Böseckendorf: Die Nacht in der ein Dorf verschwand is a historical drama which premiered on German television (Sat.1) in 2009.
This drama is based on a true story: a successful escape across the inner German border (from East Germany to West Germany) which took place in October 1961.
Here are some basic facts about it:
** English title:
Böseckendorf: The Night a Village Vanished
** Produced by Dominik Frankowski, Ica Souvignier and Michael Souvignier
** Directed by Oliver Dommenget
** Written by Daniel Maximilian and Thomas Pauli
** Soundtrack: German – no English subtitles!
** Released on DVD in 2009
** Run time: 97 minutes
The cast includes the following:
** Anna Loos as Tonia Lantz – a teacher
** Thure Riefenstein as Manfred “Manni” Lantz – the mayor
** Andreas Pietschmann as Harald Bittmann – Tonia’s friend from West Germany
** Rebecca Immanuel as Jutta Marx – an East German official
** Johannes Brandrup as Robert Grewe – an East German official
** Annika Kuhl as Bea Radler – an informant
At the end of World War Two, Germany was divided into four occupation zones which were controlled by the four great powers: the UK, the US, France, and the USSR.
In 1949, the three western zones were turned into the Federal Republic of Germany (BRD), popularly known as West Germany, while the eastern zone was turned into the German Democratic Republic (DDR), popularly known as East Germany.
The village of Böseckendorf was in the eastern zone, in East Germany, but very close to the inner border between the two German states.
This village presented a difficult case for the East German authorities. The villagers did not want to join the agricultural collective. Nor did they want to join the Communist Party, known in German as SED.
In October 1961, when the villagers learned that some of them were going to be relocated to another place far from the sensitive border area, some of them decided that they would try to cross the border and escape to West Germany.
Leaving the country (known in German as “Republik-flucht”) was a crime in East Germany.
The border was secured by a fence with barbed wire and constantly patrolled by border guards. Crossing the border (hoping to leave the country) was a difficult and dangerous task.
But in the night of 2 October 1961 a large group managed to cross the border safely without being seen by the border guards: 53 persons from 14 families. The group included 16 men, 14 women and 23 children.
It was the largest escape in the history of East Germany; and as such a huge embarrassment for the young state.
This drama covers this unusual chapter of East German history. An on-screen message placed at the end of the drama explains:
While this drama is based on a true story, the characters in it – their actions and their conflicts – are not real.
The characters are made up. They are a product of the director’s vivid imagination.
East Germany existed 1949-1989. During those forty years, more than one thousand persons were killed trying to cross the inner German border. This drama is dedicated to them.
What do reviewers say about it?
On IMDb it has a rating of 68 percent, which corresponds to 3.4 stars on Amazon.
On Amazon there are at the moment 60 ratings of this product, 24 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.5 stars which corresponds to a rating of 90 percent.
If you ask me, the latter rating is too high, while the former rating is more appropriate.
The unusual escape of October 1961 is a great story, but the drama about it is neither great nor good.
It is average, which is why it deserves a rating of three stars (60 percent).
Let me explain why.
The director’s decision to invent the characters and to work with fictional actions and conflicts is unfortunate.
In this story, the dominant theme should be the desire for and the dream of freedom, but this is not the case.
The villagers talk about the lack of toilet paper. Harald, Tonia’s friend from West Germany, brings her champagne and cheese from France.
In this way, the movie focuses on consumerism and material objects.
When we get to the actual escape, many aspects are clearly added for dramatic purposes and they are not realistic.
** Manfred and Harald get into a fight, because they are both in love with the same woman (Tonia).
** In order to reach the border, the group must cross a river. But there is no river in this area.
** A pregnant woman gives birth in the middle of the escape. Fortunately, the group includes a doctor who can help her!
** Just before Tonia and Manfred’s daughter reaches the fence, she realizes that she has forgotten a teddy bear, so she runs back to get it. Tonia protects her daughter and tells her to run as fast as she can.
The East German border guards show up in force with Jutta Marx as the leader. Tonia stares defiantly at her. Then she turns around and runs for the fence. When a Stasi agent wants to shoot her, Jutta stops him by lowering his arm so he cannot shoot.
What we see is extremely dramatic, but at the same time completely unrealistic. No shots were fired during this escape. Not because a cold-hearted East German official suddenly turned into a human and sentimental person, but because the border guards were not present because they did not know anything about it until it was all over.
The musical score is composed by Jörg Rausch. But the music that is used during the escape is not composed by him. It is borrowed from the soundtrack of another historical drama: Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
The track used is the Battle against the Spanish Armada of 1588. This is an odd idea: using a soundtrack from one movie in another movie.
On top of everything else, the title of the drama is an exaggeration.
The village of Böseckendorf did not vanish in the night of 2 October 1961, because the village had more than 53 inhabitants. It was a large group, but less than half of the inhabitants.
The next morning, the village was still there, although the number of inhabitants had been reduced during the night.
After the successful escape of October 1961, the East German government decided to place a number of mines along the border in order to discourage future attempts to escape. But even this cynical plan did not work completely. In February 1963 there was a second mass escape from the village:
Twelve persons from two families and a border guard (a total of 13 persons) crossed the border in the dead of winter.
The border guard played a significant role, because he knew where the mines had been placed. He was able to lead the group safely across the border.
In addition, it was winter time and the ground was frozen. In this situation, a mine would probably not have exploded, even if you stepped on the ground above it.
This drama has a captivating, dramatic and emotional story. The characters play their roles well, but they are fictional. Their actions and their conflicts are a product of the director’s vivid imagination.
The story focuses on consumerism, on love and jealousy, instead of the obvious theme: the desire for and the dream of freedom.
Perhaps the director was afraid of making a political movie? Perhaps this is why he decided to focus on other things, which are not really relevant?
It could have been a great movie. Unfortunately, it is not. For this I blame the director who chose dramatic effects over historical accuracy. This is why this drama cannot get more than three stars (60 percent).
PS # 1. The following review is available online:
Gudrun Schmiesing, “Unbeugsame DDR-Bewohner trotzen der Staatsgewalt,” Filmreporter.de
PS # 2. Grenzfall Böseckendorf – Flucht in letzter Sekunde is a documentary film which was shown on German television (Sat.1) in 2009, immediately after the historical drama was shown on this channel. This film, which is available online, runs for 41 minutes.
PS # 3. Oliver Dommenget is the director of several television movies, including Duell der Brüder: Die Geschichte von Adidas und Puma (2016).
*****
Grenzlandmuseum Eichsfeld:
The Borderland Museum Eichsfeld in Thuringia
has a permanent exhibition about the mass escapes
from the German village
*****
Today two stones placed in the German village
serve as a memorial of the mass escapes
from East Germany
(October 1961)
(February 1963)
*****
No comments:
Post a Comment