Die Flucht (2007)

In 1944 many Germans in Eastern Prussia believed like Lena von Mahlenberg, daughter of a local aristocrat, that Hitler would surrender and spare them from being invaded by the vengeful Russian Red Army. He didn't and they had to flee.

Director:

Kai Wessel

Writer:

Gabriela Sperl

Stars:

Maria Furtwängler, Jean-Yves Berteloot, Tonio Arango

7 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maria Furtwängler	...	Lena Gräfin von Mahlenberg
Jean-Yves Berteloot	...	Francois Beauvais
Tonio Arango	...	Heinrich Graf von Gernstorff
Gabriela Maria Schmeide	...	Babette
Jürgen Hentsch	...	Berthold Graf von Mahlenberg
Hanns Zischler	...	Rüdiger Graf von Gernstorff
Angela Winkler	...	Sophie Gräfin von Gernstorff
Max von Thun	...	Ferdinand, Graf von Gernstorff
Josef Mattes	...	Fritz
Stella Kunkat	...	Victoria 'Vicky'
Michael Ginsburg	...	Mikolai
Barbara Morawiecz	...	Oma Herta
Marie-Luise Schramm	...	Waltraud
Frédéric Vonhof	...	Louis
Beate Abraham	...	Frau Meister

Storyline

[PART 1] With the Nazi troops forced to retreat on the East front in the summer of1944, terminally ill East Prussian count Berthold von Mahlenberg welcomes on his ancestral castle estate for the first time his granddaughter Victoria 'Vicky', for her sake only curbing his resentment against heiress Lena, who left eight years ago, preferring her bastard over arranged fiance count Heinrich von Gernstorff, whose idealistic brother Ferdinand, now a disillusioned, cynical field officer, her true best friend, is trough with his meddling father Rüdiger and the Third Reich. For lack of a healthy male, Lena starts running the war shortages-affected Mahlenberg estate, dependent on precarious POW and conscripted laborers, using connections maximally, even ultimately agrees to wed Heinrich, but Ferdinand shoots himself at the reception. As the Soviet advance becomes undeniably obvious, Lena and the workers French leader François Beauvais take the farm 'family' in January 1945 on the run to the ...

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Plot Keywords:

german history | nazi germany | world war two | third reich | evacuation | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller | War

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

2 March 2007 (Germany)

Also Known As:

March of Millions

Filming Locations:

Bavaria, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

ARTE,Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR),Degeto Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (2.0)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The drama's first part drew an audience of 11.18 million viewers in Germany, making it the network's most successful movie for the last 10 years.

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Connections

Referenced in Neues aus der Anstalt: Episode #2.1 (2008)

User Reviews

It rings true

All of my family were part Die Flucht and the film captures much of their experience in a fair degree of accuracy. I managed to watch the film with my mother before she died and she felt it was true to the story though because she was in the Poznan, their escape was on train in January 1945.

One of my aunts was on the roads in January 1945 with her parents and grandmother. The were caught by the Soviets. Her father, my grandfather, was shot of out of hand. She said the story was accurate in the portrayal of the events.

The one thing my mother and aunt did not like in the film was the added love story between Maria Furtwangler's character and the French POW. They felt it added nothing to the film was only a pointless distraction