Ballon (4 Stars)

In the 1990's and 2000's Germany made a lot of films about escape attempts from East Germany (the DDR) and East-West love relationships. It was a popular theme after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The stream of films has stopped now. German audiences are tired of these themes. They've heard it all before. I understand them, but I'm different. They're topics that fascinate me, and I'll watch any film about them.

The director Michael Herbig, who specialises in comedies, spent years trying to get the rights to remake the 1982 film "Night Crossing". It was a true story about a German family that fled from East Germany in a hot air balloon in 1979. Herbig enjoyed the film, but he didn't think it accurately portrayed life in the East.

In 2018 he finally made the film as an exciting drama. German critics agree that it's far superior to the original version. So this is a rare case where the remake is better than the original? Critics especially praised Herbig as a director, expressing surprise at his ability to make a film so different to his usual comedies. The only criticism of the film is that critics think he over-used music, making the film sound overly dramatic. I disagree. I find the use of music exciting and appropriate to the film's theme.

The film begins halfway through the story. A hot air balloon has already been made by the family Strelzyk in Pößneck. Their first attempt at an escape fails. Their balloon crashes 100 meters short of the border. They abandon the balloon in the woods and walk home, a distance of 40 kilometers. When the balloon is found the East German secret police, the Stasi, is alerted and begins to search for the people who used it.

This is where the film's real excitement begins, underlaid by dramatic music. The Stelzyk family can't afford to give up trying to escape, because they know the Stasi is closing in on them. They have to make another attempt. They make another balloon, learning from their first failure.

Geographically speaking, it wasn't a "flight to the West". Their balloons flew due south from Thuringia to Franconia. This map should make it clear.

What characterises most of the film is the prevailing atmosphere of paranoia. I doubt the American film showed this. Wherever the Strelzyk family went, they were afraid of informers. Their neighbour who lived opposite was a senior member of the Stasi. That doesn't mean he strictly followed the party line. He asked Peter Strelzyk to adjust his television so that he could watch West German television channels, because he was a fan of "Charlie's Angels". Oh, the temptations of the wicked, wicked West!

When I have time I need to do a mini-marathon of German East-West films. Until then, I hope more will be made.