiction. After a leisurely start, the tension increases more and more, so that you can easily overlook some inconsistencies. "
“It could have been a gripping contemporary history drama, but RTL absolutely had to dilute its huge production about the Hamburg flood disaster with love kitsch. Even if a lot of stars appear here: Historical facts are just as drowning as tension and stringency. "
background
The television film is based on the events of the storm surge on 16./17. February 1962 in Hamburg . 315 people died there in this storm surge. In total, the flood destroyed around 6000 buildings. The former Hamburg Senator for the Interior, later Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, is played in this television film by the actor Christian Berkel.
The production costs amounted to around 8 million euros. The FFF Bayern , the Filmstiftung NRW , Nordmedia and the Filmförderung Hamburg were also involved in the financing . The shooting time was 70 days. Filming locations included the port of Hamburg , Lauenburg / Elbe and Essen .
Mistake in the movie
However, criticism of the film was also expressed on some points. This criticism deals with the numerous historical errors and the exaggerated representation of the actual storm surge.
The location of the "Frieda I" drilling rig in particular is noted as a major mistake, because the oil fields in the North Sea were only discovered in 1969 - around seven years after the storm surge. There are also signs for fire extinguishers on the drilling platform, which were only introduced in this form at the end of the 1990s (EU standard).
Another mistake to be mentioned is the wrecked container ship , as the first ship of this type did not call at Europe until 1966. One of the rescue ships used had a bulbous bow , as it was only introduced years later.
There are also several badges of rank of the Bundeswehr soldiers deployed on the dykes, which were only introduced at the end of the 1970s.
Another scene in Hamburg shows an elevated train (silver-orange vehicles) that did not exist in early 1962.
In the film, a strip of adhesive tape simply rolled out by Katja is able to secure Philip and Jürgen like a lifeline, even though the floods are so strong that even a car is washed away by the masses of water at the point in question.
In reality, there was no big tidal wave like in the film, instead the water rose slowly, which is why it could surprise so many people while they were sleeping.
At the time of the explosion in the pharmacy, the gas had already been turned off across the city. At that time it was also coking gas that you could smell immediately. A day later the electricity was also turned off. The radio could only be heard on batteries.
The song sung by Katja's brother on the hen party is stylistically a grunge ballad that is incompatible with the then burgeoning musical styles.
The long hair worn by some of the actors was not yet socially acceptable in 1962, just like so many behaviors and manners between people (father-son conversations, the "you" among complete strangers ...).
The first names of the three main characters Katja, Markus and Jürgen are atypical for the age group of the people shown. These first names were mainly given in the 1960s. In 1962, the protagonists were probably no more than 40 years old. Given a year of birth in the 1920s, first names like "Käthe", "Walter" and "Günther" would have been more typical.
Helmut Schmidt was in World War II, Lieutenant does not explain and like in the movie lieutenant .
The time on the telex is given as UTC time. UTC time wasn't introduced until 1972.
In a scene in an authority, a picture of Theodor Heuss hangs on the wall. Theodor Heuss had not been Federal President since 1959. Instead, a portrait of Heinrich Lübke should hang there.
At one point in the film, Jürgen suffers a cut on his left arm. In the next scene on the roof of a house, this wound is on the right arm and one scene later on the left again.
DVD publications
“Die Sturmflut” was released on February 24, 2006 as a double DVD . In addition to the television film, the DVD includes video reports on the shooting and a video diary by actor Jan Josef Liefers.
Audio book
The film was also produced as an audio book. It consists of 3 CDs with a total playing time of around 160 minutes. The original voices of all actors can be heard.
Awards
- 2006 - DVD Champion in the TV program category
literature
- Martina Myers: The storm surge. Vgs Verlagsgesellschaft, Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-8025-3545-6 .
Web links
- The storm surge in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The storm surge at filmportal.de
- Web presence for "The storm surge"
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for the storm surge . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , January 2006 (PDF; test number: 104 918 V / DVD).
- ↑ The storm surge. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ The storm surge. In: prisma.de. prisma-Verlag , accessed on September 5, 2017 .
- ↑ Water on for the quota , spiegel.de