With American Soldier Richard Thomas determined to marry his East German girlfriend in 1961, that situation is blocked by the building of the wall, separating freedom from Communism. Families and friends are separated, or become prisoners of war with each other as they take sides for eyes of the east or the West. Along with German freedom fighter rebel Horst Buchholz, Thomas strives to build a tunnel between the East and the West so refugees can escape, and they build a team of East Germans wanting freedom, some only knowing of the Nazi regime through what their parents told them or having had their own horrific memories of that time and not wanting to go through it again. Along the way, they deal with an escaped Nazi who has returned and joined forces with the Communists as an Informer, a well-respected family traps by communism and several physical obstacles such as the destruction of a building right above, flooding from storms, and of course the fear of being caught.
For modern audiences who only know about the wall through Reagan's famous speech, this is a riveting introduction to the terror of those trapped behind walls and barbed wire and machine gun carrying soldiers. One of the young man has a fiance being held by the communists, having lost her when they try to escape and their car overturned under gunfire. Thomas, who is a peace-loving person, has the opportunity to kill at one point and can't, and it's up to Buchholz to shoot the rat that they have captured. There has not been many movies on this subject, and in spite of the length of this TV movie, it grabs you from the beginning and doesn't let go. Jose Ferrer I know about is excellent in a small role as a German businessman who Nate initially fear is in cahoots with the Communists, but has his own political beliefs that are strong and ethical in spite of being wealthy and someone powerful. This is a film full of surprises, a great history lesson even is a lot of the storyline elements are obviously fictionalized for dramatic effect. There were several other films on this topic, most memorably "Escape From East Berlin", made the year after the wall went up.
For modern audiences who only know about the wall through Reagan's famous speech, this is a riveting introduction to the terror of those trapped behind walls and barbed wire and machine gun carrying soldiers. One of the young man has a fiance being held by the communists, having lost her when they try to escape and their car overturned under gunfire. Thomas, who is a peace-loving person, has the opportunity to kill at one point and can't, and it's up to Buchholz to shoot the rat that they have captured. There has not been many movies on this subject, and in spite of the length of this TV movie, it grabs you from the beginning and doesn't let go. Jose Ferrer I know about is excellent in a small role as a German businessman who Nate initially fear is in cahoots with the Communists, but has his own political beliefs that are strong and ethical in spite of being wealthy and someone powerful. This is a film full of surprises, a great history lesson even is a lot of the storyline elements are obviously fictionalized for dramatic effect. There were several other films on this topic, most memorably "Escape From East Berlin", made the year after the wall went up.