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It is hard to believe that this movie lasted almost three hours. It was so compelling that you stayed glued to the screen the entire time and were surprised when it ended.

The acting by Heino Ferch (Downfall), Nicolette Krebitz (All the Queen's Men), Alexandra Maria Lara (Control, The Reader), Claudia Michelsen (The Reader), and Sebastian Koch (Black Book, The Lives of Others) was superlative. There were others that contributed to making Roland Suso Richter's film the superlative treat that it was.

To see the lengths that people will go through to save their loved ones is inspiring.

West Berliners dig a tunnel under the Berlin Wall, hoping to get their loved ones out of East Berlin. This is an exciting, fact-based drama that is well acted by a German cast. The running time of nearly three hours is somewhat excessive but the story is interesting enough that it rarely drags. The characters are well developed. There are a couple of emotional scenes that become too melodramatic and stray from the central plot line. For the most part, however, the filmmakers wisely stay focused on the the building of the tunnel. The tension builds nicely in the final part, as the escape plan is put in motion. The random use of black and white cinematography is distracting.

This is an exceptionally well-built film with a subject more than worth the effort, well delimited and well illuminated. Teaches a lot, by showing, not saying. Truly beyond praise.

Der Tunnel illustrates how it felt to live in East Germany in the years before the Wall was built, how it felt once it was built, and the terrible determination of some people who escaped in the first few days, to make their escape serve others in East Berlin by trying to bring them to the West, even if the attempt should cost them their own lives. The film's primary power lies there, in the testimony value of each of its frames.

I lived for a few months in Germany less than four years after the events shown, within a walk from the East German border. I visited East Berlin several times and traipsed (illegally) into East Germany once. Der Tunnel shows truths I would never have found the words to explain, and shows them in a way anyone can feel, if perhaps by watching the film more than once. Another film that is instructive on some of the same topics is Volker Schlondorf's semi-fictional Legends of Rita, well worth watching after Der Tunnel. (Legends of Rita takes place in the last years before the Wall fell, more than 20 years later.)

One note. In Der Tunnel, the more people are compromised by the East German regime, the more they invoke their conscience and their deep-felt personal opinions. (You might call this the Lutheran variant of Stalinism.) This occurs equally in Legends, except that in the latter the character who is totally "political consciousness"-driven is the West German Rote-Armee protagonist, who does nothing but meaningless murders until she escapes to the East and, there, is kept under control. So, in Legend, the various East German security people come off better with their "conscience" than does the truly-awful protagonist. In Der Tunnel, they don't come out as well. As for the diggers, they never talk about conscience or opinion at all. That they will do everything in their power to save their loved ones from the regime is simply obvious to all and never discussed.

A second note. The only non-East-German involved in the digging is an American undercover operative. Despite working, no doubt, under the same constraints as his opposite numbers, he shows as much determination as any of the other diggers, and perhaps even more courage.

Concerning Marcel's ending query -- The Colonel stops at the border sign because doing anything beyond the sign would lead to major diplomatic embarrassments, and naturally to demotion or worse for him. He certainly can't kill all the witnesses (and has no intention of doing so). This is the same mechanics that explain why the American operative, after being caught in the East by the Colonel's services, is only detained for a spate of days, with no torture nor bad treatment except cold and isolation, and then released. (He carefully avoided engaging in anything like espionage.) These rules were known to all at the time (self included).

In The Tunnel the audience is dragged down to the depths with a group of Germans so desperate to get their loved ones from East Germany in 1961 that they are prepared to dig a tunnel under the infamous Berlin Wall. The tunnel takes a year to dig, is seven metres deep and 145 metres long.

The story of The Tunnel is really the story of Harry Melchior (Heino Ferch), an East German champion swimmer who escapes to the west disguised as a tourist. Before leaving the state which has imprisoned him for four years he promised his sister, Lotte Lohmann (Alexandra Maria Lara) that he would do his best to rescue her from the oppressive regime. Joining him in his noble mission is Matthis Hiller (Sebastian Koch), an engineer with the knowhow if only the rest of the gang will listen to him. He wants to rescue his wife and unborn child. Also on the team is Friederike 'Fritzi' Scholz (Nicolette Krebitz). Her intended is trapped on the other side of the wall, but does she really love him? There is a whole host of other characters who have their own motivations for helping out, but who can be trusted and who is a spy? All the actos put in superb performances, transporting the viewer back to those troubled times. What makes The Tunnel such compelling viewing is not it's high production values and suspenseful story, although it has both in oodles, but the very fact that it is a true story. Directed by Roland Suso Richter and written by Johannes W Betz, The Tunnel is filmed in the original German with English subtitles. But the subject is so enthralling that you soon forget you are having to read each line. While it is three hours long it doesn't even feel it. The Tunnel began its run during the Te Awamutu International Film Festival at The Regent cinema but is to continue showing.

