Grounding - Die letzten Tage der Swissair

Amazing mixture of real documentation, geniously played characters and fictional story lines. A national disaster with a lot of questions behind it, is now a lot clearer. Who's fault was it, that on this octoberday in 2001 the planes of the proud Swissair were grounded? The movie does not tell this in a final way, but leads you to an opinion, which could be new to the audience.

Very well played by swiss actors Hanspeter Müller-Drossaart (as Mario Corti) and Gilles Tschudi (as Marcel Ospel). A really intense experience, especially if you witnessed the happenings on October 2nd, 2001.

One of the revolutionary "new" Swiss Movies. And there are more to come. Watch out for Director Michael Steiner, who's "Mein Name ist Eugen" has become last years most successful swiss movie.

Go and watch it! You're gonna see things, you never expect....

As a young investment greenhorn, still in High School, I invested some money in the company this film is about. I really thought that nobody could let this national symbol fail. It could never happen.

And then I lost US$ 550. In order to end my experiment at the stock exchange I even had to donate the shares to the broker firm because Swissair was in bankruptcy and I could not sell them for US$ 30.

Well, this summarizes how I approached this film. The powerpoint slides shown by the consultant were tell-tale and neatly summarized how Swissair got into that mess. The negotiations with the banks were also a (perverse) fun to watch – big banks wanting to crash Swissair in order to cheaply buy the still-profitable remnants of the wreck.

As somebody grown up and living in Switzerland I did not like that the film was made in the Swiss-German dialect. You know all the regional dialects that good that you wonder if the Swissair CEO really spoke like *that* – may you even know him? The new chief financial officer Mario Corti hires from the U.S., Jacqualayn Fouse, speaks such a horrible "English". It sounded more like a German imitating American English than an American imitating German. They could have used a perfect, accent-free German playing her part, especially when all the other roles speak Swiss-German dialect – this would have kept the distance between the Swiss managers and her as the hired expert from the U.S.

Another big trouble was the trashy, kitschy story about the little boy. About her mother. About her husband. It just did not look genuine. And the Italian worker in the GateGourmet kitchen – the police storming the cold room. Really.

The movie was certainly a well-made one. If one forgets everything beside the main plot, which was saving the airline and the negotiations with the government and the banks. A well-made corporate thriller is feasible and will attract many moviegoers. But don't waste the good premise with cheesy subplots, please. And I really mean PLEASE.

Another positive point worth mentioning is that the chief personnel officer of Swissair, Matthias Mölleney, actually played himself in this movie.

And I want my US$ 550 back, by the way.

I can not believe this film has been released with no English or English subtitles! I have been waiting for this film for over 6 months. I ordered the DVD some 5 months ago and at last I received it today However a note saying no English subtitles! Very disappointed hope they Change their mind. Such a long time to wait for this movie. This would assist others around the world understand what went on now for those of us like me who do not speak Swiss Italian German or read these languages I will never know what went on! It looks like Lufthansa is now going to be the global European airlines. Roomers are SAS is next. Not that is such a bad thing however the airline world is getting smaller and smaller (I was a former Ansett Australia pilot) need I say more as I do understand what it is like for an Airline of 60+ years to no longer exist

The film makers managed to reduce the fascinating example of arrogant mismanagement to a manipulative, confusing wannabe tearjerker. There is an abundance of irrelevant, sappy characters. My favorite being the heroic stewardess, who saves the life of a passenger who has a heart attack - and all she keeps worrying about is that she may be neglecting her poor pubescent son.

The facts are totally distorted. The incompetent manager "Super Mario" is depicted as the altruistic hero, who only wants the best for all his poor employees. And the bankers, of course, are just greedy cold-hearted monsters.

All in all, extremely annoying.

As stated in the Financial Times, this fast paced movie is an excellent lesson for companies. A MUST SEE for all Swiss and Germans and all former frequent flyers of Swissair.

Great casting (for those who know the real-life protagonists), convincing acting and script (although schmaltzy at times) and thrilling from start to end with a mix of news coverage documentation and movie. The simplification of the characters is permissible as are some of the lapses, like showing car models that didn't exist at the time.

I hope the movie gets some international attention and will be synchronized in English (swissgerman in the original) or at least get subtitles.