The Tunnel (2001 film)

2001 German television film

For the 1913 German novel about transatlantic tunnels, see Der Tunnel (novel).

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The Tunnel

'DVD cover

German| Der Tunnel
Written by| Johannes W. Betz
Directed by| Roland Suso Richter
Starring| Heino Ferch
Nicolette Krebitz
Alexandra Maria Lara
Sebastian Koch
Music by| Harald Kloser
Thomas Wanker
Country of origin| Germany
Original language| German
Production
Producers| Nico Hofmann
Ariane Krampe
Running time| 157 min.
Original release
Release| 21 January 2001 (2001-01-21)

The Tunnel (German: Der Tunnel) is a made-for-television German film released in 2001 and loosely based on true events in Berlin following the closing of the East German border in August 1961 and the subsequent construction of the Berlin Wall.[1] Roland Suso Richter directed the film.[1] The theatrical release is 20 minutes shorter than the original television version. The subtitled English version was released in 2005.

## Plot

[edit]

The central character of the film is Harry Melchior, based on the real tunneler, Hasso Herschel. Despite being imprisoned for several years for his role in the June 1953 uprising in East Germany, Melchior competes for and wins the national swimming championship in 1961. With the aid of a false passport and disguise, Harry succeeds in fleeing to West Berlin. His best friend, Matthis, manages to escape through the underground sewer, but Matthis's pregnant wife Carola is caught and remains in East Berlin. Harry's beloved sister, Lotte, and her husband and daughter are ambivalent about leaving the confines of the GDR.

Committed to getting their loved ones out of the GDR but knowing that ground routes are heavily guarded, Harry and Matthis have the idea of going underground. Matthis is an engineer by training. They link up with a small circle of others, initially Vittorio 'Vic' Constanza and Fred von Klausnitz. They find an unused factory building close to the Wall that has ample underground space. They are eventually joined by Fritzi Scholz, whose fiancé, Heiner, is also trapped in the east.

The work is slow, hard and sometimes dangerous, and the group reluctantly agrees to take in several more helpers. Over a span of months, the tunnel takes shape following Matthis' design, with the necessary shoring, lights and even a railbed. Discovering a film crew from NBC in the city one day, the leaders convince the network to fund their efforts in exchange for exclusive footage of the digging and eventual escape.

In the meantime, communication with the would-be rescuees in the east is necessary but hazardous. Vic, an American citizen, can pass through the border freely. He is in contact with Lotte and with Carola. The latter, however, has been blackmailed by the Stasi to inform; if she does not cooperate, the state will take her soon-to-be-born baby. Carola informs on Vic and he is detained when trying to cross back to West Berlin. He is released after a while but cannot go back to the east. Fritzi's love, Heiner, makes a futile attempt to cross the barbed wire and walls, but is shot by the East German border guards and left to die in a scene mirroring the true case of Peter Fechter. The American soldiers prevent Harry from climbing the wall to help Heiner.

Overseeing the efforts to thwart tunnelers and other efforts at "illegal emigration" is Colonel Kröger.

Finally the pieces are all in place for the planned escape of about 30 people. Word is spread by surreptitious means, though the Stasi are watching closely. They go to the home of Fred's widowed mother to take her into custody, but she takes her own life first.

Carola has admitted to Lotte that she has been an informant but swears she can now be trusted. In a ruse that means leaving her baby with Lotte's family, she leads her Stasi tail to a remote location far from the actual escape site. In the meantime, Fritzi has crossed the border with a fake passport to guide the escapees through the tunnel. After the true location of the escape is discovered, Harry enters East Berlin through the tunnel and, surprising a border guard, takes his uniform, helmet and gun, and blends in with the troops swarming the area in order to send them in wrong directions. The would-be escapees gather in a café across from the building where the tunnel begins, and Fritzi gradually escorts them over. Tense moments ensue as Colonel Kröger closes in, and pursues the escapees through the tunnel. A sign has been erected in the tunnel marking the boundary of the French sector, and the pursuing guards have the political sense to know they cannot go further.