"Der Tunnel" is far better than anything i've seen coming out of Hollywood in years. Although steadily paced, its tention keeps building for almost three hours. Based on a true story, it shows that real life stories often provide the best scripts.

The cast was well chosen and the acting was excellent. I knew Berlin when it was still divided and the film is a spot on portrayal of the mood at the time.

All in all a gripping story guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Not to be missed. 10/10!

I'm reading the other reader's comments on this movie, and I'm completely bewildered- it was a nice, professional TV movie, but nothing to write home about. Strictly a by-the-numbers historical drama, with some happy plastic people vs. some not-so-happy grayish villains. The director seems all-pro but emotionally shallow, and doesn't really evoke the horror of East Germany- the place seemed about as threatening as a weekend at EuroDisney. Okay if you're flipping by it on television, but not worth paying real money for.

What a great movie! It's a very well made adventure flick that has the added advantage of being true.

I agree with the IMDb reviewer who said Heino Ferch, who plays the central character Harry Melchior, was a lot like Bruce Willis. I found the similarities profound.

And I thoroughly disagree with the New York Times reviewer (click on the EXTERNAL REVIEWS link to read it), who wrote: "They are joined by numerous volunteers hoping to rescue their own friends and family, and by the eager Fritzi (Nicolette Krebitz), whose solitary feminine presence complicates the team's relationships."

I don't know what movie that reviewer saw, but it wasn't this one. What a stupid remark, apropos of nothing, making it sound like a romantic triangle or quadrangle develops. There is nothing of the kind. In fact, Fritzi is a great female role model. When she first volunteers and the men wonder what sort of contribution she'll be able to make, she says, "I may look different from you when I'm naked, but I can work just as hard." Then she jumps into the tunnel and starts digging. Right on, sister.

I don't remember much about Germany before the Berlin Wall came down, beyond cinematic references to "Checkpoint Charlie" and the Brandenburg Gate and news reports I was too young to understand. But this movie really brings the horrors -- psychological as well as physical -- to life.

Another film that explores similar territory, psychological as well as physical, is The Lives of Others. Interestingly, the German actor Sebastian Koch has high profile roles in both films.

I think this is an important story & I wanted to like the film, but I found it excessively melodramatic. While I know a film can never deal with the full range of historical details, this was just too unbelievable, & all the convenient coincidences kept intruding as I watched, keeping me from becoming fully engrossed in the story. By the end, I was hunkered down in my seat muttering "yeah, sure!" to myself.

If you are interested in this theme, I recommend Margarethe von Trotta's Das Versprechen (The Promise) from 1995. Das Versprechen had me completely engrossed in the plight of families separated by the Berlin Wall, & by the end, I was crying like a baby!

The impressive work of director Roland Suso Richter gives satisfaction to those, who expect more from a TV-movie. It could also be shown on cinema. That would have been the better way. The director's hit can be seen in the tradition of "14 days lifelong"(14 Tage lebenslaenglich).

Here historic action of the real escape through the highly dangerous Berlin-frontier is interestingly presented. The fabulous camera gives an expression of the death on one side of the Berlin wall and the sadness on the other side. Those scenes are unforgettable, really.

Actor Heino Ferch cannot be followed by the other actors, their acts are one class below. Nevertheless a 'must-see'.

Berlin, Germany, 1961. Mothers and daughters, Fathers and sons, neighbors and friends were torn apart in one night, when the Berlin Wall was built. A hand full of people dug a tunnel under the Wall from the French Sector into the East to save 30. Permanent emotions, especially at the end of the movie. Excellent.

I make a habit out of watching movies with a decent rating, even if they aren't my type of movie... one might think of it as my own exploration into what kinds of art makes humanity 'tick' (so to speak).

I tried to watch this... I really did. I went back to reviews on assorted forums and tried to discover what everyone liked so much about it.

Here's a few reasons why I couldn't get on that particular bandwagon: -- The dialog is so bland it's insulting to the viewer. -- The acting was so horrible that the characters failed to make me care about any of them. -- The storyline didn't make up for it in any way, fiction or not. -- I even tried skipping around to the alleged 'good parts'.

I don't see myself ever giving this move another chance. Watch at your own peril.

This turned out to be a great movie, much better than I thought it would be. I am a fan of the spy movies of the 1960's, and this movie fits into that genre (but not quite). I am a fan of the cold war era, too, with Berlin and the wall and all that, so this movie was great to watch. There are a few things I didn't like, but they were minor, which is why I gave it an 8 out of 10.

I was watching this with a buddy, and we both got caught up in it and were on the edge of our seats wondering if they would get away with it, and was much more thrilling that I thought it would be.

