13.000 Kilometer: Die Männer der Emden is a historical drama based on a true story: the history of the German cruiser SMS Emden and its crew during the first year of World War One (1914-1915).
This historical drama, which premiered in 2012, was shown in theatres and released on DVD in 2013. It was shown on German television (ARD) in 2014.
Here is some basic information about it:
** English title: 13,000 Kilometers: The Men from the Emden
** Directed by Berenger Pfahl (1946-2015)
** Screenplay written by Berenger Pfahl & Axel Ricke
** Musical score composed by Matthias Raue
** Language: German – no English subtitles!
** Run time: there are three versions of this movie:
(A) The short version (2012) = 114 minutes
(B) The medium version (2013) = 142 minutes
(C) The long version (2014) = 2 x 88 minutes = 176 minutes
The cast includes the following:
** Sebastian Blomberg as Hellmuth von Mücke (1881-1957) – a German sailor
** Ken Duken as Karl Overbeck – a German sailor
** Matthias Schloo as Manfred von Manstein – a German sailor
** Felicitas Woll as Maria von Plettenberg – a German woman
** Sibel Kekilli as Salima Bey – a Turkish woman
While this movie is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Some details have been added and/or changed for dramatic purposes or for practical reasons. Not everything happened exactly as shown in the drama.
Since this movie is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the historical record. They are not a secret. And therefore, I feel free to mention some of them in this review.
This drama is about the German navy during World War One. The story begins in 1914, a few days before the outbreak of World War One.
While this story is about some fifty German sailors, it does not begin in Germany. It begins on the other side of the globe, in the Far East, in China. More specifically in Tsingtau, which is at the time a German trade station and a naval base.
In August 1914, when the war breaks out, the German warship Emden is ordered to attack as many enemy freighters as possible in the Indian Ocean.
In November 1914, the Emden proceeds to the Cocos Islands (also known as the Keeling Islands) in order to attack and destroy a British telegraph station on one of these islands.
The ship stops about ten miles from the coast, while a landing party of ca. 50 men under the command of Hellmuth von Mücke is sent ashore to do the job. They succeed. The telegraph mast is blown up.
What the German sailors do not know is that the British staff at the telegraph station saw the German ship approaching and they managed to send out a distress signal before the station was destroyed.
While officer Mücke and his sailors are on the island, an Australian warship the Sydney approaches. Mücke and his sailors are shocked as they watch what happens next.
The Sydney attacks and destroys the Emden. Some sailors are killed in action, while those who survive are taken onboard the Australian ship as prisoners of war.
What about Mücke and his sailors? Now they are stranded on a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. And they have no ship! What are they going to do?
Mücke declares that they are going home. This means they are going to Germany, even if it will be a journey of 13,000 kilometers (hence the title of the drama).
Can they do this? Amazingly, the answer is yes. The group commandeers an old schooner and sails to Sumatra (Indonesia) and further on to the Arabian Peninsula.
In 1914, Indonesia is a Dutch colony. Since Holland is neutral during this war, they are allowed to enter the harbor and leave with new provisions within 24 hours.
In 1914, the Arabian Peninsula is a part of the Ottoman Empire, which had just joined the war on the German side. This fact allows them to make the overland journey to Constantinople (today known as Istanbul) and from there onward to Berlin.
The long journey is far from easy and not always peaceful. But almost the entire group makes it to Berlin. They lose only one man to disease and only three men to enemy actions. Given the conditions they had to face, this was an impressive accomplishment.
This movie, which covers the incredible but true story about a voyage across a mighty ocean and a journey across a dangerous desert, was filmed in five countries:
** Germany
** Greece
** Malta
** Sri Lanka
** Tunisia
What do reviewers say about it? On IMDb it has a rating of 59 percent, which corresponds to three stars on Amazon.
On the German version of Amazon there are at the moment more than 200 ratings of this product. The average rating is 4.3 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 86 percent.
If you ask me, the former rating is too low, while the latter rating is too high.
Why?
Most of the script is well-written and the actors play their roles well. The story is captivating, dramatic and emotional. In addition, it is based on a true story. When the story begins, we already know how it will end, but even so it is a fascinating drama.
However, while the movie captured my attention, it is not perfect. There are some flaws here and there.
Let me explain:
# 1. In the movie, the Emden sinks when it is attacked by the Australian warship off the Cocos Islands. But this is not true. When the German captain realized that the battle was lost, he ordered his ship to sail towards shallow waters, so it would be easier for surviving sailors to reach the shore. It is a dramatic scene when we see the Emden sinking, but it is a violation of historical accuracy.
# 2. The journey across the Arabian Peninsula which we see in the movie is inaccurate. Perhaps the movie-makers felt that the real story was too complicated with too many details, so they decided to make a simplified version of this part of the journey.
# 3. Only one of the German sailors is a real person: Hellmuth von Mücke, who is in charge of the group. His diary was preserved and part of the screenplay is based on this diary. The other sailors who appear in the movie are fictional characters with fictional names.
# 4. The screenwriters decided to add a fictional German family to the story. Why? Perhaps in order to make the movie more dramatic. This family – von Plettenberg – lives in Tsingtau where the father owns a brewery. But when war breaks out, they want to return to Germany.
# 5. On top of this, the movie-makers decided to add a further twist: a connection between the fictional family and the German sailors: the daughter Maria von Plettenberg and the sailor Karl Overbeck are in love with each other, but she is afraid to tell her father, because her family is rich, while Karl is poor. He is not a suitable husband for Maria.
This means there are two parallel story lines in this movie: the first line is about the German sailors. The second line is about the German family. The movie flips back and forth between the two story lines.
I do not think it was a great idea to add a fictional German family to the story. The story about the German sailors and their incredible voyage is already dramatic in itself, and it has one more advantage: it is true.
I like this movie and I want to give it a good rating, but as you can see, there are some flaws which cannot be overlooked.
I have to remove one star because of them. Therefore, I think it deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).
PS # 1. The following articles are available online:
** Berthold Seewald, “Selbst Engländer rühmten Wilhelm’s Kreuzer Emden,” Die Welt, 18 April 2014
** Christoph Gunkel, “Strahlende Krieger, dunkle Vergangenheit,” Der Spiegel, 4 February 2013
PS # 2. Hunt the Kaiser’s Cruisers, part 1 of 2: “The Caravan of Sailors” is a documentary film from 2006 written and directed by Jürgen Stumpfhaus.
This film was shown on Australian television (ABC) with English narration.
The original German version is called Unter kaiserlicher Flagge, teil 1 von 2: “Die Karawane der Matrosen.”
** Run time: 50 minutes
** Both versions are available online
PS # 3. The Emden was involved in a punitive expedition against a group of native people in the South Sea in 1910-1911.
This episode is not included in the movie, because the movie begins in 1914. But it is mentioned in Christoph Gunkel’s article in Der Spiegel.
There is also book about it:
Rebellion in der Südsee: Der Aufstand auf Ponape gegen die deutschen Kolonialherren, 1910/11 by Thomas Morlang (2010)
PS # 4. The Australian cruiser the Sydney was part of a huge convoy under military escort that was transporting troops from Australia and New Zealand (known as the ANZACs) to North Africa. In April 1915 these troops were part of the Allied operation to invade and occupy the Gallipoli Peninsula.
PS # 5. For more information, see the following books:
** The Last Corsair: The Story of the Emden by Dan van der Vat (2000)
** The Last Cruise of a German Raider: The Destruction of the SMS Emden by Wes Olson (2018)
*****
13,000 Kilometers:
The Men from the Emden
(2012) (2013) (2014)
*****
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