Laconia (film)

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Movie
German title Laconia
Original title The Sinking of the Laconia
The sinking of the Laconia.png
Country of production United Kingdom , Germany
original language English , German
Publishing year 2011
length 180 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Uwe Janson
script Alan Bleasdale
production Nico Hofmann
music Enjott Schneider
camera Michael Schreitel
cut Tobias Haas ,
Matthew Newman
occupation

Laconia (original title The Sinking of the Laconia ) is a two-part German-British feature film from 2011 . It is about the sinking of the British steamer RMS Laconia by the submarine U 156 of the Kriegsmarine under the command of Werner Hartenstein on September 12, 1942.

The rescue operation for the survivors subsequently ordered by Hartenstein led to the “ Laconia command ” from the German BdU Admiral Dönitz , which forbade German submarines to pick up castaways from sunk Allied ships or to provide them with any other support.

action

Hildegard Schmidt, who was born in Munich to a German father and a British mother, fled the Gestapo with her six-week-old niece from Germany to travel to England via Egypt . In Suez , Hildegard Schmidt goes on board the Laconia, where she pretends to be British to the other passengers. On the Laconia, a passenger ship converted into a troop transport , there are over 360 other civilian passengers, almost 270 British soldiers, over 1,800 Italian prisoners of war and more than 100 Polish soldiers who are entrusted with guarding the Italians. The Laconia sets off on the initially calm voyage through the Gulf of Suez and circles the Cape of Good Hope without further incident.

But when the Laconia is in the Atlantic off the West African coast, the smoke from its chimney is spotted on the horizon by the crew of U 156 . Assuming it was a warship manned by British soldiers, Captain Hartenstein, the commander of U 156, opened fire on the ship. The Laconia then sends the Morse code SSS to signal that it has been attacked by submarines and also sends the SOS call for help . It does not receive an answer to either of these two radio messages. As a result of the bombardment, the Laconia sinks. When Hartenstein found out that not only the suspected soldiers, but also women, children and 1809 Italian prisoners of war were on board, Hartenstein ordered a rescue operation. When jumping from the sinking Laconia, Hildegard Schmidt slips away from her little niece, whom she can no longer find in the dark waves.

The German submarine takes several hundred castaways on board, including Hildegard Schmidt, and lines up several lifeboats at the stern of the submarine. An encrypted radio message is sent to the headquarters in Paris in order to receive further instructions on how to proceed with the passengers in view of the limited supplies. The German high command is not reporting back. Thereupon Hartenstein informed the Allies about his situation in an English-language radio message and offered that he would not attack helping ships if he also did not learn of any threat from the sea or from the air. After some time, the German U 506 under Lieutenant Erich Würdemann and a few hours later U 507 under Corvette Captain Harro Schacht and the Italian submarine Cappellini arrive and take over the Italian soldiers and around half of the British.

After the three submarines have made their way back, U 156, whose crew a Red Cross flag was designed on deck, American US by a maritime patrol aircraft of the type Consolidated PB4Y attacks, which the military airfield Wideawake Airfield on Ascension started was. After two bomb hits, U 156 is badly damaged and is only not sunk because the bomber does not carry any more bombs with it on its reconnaissance flight. After the bomber has turned off, the castaways taken by the submarine crew are disembarked and put in lifeboats so that the attacked German submarine can be repaired and submerged. The abandoned shipwrecked are given instructions not to leave the position, as a French ship is on the way to their rescue. Three of the four lifeboats adhere to this recommendation, the fourth tries to reach the African west coast, which is almost 650 nautical miles away, on its own. After 30 days at sea, the last survivors of this lifeboat reach the coast. The other three boats have since been picked up by the announced French ship.

While Hartenstein is at sea, the German submarine commander , Admiral Karl Dönitz , issues the “ Laconia command ”. After his return, Hartenstein received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross .

background

teamWorx and the British company Talkback Thames , both subsidiaries of the RTL Group , came across the story of the sinking of Laconia independently of one another while searching for topics to be filmed together. From the beginning, the division of labor was planned with a British screenwriter and a German director, who were found in Alan Bleasdale and Uwe Janson . The production company for the film was teamWorx and the script took several years to write. The production cost around 13 million euros and was shot in Cape Town , South Africa . The former office of the Commander of the Submarines (BdU) in Paris can be recognized as part of the University of Cape Town . Filming lasted from September to November 2009. In January 2011, BBC Two aired the feature film and on January 9, 2011 broadcast a half-hour documentary entitled The Sinking of the Laconia: Survivors' Stories , in the original sounds of survivors of the Laconia shipwreck can be heard. The film Laconia was first shown on German-language free TV on November 2 and 3, 2011 on ARD and ORF . On November 4, 2011, Warner Home Video released the film on DVD with an FSK-12 rating.

The film was released in two versions, one for the English and one for the German-speaking television market, each with a different focus. Both versions are available on DVD.

The replica of the submarine for the shooting cost 300,000 euros. A seaworthy steel frame weighing one hundred tons was made, which was used for the exterior shots of the submarine. The Laconia was also partially rebuilt for the shooting.

