Fire dragons
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Fire dragons |
| Country of production | GDR |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1981 |
| length | 194 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Peter Hagen |
| script |
Michel Mansfeld , Peter Hagen |
| music | Walter Kubiczeck |
| camera | Günter Eisinger |
| cut | Helga Krause, Brigitte Koppe |
| occupation | |
| |
Fire Dragon is a two-part TV movie of DFF 1981 that the Babelsberg film studios of DEFA produced. Originally this is the planned continuation of the film series The Invisible Visor . Both script and commercial use this title. Fire dragons should seamlessly tie in with the plot of part 16 of the "Visor" and thus also show the same actors.
Due to the political thaw in the early 1980s, however, the "Invisible Visor" project was dropped and the fire kite implemented as an independent work. The plot was rewritten and placed on an independent platform, and the actors and actors were completely replaced with a few exceptions. The first episode had a 31.9% visual participation, the second 43.5%.
In September 2011, a DVD edition was released together with the DFF five-part series Das Grüne Ungeheuer as well as contributions to the production history.
action
short version
The link between the BND and international uranium smuggling is shown. The spies of the Stasi try to uncover these machinations and come across a global network.
Before the opening credits, the narrator's voice reads from off-screen excerpts from German-language newspapers: “An Israeli commando procures the uranium for the construction of the atomic bomb by hand. […] In Niger , several deliveries of uranium - just enough to build two atomic bombs - have disappeared. [...] The group that exploits the uranium deposits in Niger missed a car with a load of uranium and alerted the insurance company. [...] Highly enriched uranium disappeared from factory in USA - enough to build an atomic bomb [...] In 1965, for example , around 175 kilograms of highly enriched uranium - material for at least ten bombs - disappeared from the Apollo enrichment factory in Pennsylvania . […] In 1968 a ship with a cargo of 200 tons of natural uranium oxide disappeared without a trace on the way from Antwerp to Genoa , its cargo possibly reached Israel, whose core center Dimona could use the uranium. [...] A few months later they know that the “Scheersberg” has not sunk or is wandering the world's oceans as a “flying Dutchman”. The investigators recognize another ship, the “Harcula”, as the “Scheersberg”, based on the logbook. The pages of the uranium voyage from Antwerp have been torn out, however, and the machine diary has been made illegible with oil. [...] The lead-weighted corpse of the former CIA official Paisley was found yesterday in Chesapeake Bay near Baltimore . [...] Until 1974 he was Deputy Director of the CIA's Bureau for Strategic Research. "
Against the background of these facts, play the plot of the film.
In detail
Israel is striving to build the atomic bomb to gain the upper hand in the Middle East. The uranium required for this, however, has to be obtained illegally. The Mossad Colonel Eisenberg, responsible for this, tries to carry out his mission through sweep-like attacks, but also through secret contacts spun around the world.
Eisenberg contacted the BND agent Herbert Solka in Cape Town , who immediately sent the Israeli wishes to his boss Dr. Erwin Winter forwards. Since Winters' secretary Katrin is a scout for the GDR, MfS agent Alexander (disguised as Katrin's friend to the public) also learns about the project.
The CIA agent Clifford stationed in Pretoria also learns of the Israeli plan and immediately reports his knowledge to Director Sheldreck. He first conferred with the pro-Israeli Senator Goldwater (who obtained the President's approval for a covert operation so that the US secret service could observe and influence the activities of Israel), then he instructed his Vice-President John Nolan to set up the organization for the project “ Fire Dragons ". Nolan is only struggling with family problems: his wife Alida (secretly Sheldreck's lover) wants a divorce, he wants to keep her. In order not to lose both, Sheldreck orders Alida Nolan to England, where she as Lady Alida Forsythe expands the European headquarters of the organization in the old manor house Green's Manor and establishes contacts with people who could get uranium. On the other hand, Nolan gets a new assistant, the pretty secretary April Turner, who helps him both as a radio operator and tries to chase away the lovesickness of her new boss. Both run the operation from Nolan's luxury yacht.
Nolan lets his German agent Werner Hellwitz in on the action. As director Francis Duval with Dr. Winter and the BND in Hamburg negotiate a delivery of uranium. What Nolan does not know: Hellwitz has been working with the MfS scout Alexander for a long time. In order to force Hellwitz to be loyal to Hellwitz, CIA agent Mannion kidnaps his daughter Andrea on her way to school. "Francis Duval" should negotiate the contract with the Germans as smoothly as possible.
