Plutonium (1978)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | plutonium |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1978 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Rainer Erler |
| script | Rainer Erler |
| music | Eugene Thomass |
| camera | Wolfgang Grasshoff |
| cut | Hilwa from Boro |
| occupation | |
| |
Plutonium is a German television film by Rainer Erler from 1978. The film was produced by the Pentagramma company on behalf of ZDF . It was first broadcast on television on June 26, 1978. Many outdoor shots show South American countries , most of them Brazil .
action
The editor of the TV studio WRTV 8, Bob Cunningham, announces that the plutonium affair in a South American state that cannot be named appears to be resolved. Film and tape material by journalist Anna Ferroli has been secured. She wanted to present her material on February 24 at a press conference on the country's television and explain the events of the previous day when 14 people were shot while storming a terrorist prison, as well as the disappearance of 50 kg of plutonium from a nuclear power plant in the country. The television broadcast is canceled, the recordings come from a WRTV 8 team who filmed the conference on their hotel television.
The material announced by Cunningham is broadcast. Ferroli announced in the studio on February 24th in the presence of government officials that she would "unpack" about the disappearance of the plutonium. The disappearance is part of a "tremendous villainy". She has evidence that the material is not in the hands of terrorists, but the government. After the broadcast was canceled, Ferroli and her cameraman were shot dead in front of the transmitter on the street, and the perpetrators escaped. There is no press coverage of these events; officially the killers were terrorists.
The coverage of WRTV 8 begins with the kidnapping of the West German nuclear physicist Hartung, who works in the nuclear power plant of the South American state. The kidnappers are demanding the release of 200 political prisoners. Ferroli has won the Pulitzer Prize and is considered incorruptible. The Federal Republic did not intervene in the Hartung case and weighed it down; the state must not allow itself to be blackmailed. Officially there are no terrorists in the South American state. Hartung's wife and children are under house arrest. At the power station, Ferroli is confirmed by the boss that the kidnappers have not made any monetary claims. Hartung is also not an important functionary.
Ferroli tries to contact the kidnappers. When the government finds out, they are expelled from the country. During a press conference in New York, the kidnapped Hartung reported from South America as a complete surprise. The kidnappers are ready to meet with Ferroli and facilitate an interview with Hartung. She then re-entered illegally via a third country in South America. The border police were nevertheless informed of Ferroli's entry. One of Ferroli's aides may have been a CIA agent.
In the capital she meets conspiratorially with a representative of the terrorists. He calls himself Porfirio Perez and explains to her that his group is called "Command for the Liberation of the People". The kidnapping serves to attract attention. Ferroli is skeptical but admits that the world is "addicted to images". He tries to allay their concerns; the fact that she appeared was already a success. She likes Perez; "of course" he is a communist . Ferroli’s research that his group was not known to other underground movements, countered Perez by saying that the existence of the other groups was denied in order not to reveal them. But she remains skeptical and breaks off the interview.
Nevertheless, she is given an interview with Hartung. He reports that he is being treated well by the kidnappers and calls for the prisoners to be released. An opposition leader explains to Ferroli that this action is of no use to the political resistance, which is being pursued by the secret service . In the end 45 prisoners are released who, according to Ferroli, are only the "second line". Hartung returns to his company.
Ferroli leaves the country. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) later found that a South American country is missing 30 kg of plutonium - as it turns out in Hartung's department. Ferroli flies to South America again. Hartung assures her that the plant's control system is secure and that no plutonium can be missing. The head of the plant argues that the theft of plutonium without special equipment is also suicide .
Ferroli wants to report on the case on a talk show , but is surprisingly confronted with recordings showing her together with Porfirio Perez, with whom she apparently had an affair, which she also confirms. She expresses her view that, compared to European terrorists, Perez is not a terrorist, but a real revolutionary. It becomes clear that Ferroli is apparently under surveillance by various secret services.
Factory employee Roland B. confirms to Ferroli that pure plutonium was produced in the factory, but that it allegedly disappeared due to deflagration. The experiments have stopped, but 40 to 50 kg of plutonium have been produced. Ferroli urges him to continue researching the whereabouts of the plutonium in the factory. Roland B. is then arrested at the plant and deported.
Ferroli found empty barrels at one of the plant's landfills with traces of blue paint, which apparently came from 42 steel bottles with one kilogram of plutonium each. When the police arrive, Ferroli informs the officers. Ferroli states that the material produced could produce four to five atomic bombs that would destroy the balance of horror .
