We wanted to go to the sea
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | We wanted to go to the sea |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2012 |
| length | 117 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Toke Constantin Hebbeln |
| script |
Ronny Schalk Toke Constantin Hebbeln |
| production |
Manuel Bickenbach Alexander Bickenback Nico Hofmann Ariane Krampe Jürgen Schuster |
| music | Nic Raine |
| camera | Felix Novo de Oliveira |
| cut | Simon Blasi |
| occupation | |
| |
We wanted to go to sea is the first full-length feature film by the German student Oscar winner Toke Constantin Hebbeln . The melodramatic film is about friends who the system of the GDR - dictatorship makes enemies. It was released on September 13, 2012.
action
Two newcomers to the Rostock port , the exasperated Andreas and Cornelis, dream of becoming sailors, for which they are supposed to spy on foreman Matthias on behalf of Stasi Colonel Seler. Andreas joins in the hope of being able to go to sea afterwards. Cornelis, who had an undesirable relationship in the GDR with the Vietnamese student Phuong Mai, is unsure whether he should participate in the betrayal and soon afterwards realizes that Matthias has already been betrayed by Andreas. He is led away in front of his eyes by Stasi employees. An argument breaks out, and in the course of the fight, Andreas runs in front of a passing truck. Andreas is seriously injured and is taken to a hospital; Cornelis flees with his girlfriend and goes to Czechoslovakia. Shortly before the life-saving operation, Stasi employees come to Andreas and blackmail him into the escape plans that Cornelis and Andreas had forged many years ago. They make it unmistakably clear to him that he might not survive the severe anesthesia if he keeps the escape plans to himself.
Cornelis and Phuong drive to the Czechoslovak border as planned and are surprised by border guards there. Cornelis distracts them, Phuong is able to escape and travel on to Hamburg . There she found work in the Vietnamese community and tried to contact Cornelis. He has meanwhile been convicted of attempting to cross the border illegally and was sent to prison in Cottbus . There he meets Matthias, who is also incarcerated there. At first he is very worried that Matthias might find out that Cornelis was involved in his arrest, but over time the two become friends again. Andreas survived the operation, but is now dependent on a wheelchair . He is recruited by the Stasi and films conspiratorial meetings in a house . He also lives there and settles his life in the course of time. Andreas learns of Cornelis' arrest and travels to Cottbus. He questions him and passes on his knowledge to the Stasi. This sends him Phuong's letters, which he answers instead of Cornelis, pretending to be him. However, Cornelis learns nothing of the son Phuong has since given birth. Over time, this creates a permanent correspondence in which Andreas Phuong pretends that Cornelis is preparing his escape in order to lull her into safety. On the other hand, he pretends to Cornelis that Phuong wants to return to Vietnam. The Stasi hopes that Cornelis will give up his thoughts of fleeing and reintegrate into GDR society after his imprisonment.
Cornelis, on the other hand, does not want to come to terms with his situation. When he learns that the wives of the guards are looking for western products, he approaches the prison director and suggests a deal: the inmates should write to an exchange organization in Germany and ask for western parcels. These should then be given to the wives of the guards. The prison director agrees to the "deal" and shortly afterwards the first packages arrive at the prison. Cornelis tells Andreas about this arrangement on another visit, as he still thinks he is his friend. He in turn forwards the information to the State Security again. There is a scandal when the State Security investigates the prison. Cornelis is taken to the prison cellar. There he meets Matthias in a cell, who had also been brought there a few weeks earlier after an argument with a guard. They stay there for several weeks and Cornelis confesses to Matthias his involvement in the betrayal. He forgives him.
By addressing the exchange organization, Phuong now learns where Cornelis is incarcerated. They go to Andreas with a lawyer and ask for his help. He comes under pressure and the situation escalates further when a couple appear at the house he was supposed to be spying on. In private, Andreas demands from Phuong that she should withdraw the lawyer, otherwise Cornelis would be in danger. It remains unclear whether Andreas Lied to Phuong or whether he really revealed himself to her. Shortly afterwards, Andreas is brought to his command officer and the tape recording is played for him. The surprised informant is told that he has qualified as a full-time Stasi employee. Andreas can hardly believe his luck and from then on works with even greater zeal for the Stasi. Some time later, Matthias and Cornelis were ransomed as political prisoners by the FRG .
After Andreas sent him the real letters from Phuong after the fall of the Wall, Cornelis goes to Hamburg, but realizes there that Phuong had meanwhile lost all hope of seeing him again and has left for Vietnam. Cornelis is now fulfilling his lifelong dream: He hires a shipowner who also comes from the GDR. In an interview, the shipowner told him that Cornelis' ship would cast off in three days and that the voyage was going to Southeast Asia . Cornelis says with a smile: "I know". With that the film ends.
criticism
The lexicon of international films describes the film as a "dark GDR drama" and the longing for a better world of people who are trapped in a system in which they do not want to live. The performance of the actors describes it as “outstanding”, even though the action from the critics' point of view is “too clearly illustrated” and takes on the dimension of a Greek tragedy.
For Prisma, on the other hand, the feature film is “one of those films in which less would have been more.” The TV magazine shows that the initial situation of a great friendship with a vile betrayal in connection with the Stasi apparatus has the potential for has a "major cinema event". She criticizes a feeling for "speed, drama and acting", but also praises a "few good pictures and scenes".
Spiegel Online expresses itself similarly critical , in which one criticizes that the film already fails "because of the very small historical details".
Critic.de welcomes the disclosure of the inhumanity of the GDR apparatus, but at the same time criticizes, "... All of this suffocates itself cinematically, and especially in connection with an overly clear working score, as a permanent metaphor to a certain extent. . "
The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating particularly valuable.
Web links
- We wanted the sea in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- We wanted to go to the sea at filmportal.de
- Official website
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for We wanted to go out to sea . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , September 2012 (PDF; test number: 130 220 V).
- ↑ We wanted to go to the sea. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ We wanted to go to sea , prisma.de
- ↑ And the Stasi is always on board , spiegel.de
- ↑ Review , on critic.de