Ballon (2018)

Balloon is a German thriller that deals with the crossing of the inner German border of the families Strelzyk and Wetzel from the GDR to West Germany with a homemade hot-air balloon.

Director:

Michael Herbig (as Michael Bully Herbig)

Writers:

Kit Hopkins (screenplay), Thilo Röscheisen (screenplay)

Stars:

Friedrich Mücke, Karoline Schuch, Alicia von Rittberg

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Friedrich Mücke	...	Peter Strelzyk
Karoline Schuch	...	Doris Strelzyk
Alicia von Rittberg	...	Petra Wetzel
David Kross	...	Günter Wetzel
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Seidel (Oberstleutnant)
Jonas Holdenrieder	...	Frank Strelzyk
Tilman Döbler	...	Andreas 'Fitscher' Strelzyk
Ronald Kukulies	...	Erik Baumann
Emily Kusche	...	Klara Baumann
Christian Näthe	...	Heym (Hauptmann)
Till Patz	...	Peterchen Wetzel
Ben Teichmann	...	Andreas Wetzel
Sebastian Hülk	...	Lesch (Oberfeldwebel)
Gernot Kunert	...	Schirra (Oberstleutnant)
Ulrich Brandhoff	...	Tornow (Oberstleutnat)

Storyline

In the summer of 1979, in Thüringen, in East Germany, two families put together a crazy plan. They are desperate to leave the DDR for the 'West' and plan to flee in a homemade hot air balloon. After sewing and tinkering for weeks, the amateurs make their first attempt. Meters from the West German border, their balloon suffers from the rain and crash lands. Luckily, they manage to avoid being caught by the police. However, the wreckage from their escape attempt is found and that triggers a desperate manhunt. The tension rises as the families determine to try again, and a race against time ensues. On the one hand, the authorities, desperate to track down the traitors, become aware that a second attempt is being planned. On the other, the would-be escapees, conscious of the search drawing ever nearer, need to build a more robust, weatherproof balloon - and avoid leaving too many clues.

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Plot Keywords:

lieutenant colonel | east germany | stasi | hot air balloon | hot air balloon crash | 

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Taglines:

Für die Freiheit riskierten sie alles. (For freedom they risked it all.)

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Genres:

Drama | History | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German English

Release Date:

27 September 2018 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Der Ballon

Company Credits

Production Co:

herbX Film,StudioCanal,SevenPictures Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

A remake of the 1982 movie "Night Crossing", starring John Hurt. Based on the true story of 2 family's attempting to cross the border between east and west Germany using a homemade hot air balloon, at a time when it was highly illegal.

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Connections

References Charlie's Angels (1976)

User Reviews

Disappointing adaptation of a fascinating true story

The premise is thrilling: people trying to flee a dictatorship with a hot-air balloon they make themselves... in secret. This story is actually a true story that took place in Thuringia, a part of the German Democratic Republic (communist East Germany). The movie is, unfortunately, an ironed-out piece of story-telling with added corny clichés that made some of the people in the movie theater laugh - even though the story is dead-serious! This is bad! Yes, it is very bad. The acting is so card-board like, it is impossible to take the actors seriously. Even if the story is set in Thuringia, a region where people speak German with a very distinct accent, the actors don't even try speaking with this accent for the sake of credibility (Imagine a movie set in Alabama in the US South in which all actors speak like New Yorkers - that is how misplaced the actors' accent is!). The script writer added a laughable romantic subplot to the story that was truly unnecessary. The film's music is full of pathos and emotion, so much of it that it becomes ludicrous. It is sad to see an exciting real-life story so badly adapted to the screen.