Volcano (film)
Vulkan is a German disaster film . The two-parter was broadcast on October 18 and 19, 2009 on RTL . The first part had a market share of 16.5% with 5.9 million viewers, the second part reached 6.59 million viewers with a market share of 20.6%.
action
In Lake Lorchheim it is seething, gas bubbles rise to the surface and make a swimmer faint. But the people in the Eifel village of Lorchheim are too busy with their private problems to notice the first signs of an impending catastrophe. The young firefighter Michael Gernau argues with his girlfriend Andrea Matting whether they should move to Frankfurt am Main , where she can get a place at university. He also has problems with his parents because his father with heart disease dies and his mother wants to give up the hotel. Gerhard Maug tries to maintain a luxurious life through criminal financial transactions, while his daughter Paula wants to establish herself in the clique. The law enforcement officer Walter Röhricht, who fights against youngsters among other things, also fights for recognition. Kirsten Friedrich meets her old love Gernot on home leave with her twin babies, while her husband works in Frankfurt and is seduced by Yvonne there.
When an earthquake shook the village, the young geology doctoral student Daniela Eisenach from the University of Potsdam came to Lorchheim to investigate the seismic activities. She is convinced that magma movements under Lake Lorchheim are responsible for the earthquake. At first she falls on deaf ears with her statements. Neither the rescue center in Mingen nor the district administrator take their warnings seriously, and their professor Dominic Merkt tries to silence them. Only Gernau, who wants to prove himself as a disaster relief worker and also shows a private interest in the attractive scientist, believes her and tries to convince those responsible of the need for precautionary measures.
The harbingers of a volcanic eruption are increasing. Another swimmer is killed by a gas bubble in the lake, the young speedsters are stopped by a crack that suddenly appeared in the road, and a whole flock of sheep falls dead in the pasture. Those responsible are finally convinced of the impending danger and have Lorchheim evacuated with the help of the Bundeswehr . While the first buses with the refugees are still on the road, the lake explodes and a hot cloud of steam spreads over the area. More eruptions follow and transform Lorchheim into a disaster area full of ash and fire.
While the media are reporting on what is happening in the Eifel with breaking news and dramatic images, the crisis team is retreating to a secure building to coordinate the measures that have so far been very chaotic. Eisenach provides scientific analyzes of the effects of pyroclasts and the possible further course of volcanic activity. There is a difference of opinion when assessing the situation in Lorchheim. The other rescuers want to give up the village in the center of the disaster area because they see no chance of survivors there, but Eisenach, who feels an emotional connection to Gernau, wants to send rescue workers to the village. In an emergency camp, helpers from the DRK and THW take care of the evacuated people. Since Matting and Phil Friedrichs see the dust clouds of the volcano in Frankfurt too, they make their way to Lorchheim and meet on the way. Neither the checkpoints on the street nor the danger to their lives can stop them.
Meanwhile, Gernau is hiding with Gerhard and Paula Maug and the Friedrichs babies in an underground vault of the castle. However, the hiding place quickly proves to be problematic, as they run out of water and the lava threatens to penetrate. While trying to get food, Gernau hears Eisenach's voice on the radio of a Bundeswehr bus and asks her to send a helicopter. After some discussion, the desired helicopter comes and picks up those who are hidden. On the way you will find Matting and Friedrichs in the middle of the lava flows. Since the helicopter can only carry a limited number of people, Gernau remains behind and dies. The other inmates are rescued, and in the emergency camp Maug's mother see Renate again, while Matting remains alone in her grief.
background
Volcanologists like Ulrich Schreiber from the University of Duisburg-Essen , who served as a scientific advisor to the producers of the film, show through studies that a catastrophe in the Eifel as shown in the film is actually imminent at some point; only the time is still open. The volcanic fields of the Eifel are not yet considered extinct. The Laacher See volcano last erupted 13,000 years ago with an explosive force of 500 Hiroshima bombs and generated a 35-kilometer-high column of smoke that spread to Scandinavia and Italy . In addition to the film crew, various geologists and volcanologists took part in a press conference on October 16, 2008 in the Lava Dome in Mendig .
production
The film was partly shot in the Eifel around the Laacher See . The city of Bad Münstereifel served as the backdrop for the fictional Lorchheim . The Felsenkeller is located in Mendig 5 km south of the Laacher See, but its entrance area is also in Bad Münstereifel. The scenes in the conference room were created in an air raid shelter in Stuttgart , the entrance to the bunker being the former government bunker in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler . All lake scenes were filmed on the Pulvermaar near Gillenfeld . The castle that can be seen from the air is one of the Manderscheider castles . The Johannisburg Palace in Aschaffenburg served as the backdrop for the University of Potsdam . Interior photos of the university were taken at Aschaffenburg University . During the scenes in the emergency accommodation in the also fictional town of Lammingen, 200 extras representing the evacuees and 70 volunteers from the DRK Cologne were deployed in an empty hall of the former Clouth Gummiwerke in Cologne-Nippes . The DRK had previously set up the functional field hospital.
The production costs totaled nine million euros. The computer effects took up a million euros.
Reviews
Christian Buß from Spiegel Online sees “a stylish zombie parable about social decay for half an hour. The rest of the time, however, you only see undead TV visages in the lava and magma slalom. "
Torsten Thissen from Welt online is of the opinion that the film fulfills its purpose: “Not that there is any real tension, but that is probably not the point of a disaster film either. Rather, it's about making the audience shudder. [...] Such a volcanic eruption is dangerous, and it can also awaken the best and the worst in people. "
Julian Miller fromquotemeter.de criticizes weaknesses in the plot: “Beyond the visual effects,» Vulkan «is often rather poor from a dramaturgical point of view. But there are tons of emotions, even if they are sometimes portrayed in a rather trite manner. With the best will in the world, however, one cannot deny that the two-part film by director Uwe Janson has a high entertainment value. "
Peter Huber from diepresse.com praises the subplots aside from the spectacular action: “It's the little dramas in life that came to the fore in part one. The structure of village life is dismantled almost anatomically. This makes the two-parter stand out from most of its - often embarrassing - destruction predecessors. "
Awards
- Nomination for the German Television Prize 2010 for Best Multi-Part
- Nomination for the Adolf Grimme Prize 2010 / Special Prize Fiction, for the special effects: Wolf Schiebel, Volker Lorig, Karl-Heinz Bochnig
Web links
- Volcano in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ RTL two-part "Vulkan" wins over James Bond. DWDL, October 19, 2009, accessed on October 20, 2009 .
- ↑ RTL two-part "Vulkan" is still growing significantly. DWDL, October 20, 2009, accessed on October 20, 2009 .
- ^ Claus Richter: Invitation to the press conference "Der Vulkan". (No longer available online.) October 7, 2008, archived from the original on October 24, 2009 ; Retrieved October 20, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Christian Buß : Germany, united zombie country. Spiegel Online, October 18, 2009, accessed October 20, 2009 .
- ↑ Torsten Thissen: RTL lets the Eifel fly in the air. Welt online, October 16, 2009, accessed October 20, 2009 .
- ↑ Julian Miller: The Critics: «Vulkan». Quota meter, October 16, 2009, accessed October 20, 2009 .
- ↑ Peter Huber: Vulkan (RTL): The great white shark in the lava bath. diepresse.com, October 19, 2009, accessed October 20, 2009 .
