"Tunnel of Freedom" on ARD: Through the dirt to the west

As exciting as a thriller: the contemporary document is reminiscent of one of the most adventurous escapes from the GDR. The TV review.

Berlin – There are many stories about people who fled the GDR under ludicrous circumstances or in the most adventurous way. With the exception of the escape in a hot-air balloon (1979), none was as sensational as this: In the summer of 1962, some daring men spent four months digging a 135-meter-long tunnel under the wall from the basement of an empty factory to get friends and family out . Marcus Vetter, who has been awarded a good two dozen film and television prizes, including three Grimme prizes, set a monument to the Italian initiators of the campaign, Domenico Sesta and Luigi Spina, as early as 1999 with his film “The Tunnel”.

The two studied together with Peter Schmidt at the West Berlin University of the Arts. When the sector border was cordoned off on August 13, 1961, the studies for Schmidt from East Berlin were over from one day to the next. The friends were still allowed to visit him, but he was no longer allowed to go to the West. So “Mimmo” and “Gigi” came up with the “company travel agency”. They received support from prospective engineers from the Technical University.

On the occasion of the memory of the construction of the wall sixty years ago, Vetter is now telling the story again on behalf of Arte and SWR. Of course, “Tunnel of Freedom” is in a certain way a remake, especially since the author and director – he recently shot “The Promise” about the alleged double murderer Jens Soering – recycled a large part of the former material, but today’s perspective leaves that Companies appear even more spectacular. Some of those involved at the time are now well over eighty, others like Sesta and Spina are no longer alive; Vetter therefore had no choice but to use many interview excerpts from his early work, especially since the two Italians are indispensable for the film.

“Tunnel of Freedom” on ARD: A captivating contemporary document of the GDR

The second central figure next to Schmidt is Claus Stürmer, who separated from his wife during an attempt to escape at the end of 1961, and whom the others thought was a spy until the last day. In one of the most moving scenes in the film, the old couple exchanges ideas about the blind spot in their relationship: Up until then they had always avoided talking about the trauma of their failed escape; they can finally resolve a sixty year old misunderstanding.

Thanks to advances in film technology, the original material is now much more effective: When the tunnel builders ran out of money, they sold their story to the American TV station NBC. From a certain point in time, the digging was therefore documented by a Berlin camera team. Vetter has now converted the corresponding 16mm material into high-resolution images as part of a complex process so that these recordings come into their own. The interviews conducted in the late 1990s have also been processed. The film, which does not require any commentary, becomes a captivating contemporary document because it is embedded in the history. It begins with John F. Kennedy’s famous visit to Berlin in June 1963 and his legendary speech to 1.5 million people at Schöneberg Town Hall, followed by a long flashback.

Documentary pictures tell of the “voting with your feet”, as it was called back then, when East Germans left their homeland a thousand times a day. This is followed by recordings that made history: the soldier jumping over the barbed wire; Bricklayers locking the windows on the first floor; People who recklessly jump into freedom from a higher floor. The “Cold Song” by Klaus Nomi gives these scenes an additional intensity.

“Tunnel der Freiheit” on ARD can easily keep up with large-scale productions such as “Der Tunnel”

The music selection, supplemented by specially composed compositions by Christian Henschl and Jens Huerkamp, is already very successful. In addition to the excerpts from the NBC film, the heart of the event is the conversations with those involved. Especially the charismatic Hasso Herschel, who joined the Italians to get his girlfriend from the GDR, is an excellent narrator, not least thanks to his humor, which is still special even in old age.

Roland Suso Richter shot a gripping two-parter for Sat.1 based on the experiences of men and women a good twenty years ago (“The Tunnel”), which was awarded the German Television Prize, among other things. The balloon flight mentioned at the beginning has even been filmed twice, once by Disney (“With the Wind to the West”, 1982), and most recently by Michael Bully Herbig (“Ballon”, 2018). In terms of tension, “Tunnel of Freedom” can easily compete with the large-scale productions, especially since the film also has features of a spy thriller in between. 29 people managed to escape to freedom with the help of the tunnel in September 1962. (Tilmann P. Gangloff)