Der Tunnel (2001) Reviews

• although a bit fictionalized a still faithful depiction of real events

  clivy2004-10-03

  It's very interesting to compare 'Der Tunnel' with 'Tunnel 28', or 'Escape from East Berlin', which was filmed in 1962. Both are based on a tunnel that was built in May 1962 from a street in West Berlin and ended in a basement in a house in East Berlin. As in 'Der Tunnel', the actual tunnel was built by a group of students, some who wanted to help their families and loved ones escape, some who wanted to help because of their convictions. 'Der Tunnel' is very well acted, especially by Heino Ferch. Ferch's performance as the swimming champion and former prisoner Harry Melchoir is outstanding. Claudia Michelsen turns in a finely nuanced performance as Carola, who is intimidated into informing the East German police about the escape attempt. Sebastian Koch is moving as her husband, who serves as the engineer behind the project, and Mehmet Kurtulus is compelling as Vic, the Italian American who is detained and interrogated as a consequence of Carola's betrayal. The film shows the streets where the actual tunnel was built (they are probably sets but they depict them accurately, as they must have looked just after the Wall was built). It also reflects the involvement of a NBC film crew. The actual tunnel's building was financed by NBC in exchange for rights to exclusive footage of the students working on its construction and footage of refugees escaping. I've always wanted to see this documentary but I've never found a copy of it. Some of the NBC footage is featured in a recent German documentary 'Der Tunnel - Die Wahre Geschichte' that interviews the builders. While filming this documentary researchers found remains of the tunnel that they dug. 'Escape from East Berlin' only resembles the actual escape in the way that it shows 28 people fleeing from a tunnel: it portrays a family deciding to dig a tunnel from the East Berlin side to the West. 'Der Tunnel' depicts the students, the financing by NBC, and the danger to the tunnel caused by a burst pipe. (The real tunnel builders hoped to continue using the tunnel but the night after 28 people escaped it was flooded by a burst pipe. I've read that some East Berliners hoped to reuse this tunnel during the following winter, after the water froze, but I don't know if this is true. Several people were told about it and when they came to find the tunnel's entrance they were arrested by the East German police.) I didn't mind that the script of 'Der Tunnel' centres on a swimming champion who becomes the focal point of the tunnel building. Harry's conflicts dramatise the situations that many people found themselves in at the time: agonising over the separation from their families. The other characters also show the difficult situations and choices facing Berliners on both sides of the Wall. The scene in which Fritizi's fiancé dies attempting to cross the Wall is heart wrenching: it reflects the tragedy of Peter Fetcher, who was shot while trying to escape and left to bleed to death. The sex scene between Harry and Fritzi is moving, not gratuitous. And yet certain elements of the film still struck me as sensationalist. One in particular is Fritizi returning to dig the tunnel so soon after her suicide attempt. I couldn't see someone doing hard physical work or being trusted to act as a courier in such demanding circumstances so soon after slashing her wrists. The colonel chasing the refugees and Harry and Fritizi though the Tunnel and stopping at the border, as possible as it might have been according to international protocol in 1962, just rang false. And was it really necessary to have Harry dress up as a border guard and drive a army vehicle back to the border area without being suspected once? As much as the 1962 film changed the story it showed the desperation and hope of many Berliners without lecturing on the horrors of Communism. Der Tunnel faithfully depicts the period, and the experiences of the people, and yet- I would have liked less of the Hollywooding of the script. It's ironic that Der Tunnel shows Vic encountering the set of 'Tunnel 28' and remarking how he has always wanted to go to Hollywood and be a scriptwriter. The movie shows the overeager hand of an aspiring scriptwriter. A little restraint at the drafting stage would have made 'Der Tunnel' an even more powerful film, and a more fitting tribute to the students who helped East Berliners find their way to freedom from oppression.

