LE TUNNEL  

Berlin, 1961 - the beginning of the Berlin Wall construction. East German Harry Melchior wants out - but not without his sister Lotte. She however feels that an escape attempt into West Berlin would be too dangerous for her little daughter, and decides to stay behind. Harry swears that he will return to rescue them. Once safely in the West, he teams up with his best friend Matthis, an engineer, and together they plan a nearly impossible rescue project. Nine harrowing months and 145 meters later - despite cave ins, flooding, and the everpresent danger of beeing dicovered by Stasi spies - the team breaks through the cellar of a building in East Berlin? The Berlin Wall inspired some of the most daring escape attempts. This gripping drama tells the true story of one of them.

Roland Suso Richter , born in 1961, achieved his breakthrough with his first feature-length film for the cinema, Kolp (1983). Following its screening at Cannes, the film was invited to numerous international film festivals, was nominated for the German Film Award and the Bavarian Film Prize, and went on to win the 1986 Youth Video Prize. Sven's Secret (1994) received countless awards including the 1996 Erich K?ner Prize and the Rocky Award at the Banff Television Festival. Richter enjoyed cinema success with Fourteen Days To Live (1997). For his outstanding work as director on The Bubi Scholz Story (1998, TV), he received the Bavarian Television Award. His latest films are: After The Truth (Nichts als die Wahrheit, 1999), which was shown in competition at San Sebastian in 1999 and A Handful Of Grass (Eine Hand voll Gras, 2000), recently screened in competition at Montreal.

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Thursday, November 1, 2001
LOS ANGELES TIMES
'Tunnel' Has a Bold Vision
The suspenseful movie, which is based on a true story, digs into a plan to get past the Berlin Wall.
By KEVIN THOMAS, Times Staff Writer

Among such highly touted films as opening attraction "Dark Blue World," "No Man's Land" and "Lantana" in AFI Fest 2001, which commences today at the Egyptian and other Hollywood Boulevard venues, is "The Tunnel" (Monday at the Egyptian), which is flat-out the most exciting movie from Germany since "Das Boot."

Director Roland Suso Richter glues attention to the screen so solidly it's about as easy to look away as it is to eat just one potato chip.
Based on an amazing true story that occurred just after the Berlin Wall went up, it stars Heino Ferch as a champion swimmer who, with his engineer friend (Sebastian Koch), masterminds an attempt to dig a tunnel under the wall through which some two dozen people hope to escape to the West.
Richter and writer Johannes W. Betz miss absolutely no opportunity to generate and sustain suspense. Will the tunnel collapse or flood? Hit an unexpected obstacle or meet some other unanticipated delay? Come out at the wrong site?
The possibilities for catastrophic miscalculation are as infinite as they are for betrayal since so many people on both sides of the wall must be trusted if so ambitious and risky an operation is to have a prayer of succeeding.
Amid all the tension and paranoia Richter stirs up, he presents a raft of sharply drawn individuals that allows full expression of the tragic absurdity of the wall, which divided Germany and isolated West Berlin for 28 years.

Yet for all the somberness of the circumstances, "The Tunnel" is terrifically stirring, inviting us to cheer the heroes and hiss the villains. It is the kind of superbly crafted, intelligent entertainment, a classic suspense thriller, that is nowadays as rare as it is welcome.
LOS ANGELES TIMES

intelligent, absorbing thriller
a dense story easily followed with subtitles, believable acting and exciting, shocking flourishes of action is all that's needed
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

 

The first ever Coachella Valley's Festival of Festivals from festival director Craig Prater concluded Sunday night in Cathedral City, California, with an entertainment industry-packed audience of filmmakers, including such powerhouse producers as Gale Anne Hurd who presented the
Best Overall Film Award
to The Tunnel.
Directed by Roland Suso Richter and produced by Nico Hofmann and Ariane Krampe, The Tunnel is one of 116 films from 25 countries screened at the Festival of Festivals, which features award-winning films from other festivals, as well as U.S. and world premieres.

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