There are several very touching scenes where people get shot, and people are looking over the wall, reaching down, trying to grab their hand and pull them up, while the shot man is gasping, whispering how he had to get over the wall before he lost his girlfriend...it was very freaking' sad and moving, especially the way the filmed it, very cool.

It gets slow a few times, dabbling in the romance between two characters, but I am used to that in movies now. The version I saw was in German with English subtitles, but luckily I speak German. I thought the main character was very like Bruce Willis.

There are a few things that don't seem to be logical.

1. Harry changed into a soldier's clothes, and none of the soldiers seemed to notice that they have a new person in the group. Even after he got into the trunk, and sat with the soldiers together, none of them said anything about this new solider.

2. If they are afraid of informers, how come they were not worried about the coffee shop owner who might call the police and report them?

3. Why did the boyfriend try to run toward the wall for nothing? He certainly can't climb the wall during daylight hours without being shot.

4. They always have a person or two spying across the buidling in West Germany, how come the Easter Germans never noticed?

This is film is about 3 hours long. Even though it is not boring, I feel that it might be able to tell the same story in 2.5 hours. Unlike that other good movie "goodbye Lenin," this movie is very intense, there is no funny moment. The music is well done, it fits the mood very well.

It is shocking to see how the East Germany people were willing to do anything just to escape to the West side. It made me think how many East Germans were killed while trying to escape. And did their life get any better after they escaped to the west? Western Europe seems to have a long tradition of democracy. It is a surprise to see how the same German people working for the Eastern Germany government can be so cold. They lost their basic human kindness. The soldiers were ready to shot anyone to death who dares to cross the border. Under the communist rule, even friends, husband can be forced into spies who spy on their own loved ones. The ending is very tear jerking.

I have seen several films about the Berlin Wall. They are all very good.

Great story of a fight to free people from a police state. Never lost my attention and had the production quality of a Hollywood film.

I wish it was more readily available in the US.

I had to pay $30 for the dvd on eBay.

Der Tunnel is a gripping tale dripping with determination of human spirit. I must say: this movie is long. It's the kind of long that you notice. But the gripping final third more than makes up for the explicit pace. This is a powerful story with compelling characters against an historical backdrop.

This movie has just been shown on TV. It not only gives you a good impression on the tunnel project itself and the escape of a number of people from the former east Germany. It also shows you how the mood of the population at that time (1962) was, especially the mood of the students protesting against the wall. This film is based on a true story, the one of the "Tunnel 29". 29 stands for the number of people who were able to escape through this tunnel. There is only one scene I did not like that much. Harry Melchior (the leading role) runs through the tunnel right after he held up the colonel who now tries to catch him together with his fellow men. Somewhere in the tunnel there is a sign "You are now entering the French section of Berlin". The colonel and all the others do right stop exactly below this sign and Harry Melchior even salutes him from the "west side" of Berlin. I think this is not quite real, because the colonel certainly would not bother to cross the border inside the tunnel, or would he? Nevertheless a good movie, it is worth spending the time to watch it.

Overall, the screenplay was not that well written. It was too long and not very well paced. As others have noticed, there were places where you just said "Huh?" when something didn't ring true.

However, the actors made it worth while. They rose above the material. "Harry" was great and I yelled to my husband in the other room, "Hey, it's the German Bruce Willis!" Very good looking, very sexy and not just an action hero, but expressive as well. Of course Sebastian Koch (Matthis) is just dreamy and a great actor! The actress who played "Fritzi" was good too.

Well worth seeing. FAR above the usual Hollywood junk.

There have been earlier films about tunnels under the Berlin wall, but this is by far the best. It traces the story from the building of the wall and is fact-based.

This film is best watched with subtitles, because listening to the dialogue in German affords a complete suspension of disbelief. I felt as if I was actually there!

The plot is deliciously unpredictable and the characters exceptionally well developed.

Also the length is generous but justified by the fullness of the plot.

Moreover, the plot, while lengthy, doesn't contain much distraction, so that suspense builds up from beginning to end.

Although at least one commentator has said that this movie was not well written and went on too long, I and the three other people who saw it with me found it very well done. It managed to sustain the suspense throughout. It also engaged our interest in the featured characters, all of whom were impressively portrayed by German actors we'd never encountered before.

We're assured that the film is based on a "true story" of a tunnel dug under the Berlin Wall from West Berlin to East Berlin by people trying to rescue family members and lovers in the Soviet Zone. Whether all the incidents depicted in the film were part of that "true story" is a question to which one might like to know the answer. But it makes for an extremely interesting (almost) three hours. Each of the principals comes into sharp focus due to uniformly fine performances, and one might also like to know more about what happened to each of them than is revealed in the post-film credits.