Alexander is currently unable to follow Hellwitz's lead, because he himself is under suspicion: Katrin was able to find an important document that she had received from Dr. Winter had stolen, did not return in time. Winter reports the theft to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution , whose officer Platzer quickly suspects Alexander. The scouts must convince the defense of their innocence. That's why Katrin puts the document between the sheets of a daily newspaper, which is already stored in the company archive - you might later think that Winter would have forgotten it there. However, since the sheet has not been found for a long time, the investigation continues. To dispel the suspicion, Katrin has to pass information to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution that incriminates Alexander. At the same time, the two stage a relationship dispute for the surveillance systems of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which ends with a fictitious separation. When the secret document is finally found and everyone assumes that it was all an accident of Winter, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution ends the investigation. But Katrin wins the full trust of her boss, who lets her in on the details of the operation.
After signing the contract in Cape Town, the CIA is willing to get into business itself: Solka is murdered as a dangerous confidante, Dr. Winter promises under threat to work for the US in the future. Eisenberg gives Nolan another wish list, which includes the need for weapons-grade plutonium. Nolan drafts the plan to steal plutonium from a uranium factory in Pennsylvania during a US National Guard maneuver. It is Hellwitz's job to carry out the plan.
Hellwitz can establish contact with Katrin, so Alexander gets back on his trail. Both ambush the CIA guards at Green's Manor to find out more details. By chance they can direct Alida's suspicions in the direction of John Nolan. From now on she begins to intrigue against her husband.
Alida organizes the uranium smuggling to Israel by "swapping" two ships with one another, giving the impression that an obsolete ship transporting uranium has sunk. In reality it called at the port of Haifa. After the success of this action, Hellwitz and other CIA agents are briefed for the operation in Pennsylvania. The action succeeds, but Hellwitz can pass incriminating material to the FBI .
CIA director Sheldreck can only stop the investigation with the help of Goldwater, but it was first necessary to eliminate the responsible FBI department head with a "hunting accident". Goldwater assures the President of the greatest possible support, so the CIA can now officially take the "Fire Dragon" operation in hand. At the same time, the hunt within the organization against the possible traitor begins: John Nolan is found dead on his yacht, April Turner dies in an "accident" in the subway, Alida commits suicide when she is confronted with evidence of her guilt.
Operation "Fire Dragon" will be headed by Clifford with Dr. Winter. The GDR scouts can also speak of a small victory: Alexander and Katrin were able to free Andrea Hellwitz in Paris and - together with their father - bring her to safety. As Winter continues to work with Katrin, you can keep an eye on Operation Fire Dragon in the future.
Historical background
Part of the plot is based on Operation Plumbat carried out by the Mossad in November 1968 .
Movie review
Unusual for GDR standards, the film was completely panned after its premiere on GDR television (1981) , according to Peter Hoff in Neues Deutschland in the December 24, 1981 issue:
“The television of the GDR has experience with the suspense films based on authentic political facts, such as something like ' Escape from Hell (1960) ' or ' The green monster '. The advantage of this work was that it helped clarify political connections by allowing a clearly structured ensemble of characters to act out in a manageable plot.
This time, however, the opposite effect occurred. The viewer was plunged into a game of confusion that was difficult to keep track of, and in which hardly anyone was aware of the motivation behind their actions. If the plot (which happened quite often) got stuck hopelessly again, a narrator helped out of the dramaturgical emergency with commentary passages. The most sensitive weak point of the whole company, however, was the structure of the figures. Cox Habbema, Peter Reusse and Michael Gwisdek tried in vain in different disguises to keep the audience in tension. Against the lack of logic in the plot, against stupid dialogues, they were just as unable to act as the technology that the director brought in abundantly. However, the director lacked the necessary care in the treatment of the details, errors crept in the crowd. "
The essay Friendly faces on the screen - always friendly faces? mentions the film: "No longer viewed, because the broadcast dates have passed too long, [...] the failed two-part crime thriller ›› Feuerdrachen ‹‹ by Peter Hagen / Michel Mansfeld [and other films]."
The film immediately disappeared from the archive, partly because it no longer suited the political climate.
literature
- Peter Hoff: Illumination of a dark, dangerous business . "Feuerdrachen", a film made by GDR television. In: New Germany . Berlin December 24, 1981, p. 4 .
- Stefan Wogawa: The Invisible Visor - The Story of a Cult Series . Rudolstadt 2010, ISBN 978-3-86939-412-1 , p. 192-204 .
Web links
- Fire Dragon in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stefan Wogawa. Stasi-Bond with walrus schnauzer: Debate, March 2, 2012, 10:58. ( Memento from November 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Henryk Goldberg in Prisma - Cinema and TV Almanac No. 14, Henschelverlag Art and Society, Berlin 1984