Hot
air rises, even back in the cold, dingy GDR. Unfortunately, the wind rarely
blew in a northernly direction. That is one of the many reasons why escape
using a hot air balloon was such a desperate and unlikely plan. Nevertheless, two
families oppressed by the socialist state will risk everything trying to sail
away to freedom in Michael Bully Herbig’s historically accurate Balloon,
which opens this Friday in New York.
If
this premise sounds familiar, it is because the Walt Disney company produced Night
Crossing in 1982, based on the same historical episode. Directed by the
Oscar-winning Delbert Mann, the previous film is quite under-appreciated, but
this is definitely a story worth re-telling, especially by German filmmakers.
In
1979, Erich Honecker rules East Germany with an iron hand, at Moscow’s behest.
Border guards have orders to shoot to kill anyone attempting to cross over to
the west, because that is what defending socialism entails. The Strelzyk and
Wetzel families are determined to escape the oppressive regime to give their
children better lives, so they have been secretly stitching together a hot air
balloon as a means of escape. Unfortunately, Gunter Wetzel, the engineer who
designed the balloon has come to the conclusion it cannot support both families.
Due to the Wetzels’ circumstances, they defer to the Strelzyks, whose flight falters
heartbreakingly close to the border.
Unlike
the Mann film, which build up the maiden flight, Herbig essentially starts with
the initial failed escape attempt and then cranks up the tension as both
families go back to the drawing board, mindful that the dreaded Stasi is
closing in on them. Rather awkwardly, the Strelzyks live right across the
street from the local Stasi section chief. At least, Baumann is a dim-witted
blowhard. On the other hand, Lt. Col. Seidel, who is overseeing the investigation
of the first balloon crash site and the resulting manhunt, happens to be a
shrewd and ruthless predator.
Well-known
for comedy in Germany, Herbig set out to make his equivalent of The Lives of Others with Balloon. That is a daunting film to invite comparisons
to, but Herbig fares surprisingly well. While Balloon does not have the
same tragic heft and inspirational uplift, it is a grittily realistic film that
is also nerve-wrackingly tense.
Ironically,
Friedrich Mucke and David Kross are so realistic and believable as Strelzyk and
Wetzel, their performances are apt to get overlooked, because they are just
part and parcel of the depressed and oppressed GDR milieu Herbig and company
recreate. Instead, the real standout is Thomas Kretschmann, probably his best
work since A Taxi Driver, portraying Seidel with cunning ferocity but
also a strange, disarming subtlety.
Production
designer Bernd Lepel and his art team impressively reconstruct 1970s East
Germany in all its rough tackiness. The resulting film really transports
viewers to a very specific place, at a very specific time—and makes us nearly
as eager to escape it as the main characters. This is an excellent film that
comes at an opportune time—when an open admirer of the Soviet model is primed
to win the presidential nomination of a major American political party. Highly
and urgently recommended, Balloon opens this Friday (2/2/1) in New York,
at the Quad.