Soundtrack

On November 4, 2011, the soundtrack was released by the Alhambra music label . It contains 23 music tracks with a total playing time of 67:40 minutes.

synchronization

The film, which was made as a German-British co-production, was recorded in English. The German actors dubbed themselves.

actor speaker role
Andrew Buchan Peter Flechtner Mortimer
Ken Duken Ken Duken Hartenstein
Thomas Kretschmann Thomas Kretschmann Admiral Doenitz
Franka Potente Franka Potente Hilda
Ciarán McMenamin Gerrit Schmidt-Foss Declan McDermott
Lindsay Duncan Kerstin Sanders-Dornseif Elisabeth Fullwood
Frederick Lau Frederick Lau fiddler
Jacob Matschenz Jacob Matschenz Mannesmann 1 week
Morven Christie Alexandra Wilcke Laura Ferguson
Matthias Koeberlin Matthias Koeberlin Rostau LI
Ludovico Fremont Nico Mamone Vincenzo Di Giovanni
Roland Hemmo 1st officer
Frank Röth Crew member
Thomas Nero Wolff A dad

reception

While the film in the English version received almost euphoric praise after its first broadcast on BBC Two in January 2011, the version shown on the ARD first broadcast in November 2011, which was simplified for German viewers and enriched with explanatory internal monologues, met with rejection at the criticism. The FAZ critic set the British version as a “film for mature viewers with taste” in contrast to the ARD version. This is "a tough scrap from which everything that requires even a minimum of ability to combine is either cut out or declared to be dead". "Twelve million sunk", judged Doris Priesching from Standard , in whose opinion the film was "unfortunately not a big hit".

The website Schnittberichte.com , which specializes in different film versions, judged: “However, a separate version was made for the German version, which apparently no longer has anything in common with the British version, but tried through numerous recuts, flashbacks, voiceovers and scene additions has to get closer to the terrible melodramas for which Degeto Film, who acted as co-producer here, is notorious and is regularly criticized. "

Berhold Seewald von der Welt judges that the screenplay has “every effort to keep the historical balance”, the plot is “woodcut-like”, but “not without entertainment value”: “Especially in the unclear alternation between military mandate, prejudice and humanity, Laconia wins 'Its charm. ”Compared to the classic Das Boot and the blockbuster Titanic , the film is “ respectable ” despite its comparatively low budget . Seewald's verdict is that the film is “well composed, captivatingly told and historically properly weighted”. “You can't do without pathos and stereotypical characters, but the two-parter sets a worthy memorial to the almost forgotten, tragic war hero”, judges the editorial team of TV Spielfilm and sums up that the film is a “homage to a man with a conscience”.

The Frankfurter Rundschau defended the Degeto version: “The English author Alan Bleasdale had no qualms about declaring the German submarine captain the hero of the film story.” “The German producers of Teamworx, on the other hand, did not want to let the Hartenstein be forgotten the ship first shot down and then rescued the shipwrecked. ”Criticism was raised that the Nazis around Karl Dönitz were portrayed too positively.

Other German critics praised that the film was “close to the model”. There is no such thing as a "falsification of history". Tilmann Gangloff from the Stuttgarter Zeitung was of the opinion that the film had “great viewing values” and praised the “outstanding actors”, especially Ken Duken and Franka Potente. He was critical of the German-language synchronization of the film, through which all actors can be heard in German and the moment when Hildegard Schmidt reveals himself to be German to save Mortimer, clearly loses its effect.

Awards

In 2011 Johnathan Young , Alan Bleasdale , Hilary Norrish and Uwe Janson received nominations for a BAFTA award in the Best Drama Serial category . In the same year , Ken Duken was nominated for best leading actor in a miniseries for a Golden Nymph at the Monte Carlo TV Film Festival.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Laconia . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , August 2011 (PDF; test number: 129 185 V).
  2. ↑ a b Interview with the producers ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), daserste.de from November 2, 2011, accessed on February 9, 2015
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Stuttgarter Zeitung : ARD feature film “Laconia”: Melancholy Commander with Courage , Tilmann Gangloff, November 2, 2011
  4. ↑ a b c d TV adaptation: The "nice Nazi" Hartenstein , November 2, 2011, accessed on November 2, 2011
  5. ↑ Internet Movie Database : Budget and Box Office Results
  6. ↑ schnittberichte.com: Laconia in an alternative cut version today on ARD: German-English co-production with far-reaching differences , Doc Idaho, November 2nd, 2011
  7. ↑ a b Der Standard : Twelve Million Sunk , Doris Priesching, November 1, 2011
  8. ↑ a b synchronkartei.de: Synchronization
  9. ↑ Uwe Ebbinghaus: A large film is blurred . In: FAZ, November 1, 2011, p. 35.
  10. ^ Cut reports : Laconia in an alternative cut version on ARD today , Doc Idaho, November 2, 2011
  11. ↑ Die Welt : U-boat war on ARD: The "Laconia" and the good Nazi Werner Hartenstein , Berhold Seewald, November 2, 2011
  12. ↑ TV feature film : TV war drama: two-parter based on facts , 2011
  13. ↑ a b c Millions saw submarine drama: How much truth is there in "Laconia"? , by Bernd Peters, berliner-kurier.de of November 3, 2011, accessed on November 3, 2011
  14. ^ The "Laconia" and the good Nazi Werner Hartenstein , by Berthold Seewald, welt.de of November 2, 2011, accessed on November 3, 2011
  15. ↑ a b UFA : Nominations for LACONIA - teamWorx production nominated for both BAFTAs and Golden Nymph , Anja Käumle, May 2, 2011
  16. ↑ a b Internet Movie Database : Nominations and Awards