• A near-perfect film, will still yield lessons on four watchings

  phranger2001-10-27

  This is an exceptionally well-built film with a subject more than worth the effort, well delimited and well illuminated. Teaches a lot, by showing, not saying. Truly beyond praise. Der Tunnel illustrates how it felt to live in East Germany in the years before the Wall was built, how it felt once it was built, and the terrible determination of some people who escaped in the first few days, to make their escape serve others in East Berlin by trying to bring them to the West, even if the attempt should cost them their own lives. The film's primary power lies there, in the testimony value of each of its frames. I lived for a few months in Germany less than four years after the events shown, within a walk from the East German border. I visited East Berlin several times and traipsed (illegally) into East Germany once. Der Tunnel shows truths I would never have found the words to explain, and shows them in a way anyone can feel, if perhaps by watching the film more than once. Another film that is instructive on some of the same topics is Volker Schlondorf's semi-fictional Legends of Rita, well worth watching after Der Tunnel. (Legends of Rita takes place in the last years before the Wall fell, more than 20 years later.) One note. In Der Tunnel, the more people are compromised by the East German regime, the more they invoke their conscience and their deep-felt personal opinions. (You might call this the Lutheran variant of Stalinism.) This occurs equally in Legends, except that in the latter the character who is totally "political consciousness"-driven is the West German Rote-Armee protagonist, who does nothing but meaningless murders until she escapes to the East and, there, is kept under control. So, in Legend, the various East German security people come off better with their "conscience" than does the truly-awful protagonist. In Der Tunnel, they don't come out as well. As for the diggers, they never talk about conscience or opinion at all. That they will do everything in their power to save their loved ones from the regime is simply obvious to all and never discussed. A second note. The only non-East-German involved in the digging is an American undercover operative. Despite working, no doubt, under the same constraints as his opposite numbers, he shows as much determination as any of the other diggers, and perhaps even more courage. Concerning Marcel's ending query -- The Colonel stops at the border sign because doing anything beyond the sign would lead to major diplomatic embarrassments, and naturally to demotion or worse for him. He certainly can't kill all the witnesses (and has no intention of doing so). This is the same mechanics that explain why the American operative, after being caught in the East by the Colonel's services, is only detained for a spate of days, with no torture nor bad treatment except cold and isolation, and then released. (He carefully avoided engaging in anything like espionage.) These rules were known to all at the time (self included).

• It's hard to believe what some people have been through, especially when it has been at the hands of their own government and in such recent years.

  Chris_Gardner2003-05-29

  In The Tunnel the audience is dragged down to the depths with a group of Germans so desperate to get their loved ones from East Germany in 1961 that they are prepared to dig a tunnel under the infamous Berlin Wall. The tunnel takes a year to dig, is seven metres deep and 145 metres long. The story of The Tunnel is really the story of Harry Melchior (Heino Ferch), an East German champion swimmer who escapes to the west disguised as a tourist. Before leaving the state which has imprisoned him for four years he promised his sister, Lotte Lohmann (Alexandra Maria Lara) that he would do his best to rescue her from the oppressive regime. Joining him in his noble mission is Matthis Hiller (Sebastian Koch), an engineer with the knowhow if only the rest of the gang will listen to him. He wants to rescue his wife and unborn child. Also on the team is Friederike 'Fritzi' Scholz (Nicolette Krebitz). Her intended is trapped on the other side of the wall, but does she really love him? There is a whole host of other characters who have their own motivations for helping out, but who can be trusted and who is a spy? All the actos put in superb performances, transporting the viewer back to those troubled times. What makes The Tunnel such compelling viewing is not it's high production values and suspenseful story, although it has both in oodles, but the very fact that it is a true story. Directed by Roland Suso Richter and written by Johannes W Betz, The Tunnel is filmed in the original German with English subtitles. But the subject is so enthralling that you soon forget you are having to read each line. While it is three hours long it doesn't even feel it. The Tunnel began its run during the Te Awamutu International Film Festival at The Regent cinema but is to continue showing.

• Breathtaking

  rudy20012001-10-27

  "Der Tunnel" is far better than anything i've seen coming out of Hollywood in years. Although steadily paced, its tention keeps building for almost three hours. Based on a true story, it shows that real life stories often provide the best scripts. The cast was well chosen and the acting was excellent. I knew Berlin when it was still divided and the film is a spot on portrayal of the mood at the time. All in all a gripping story guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Not to be missed. 10/10!

• Almost 3 hours, but doesn't feel like it

  robin_rubin2007-07-30

  What a great movie! It's a very well made adventure flick that has the added advantage of being true. I agree with the IMDb reviewer who said Heino Ferch, who plays the central character Harry Melchior, was a lot like Bruce Willis. I found the similarities profound. And I thoroughly disagree with the New York Times reviewer (click on the EXTERNAL REVIEWS link to read it), who wrote: "They are joined by numerous volunteers hoping to rescue their own friends and family, and by the eager Fritzi (Nicolette Krebitz), whose solitary feminine presence complicates the team's relationships." I don't know what movie that reviewer saw, but it wasn't this one. What a stupid remark, apropos of nothing, making it sound like a romantic triangle or quadrangle develops. There is nothing of the kind. In fact, Fritzi is a great female role model. When she first volunteers and the men wonder what sort of contribution she'll be able to make, she says, "I may look different from you when I'm naked, but I can work just as hard." Then she jumps into the tunnel and starts digging. Right on, sister. I don't remember much about Germany before the Berlin Wall came down, beyond cinematic references to "Checkpoint Charlie" and the Brandenburg Gate and news reports I was too young to understand. But this movie really brings the horrors -- psychological as well as physical -- to life. Another film that explores similar territory, psychological as well as physical, is The Lives of Others. Interestingly, the German actor Sebastian Koch has high profile roles in both films.