Hartung disappears and Ferroli finds him in the terrorist prison where he was previously imprisoned. Perez makes it clear to her that no information will leave the house. Hartung joined the terrorists to Ferroli's irritation and argued that 70% of the population of Latin America is undernourished and is in the grip of the rich industrial nations. Ferroli asks him how he is going to solve the problem with an atomic bomb. Perez replies that the material is in the hands of specialists and that his country is rich, but dependent and underage and is only being exploited by the USA, Great Britain, France, West Germany and Italy. However, his government will change the situation.
Ferroli and Hartung are surprised. Perez goes on to explain that they are not terrorists, but patriots and members of the security police. Hartung and Ferroli realize they are both victims of a false flag intelligence operation . Ferroli explains to Perez that tomorrow the whole world will know the background to the story. The intelligence officer replies that he announced when she arrived that no word would leave the house. The house will also be stormed by the police and there will only be deaths.
In fact, police start shooting at the house. Perez is puzzled to find that television journalists have also arrived, which was not planned. In the general confusion, Hartung creates a way for himself, Ferroli and their cameraman to escape. The nuclear physicist is shot by the alleged terrorists, who in turn are shot by the police, although they want to surrender.
After the police operation, an involved corporal of the security police reported to the American embassy , asking for political asylum. He discovered two former comrades from the War Academy among the dead terrorists. His superiors told him that they were deserters . He rules that out completely, since the two comrades were staunch patriots. His asylum request is not granted in order not to endanger the unstable relations between the USA and the country even more.
The television program from February 24th, which marked the beginning of the film, will be shown again. According to Cunningham, the process and content were rehearsed for three hours. But Ferroli explains deviating from this in front of the camera that the plutonium is in the hands of the totalitarian state. The broadcast is canceled. Cunningham shows footage of the crime scene where Ferroli and her cameraman were shot. The alleged terrorists fled in a car with the registration number "FX 3780", a vehicle belonging to the security police. Cunningham makes it clear that they no longer even bother to cover up their tracks and reads a current report from the country: In the northwest, a restricted zone has been expanded from 2,500 to 40,000 square kilometers. The population will be evacuated indefinitely. The credits are backed by images of various atom bomb explosions.
background
The film deals with the topic of the security of nuclear technology and the possible misuse of nuclear technology for nuclear weapons by military dictatorships against the background of the Angra nuclear power plant, which was then under construction .
criticism
“The theme of the atomic threat is used in the film to denounce the practices of totalitarian systems; an exciting thriller in the form of a fictional report. "
“With the detonation of the Indian atomic bomb in May 1974, the" second atomic age "( Robert Jungk ), the age of" proliferation "began. Rainer Erler's story takes place in this age. It is only a matter of time before a third world state will build its own atomic bomb. To get the coveted plutonium, totalitarian systems, something those in South America, use any means. Erler combines these two theses into his political fiction. He uses the means of documentary film, thus creating a strong sense of reality. It is to be hoped that "Plutonium" is science fiction, but it is to be feared that it is not even "fiction" anymore ... "Plutonium" is an important film. "
Others
Rainer Erler described his work as "a film against the inevitability of madness, a film about human inadequacy, about seduction by criminal ideologies, about the abuse of people, knowledge and power". (Rainer Erler, Plutonium, 1983, quoted from Hahn / Jansen, p. 405) Although neither the country nor the cities are named in the film, the Angra, Rio de Janeiro , São Paulo and Brasília nuclear power plants can be seen in many exterior shots . Hartung's kidnappers use a Federal District- registered Ford minibus with the Brazilian registration number AF9131. The contact between Ferroli and Porfirio Perez was filmed in Rio de Janeiro, you can see the Sugar Loaf in the background .
On the other hand, the local residents all speak Spanish, not Portuguese as in Brazil , and some archive images of street battles in Argentina and Chile have been included. All three countries were ruled by military dictatorships at the time, who showed interest in nuclear power plants.
See also
literature
- Rainer Erler: Plutonium. A fictional documentary game . Eichborn magazine. Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 1983, 76 pages, ISBN 3-8218-1105-6
- Harry Olechnowitz, Michael Sprenger (compilation): Plutonium. A film by Rainer Erler . Booklet. Atlas-Film + -AV, Duisburg 1982, 30 pp.
- Entry: Plutonium , in: Ronald M. Hahn / Volker Jansen: Lexicon of Science Fiction Films. 720 films from 1902 to 1983 , Munich (Heyne) 1983, p. 404f. ISBN 3-453-01901-6
Individual evidence
- ↑ plutonium. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 4, 2017 .
Web links
- Plutonium in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Plutonium at Filmportal.de