Other Titles • Der Tunnel • The Tunnel: The Movie (2001)
Synopses for Tunnel, Der (2001)
1.
Based on incredible true events, THE TUNNEL tells the story of Harry Melchior, a champion East German swimmer at odds with the Communist government under which he has already been imprisoned for his beliefs. Though required to remain in East Germany after his release from prison, Harry narrowly escapes just as the Berlin Wall is being completed. He successfully flees the oppressive Communist regime, but his beloved sister and her family are unable to join him. Harry is determined to rescue them, and aided by his best friend— engineering genius Matthis Hiller — the idea of the tunnel is born. The project, however, is fraught with complications.
Harry and Matthis first rent an abandoned building right next to the Wall, but struggle with the massive logistics and costs of their task. Quickly realizing that it will take years to complete the tunnel on their own, they enlist several helpers, all motivated by the prospect of rescuing their own families and friends. However, with additional helpers comes more risk...for any new member could be a potential traitor.
The pacing is brisk and tensions rise as the threat of the tunnel collapsing weighs constantly on the protagonists' minds. They worry that their tunnel could open in the wrong place, or worse, that the brutal East German police will discover their plans for escape. Matters are complicated even further by the arrival of the beautiful 'Fritzi,' whose passionate chemistry with Harry upsets the dynamics of the team.
An interesting, factual side note: the NBC television network became involved in this project and actually helped finance the tunnel's construction. The network originally planned a fictional film about tunneling through the wall, then scrapped this idea to record the real heroes as they completed their nine-month long mission. It was broadcast as an NBC White Paper in 1961.
A gripping escape plan provides the narrative spine to The Tunnel, an exciting Cold War story. This film fictionalizes the true story of the digging of a 430-foot tunnel running under the Berlin Wall in 1964, as tunnel rats on the west side labor to find a way out for friends and family in the Communist East. The principals are led by a famous German swimmer (the excellent Heino Ferch, sort of the German Bruce Willis), whose sister is trapped in East Berlin. Juicy characters abound, including some compromised East Berliners and unlikely heroes on the West side. Also incorporated into this story is an American TV news crew shooting the digging as it goes along. Director Roland Suso Richter shot The Tunnel for television and if it is somewhat artless, it still grabs the viewer in irresistible suspense--and sustains the tension for 167 minutes. Like its heroes, this film is dogged and emotionally committed. --Robert Horton
(20 votes)
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