A judge for Berlin
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | A judge for Berlin |
| Original title | Judgment in Berlin |
| Country of production | Germany , USA |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1988 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Leo Penn |
| script |
Leo Penn Joshua Sinclair Herbert J. Stern (novel) |
| production |
Ingrid Windisch Joshua Sinclair |
| music | Peter Goldfuss |
| camera | Gábor Pogány |
| cut | Teddy Darvas |
| occupation | |
| |
A judge for Berlin is a film by director Leo Penn from 1988 , which is based on the factual novel by the American judge and prosecutor Herbert J. Stern .
action
Sigrid Radke and Helmut Thiele have wanted to flee the GDR for a long time . After the first escape plan fails, the two decide to hijack a plane in Poland. Thiele manages to take control of the aircraft and forces the pilot to land at Berlin-Tempelhof Airport in the west of the city. There the two kidnappers are received by the Americans and arrested. The two refugees apply for asylum , but the authorities want to see them condemned as air pirates . The independently thinking judge Herbert Stern is asked if he wants to take over the proceedings and agrees, assuming that the case is relatively clear and that it will only be a short stay in West Berlin. But the defense attorney for Radke and Thiele, Bernard Hellring, proves to be extremely clever and starts the proceedings with a bang: He demands German juries for the proceedings under US law. The prosecution rejects this request, but Stern insists on a due process. The jury only found Thiele guilty of hostage-taking and did not follow the statements made by the LOT aircraft crew, who were obviously under pressure from the Polish attorney general, who was also present at the hearing, but rather the statement of one of the passengers who had the courage to testify and even reported of the pitying involvement of the aircraft crew in the kidnapping carried out by Thiele with a toy pistol. Judge Herbert J. Stern sentenced Helmut Thiele to imprisonment that had already been served by remand. Hans Schuster, who was imprisoned in the GDR after the first failed escape aid for Sigrid and Helmut through research into the forged papers, was also released in order to finally meet his love Sigrid again.
Almost the entire film was shot in what was then West Berlin. You can of course see Tempelhof Airport, Kurfürstendamm with Café Kranzler, Zoologischer Garten train station, the wall strip on Bethaniendamm, the former Cheetah discotheque in Hasenheide (with a performance by Ted Herold), and the Swinemünde Bridge in Gesundbrunnen, as a simulated border crossing .
The flea market on Straße des 17. Juni is supposed to represent a market in Poland in the film and the Berlin Wannsee train station serves as the Gdańsk train station, with station signs stuck over accordingly. A marina on Wannsee is said to be one of those in New York.
Real background
Stern's book and the film are based on the plane hijacked on August 30, 1978 from Danzig to Berlin-Tempelhof .
criticism
"Judicial drama based on an authentic case that is solidly entertaining but is primarily of historical interest."
Web links
- Judgment in Berlin in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- A judge for Berlin at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ A judge for Berlin. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .