Fullscreen

“balloon”: The families Strelzyk and Wetzel flee with the self-stitched balloon from the GDR

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With the DDR-escape-movie “balloon” (2018) demonstrated, the Munich-based Director Michael Bully Herbig (50, “The Shoe of Manitu”) impressive that he can do thrillers just as well as Comedy. As of today, Thursday (14.March), with the “peace price of the German film – The bridge” excellent, strip, finally, on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD (Studio channel).

About the Film

the summer of 1979, in Thuringia: The families Strelzyk (Friedrich Mücke, Karoline Schuch, Jonas hold Rieder, Tilman Döbler) and Wetzel (David Kross, Alicia von rittberg, Till Patz, Ben, Teichmann) have worked for two years at their daring Plan, with a self-built escape hot air balloon from East Germany across the border to Bavaria.

In a first attempt, the balloon crashes, however, just before the border. The Stasi discovered the escape attempt, and takes up, under the direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Seidel (Thomas Kretschmann), the investigation. Under great pressure of time and the two families are working on a new escape attempt…

“Ne, balloon is better”

In the bonus material comes in addition to the main actors Friedrich Mücke (38, “How good is your relationship?”), Karoline Schuch (37, “Katharina Luther”), David Kross (28, “Trautmann”), Alicia von rittberg (25, “Rate Your Date”) and Thomas Kretschmann (56, “The Pianist”), the real Günter Wetzel. They all tell the story of the shooting, the importance of the film against the Background of the 30. Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall this year, and how detailed and realistic the cinematic implementation of the life-threatening escape.

Well Bully told how seriously he took the project that he has worked for many years in secret. In any case, he wanted it to mean: “Ah, now, the Munich-based comedian comes in and wants us to explain how the GDR worked.” That’s why it went to him. “I was fascinated by the story.” And that’s exactly why precision was the Supreme commandment: “Let us take everything, everything, everything exactly to make,” he urged his Crew – mask, costume, equipment, etc.

Among other things, the filmmaker reveals there is also a Detail to the title of the film. From the working title of “balloon” should actually be an other. “I had great hope, that we can call the Film as the deck name, this [first discovered] escape attempt. There was a file in the Stasi. The wore a certain name. I then said: ‘So we can call the movie.’ And then when I heard how the file name was, I said: ‘no, we stick to the balloon.’ The file was called ‘bulb’… ‘The file pear’… Because I thought: ‘Ne, balloon is better.'”

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