## Cast

[edit]

* Heino Ferch \- Harry Melchior
* Nicolette Krebitz \- Friederike 'Fritzi' Scholz
* Sebastian Koch \- Matthis Hiller
* Alexandra Lara \- Lotte Lohmann
* Mehmet Kurtuluş \- Vittorio Costanza
* Heinrich Schmieder \- Theo Lohmann
* Dorothea Moritz \- Hermine
* Claudia Michelsen \- Carola Langensiep
* Felix Eitner \- Fred von Klausnitz
* Uwe Kockisch \- Oberst Krüger
* Karin Baal \- Marianne von Klausnitz
* Wolf-Dietrich Sprenger \- Fotograf Grüner
* Florian Panzner \- Heiner

## Awards

[edit]

* Winner of the 2001 Bavarian TV Award (Heino Ferch and Roland Suso Richter)
* Winner of the 2001 German Television Award (best TV film/mini-series)
* Heino Ferch was awarded the Golden Camera in 2002

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Kern, Laura (April 29, 2005). "In a Divided Berlin, Digging Underground for Freedom". The New York Times.

## External links

[edit]

* The Tunnel at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Berlin Wall

Main articles|

* Inner German border
* Iron Curtain
* Wall of Shame
* East Berlin
* West Berlin
* German reunification
* Eastern Bloc emigration and defection
* Republikflucht
* Berlin Crisis of 1961
* Fall of the Berlin Wall
* Schießbefehl

Memorials, museums
and galleries|

* Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer
* White Crosses
* East Side Gallery
* Checkpoint Charlie Museum
* Topography of Terror
* Mauerpark
* Chapel of Reconciliation

Border crossings|

* Bornholmer Straße
* Checkpoint Charlie
* Checkpoint Bravo
* Berlin Friedrichstraße station
* Glienicke Bridge
* Invalidenstraße
* Oberbaum Bridge
* Sonnenallee
* Tränenpalast, Friedrichstraße station

People who died
breaching the Wall|

* Klaus Brueske
* Peter Fechter
* Winfried Freudenberg
* Christian-Peter Friese
* Chris Gueffroy
* Marienetta Jirkowsky
* Cengaver Katrancı
* Erna Kelm
* Czesław Kukuczka
* Horst Kutscher
* Günter Litfin
* Dorit Schmiel
* Egon Schultz
* Olga Segler
* Ida Siekmann
* Heinz Sokolowski
* Hildegard Trabant
* Rudolf Urban
* Christel and Eckhard Wehage

Others associated
with the Wall|

* Günter Schabowski
* Riccardo Ehrman
* Erich Honecker
* Konrad Schumann
* Walter Ulbricht
* David Hasselhoff
* Jutta Fleck

The Wall in speeches|

* "Ich bin ein Berliner"
* "Tear down this wall!"

In popular culture|

| Films and
TV series|

* Escape from East Berlin (1962)
* The Wall (1962)
* Stop Train 349 (1963)
* The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965)
* Freiheit (1966)
* Funeral in Berlin (1966)
* The Soldier (1982)
* Octopussy (1983)
* Gotcha! (1985)
* Wings of Desire (1987)
* Judgment in Berlin (1988)
* Das Versprechen (1995)
* Sonnenallee (1999)
* The Tunnel (2001)
* Buffalo Soldiers (2001)
* Good Bye, Lenin! (2003)
* Bornholmer Straße (2014)
* Bridge of Spies (2015)
* Atomic Blonde (2017)
* Deutschland 89 (2020)

|

Documentaries|

* The Road to the Wall (1962)
* The Tunnel (1962)
* Rabbit à la Berlin (2009)

Novels|

* The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963)
* Funeral in Berlin (1964)
* Judgment in Berlin (1984)
* Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee (1999)
* Edge of Eternity (2014)

Songs|

* "West of the Wall" (1962)
* "Holidays in the Sun" (1977)
* "Nikita" (1985)

Other media|

* The Berlin Wall (1991 video game)
* The Day the Wall Came Down (1997 sculpture)

Other|

* List of Berlin Wall segments
* Ghost station
* Steinstücken
* Grenzgänger (Cross-border commuters)
* The Shame

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