Il muro della paura

I recently saw this movie on television and it was of interest to me because back in August 2006 I visited Germany for the first time and went to Berlin. I was accompanied by German friends who live in Hamburg. One of them was working in Berlin when the Wall fell in 1989.

While in Berlin I toured the Wall museum and of course visited Checkpoint Charlie. I am a baby boomer who grew up during the Cold War and I well remember the TV footage of the Wall and of people trying to escape. Escape from East Berlin may seem rather old-fashioned today but I thought it was a gritty, true-to-life type of film, even if liberties were taken with the actual events of Tunnel 28.

It was interesting that while my German friends and I drove through Berlin, they would constantly inform me "now we are in The East" or "now we are in the West"...the same thing when we were on the Autobahn...apparently Germans still refer to "East" and "West"...it will probably take a generation of two more before East and West Berlin and East and West Germany are relegated to history in the minds of the German people.

Elaine Clearwater FL

Based on a true story and directed by Robert Siodmak, "Escape from East Berlin" is an uneven film about a real-life military chauffeur living in East Berlin (played by Don Murray) who, with the help of family and friends, digs a tunnel in order to escape to West Berlin.

It's probable that with several story changes, "Berlin Tunnel 21," made in 1981, is based on the same true story. I found that film far more suspenseful.

However, since the Siodmak film was made around the time that the wall was erected, it captures the atmosphere better. The film begins with a little bit of history, too, which would be interesting to those new to the material.

It looks as if "Escape from East Berlin" was made on a shoestring budget, as some of it seems rushed, and the subplot of Christine Kaufman, as a young woman who hides in the Schroder household and wants to escape with them, seems to have been dropped. Unless I missed it, there is no follow-up as far as her family.

Don Murray heads a German cast that includes Werner Klemperer, and the film was done on location in Berlin. Murray smartly just hints at an accent. Of course one assumes all of these people are actually speaking German.

Certainly this film captures the claustrophobia of those trapped behind the wall and the poor conditions under which they had to live. Definitely worth seeing, though for a nail-biting version of the same story, check out "Berlin Tunnel 21."

It's 1962 and the Berlin Wall has recently gone up. Kurt Schröder is the driver to East German Major Eckhardt and his wife Heidi. He witnesses his friend Günther Jurgens' failed crossing. Erika Jurgens starts looking for her missing brother Günther. She is also desperate to escape. After a misunderstanding with Kurt, she assumes that her brother escaped to the West when in reality, he died in the attempt.

This is a ripped-from-the-headlines story. It's an interesting premise. I don't know any of these actors. This movie might actually have some German content. The tunnel digging is not the most compelling except for the phone line issue. In the end, it's not the most intense movie, but it has a few interesting ideas.

After Berlin built the wall that divided Germany into East and West. A desperate young woman tries to cross and is stopped in time by a young man who prevents her from being shot by the guards, hiding her in his house, which is located right against the wall. The family devises a daring escape plan by digging a tunnel under the wall. The risk is deadly since if they are discovered they will be shot. Some neighbors aware of the plan join in working on the construction of the tunnel or carry out distractions for the soldiers who guard it. This is a great little movie. It is clear that its budget is modest but the director manages to load it with great suspense at times distressing. The cast is perfect in their roles, the music accompanies very well and the rhythm is dynamic. A film that has perfectly withstood the passage of time and continues to be one of the best in reflecting those sadly famous moments in history.

I watched the Berlin Wall come down in 1989. This film brings back some haunting memories. The despair of people realizing that they are trapped in the cage called East Berlin. And what we know about the Stasi--the East German secret police--makes me cringe realizing how everybody was spied upon.

Yes, the movie has a happy ending. But, while 28 people found freedom through the tunnel, think of those who lived out their days behind the wall.