Night Crossing

Set in East Germany from 1978-79, the film follows two men Peter Strelzyk (John Hurt) and Gunter Wetzel (Beau Bridges) who following the death of Josef Keller's (Ian Bannen) eldest son on a boarder crossing attempt and the toll it takes on Joesf and the rest of the Kellers both emotionally and through retribution of the East Germany government hatch a plan to cross into West Germany through use of a hot air balloon. As they two work on their plan, not only must they contend with typical trial & error as well as disagreements from family members, but must also elude suspicions from party loyalist neighbors and the Police.

Night Crossing is based upon the true story of the real-life balloon escape of the Strelzyk and Wetzel families from East Germany that occurred in the Fall of 1978. The story was discovered by the wife of Walt Disney Producer Tom Leetch who brought the story to her husband who in turn brought it to then VP of production Ron Miller. As both Strelzyk and Wetzel families ad watched Disney films via illicit West German TV signals when they had lived in East Germany, the families accepted Disney's offer out of five other potential investors. Both families were flown to Los Angeles where they recorded nearly 20 hours of interviews for producer Leetch and writer John McGreevey with filmmakers doing an extensive recreation of the East/West German boarder costing nearly $300,000 alone. Upon release the movie went mostly ignored at the box office making back only $8 million against it's $10 million budget and critical reception was mostly mixed with Siskel and Ebert disliking the film and even reviews that recommended the film such as Janet Maslin of the New York Times tended to preface their reviews by calling attention to some of the more hokey lines of dialogue in the film. While the movie isn't a flawless telling of this story, I think it does an adequate job in taking us through the major points so that you understand this event and the people involved in it.

In terms of the acting, much like other western productions of non-English speaking the film features a mixture of American and British actors speaking in English while playing German characters and german accents inconsistently applied to members of the supporting cast (usually the more antagonistic characters who are working against the two families). This boils down to a pet peeve of my where I feel if you're going to do this sort of thing where characters who aren't English are speaking English, just ditch the accents for everyone because as long as everyone's already speaking English, just have them use their natural voices rather than inconsistently applying accents because it only serves to break the immersion. I will say that for what the actors are called to do, John Hurt, Beau Bridges, Jane Alexander, and Glynnis O'Connor are all good in their roles and do well in the interpersonal drama, the only major sticking point is probably with the kid characters who are clearly trying their best, but there's that typical stiffness that comes from people writing children less as characters and more as idealizations of what people think kids are like such as the nadir scene where John Hurt's Peter is set to give up only for his son Frank to give a rousing bit of encouragement complete with team patches he made which is an example of the film trying to hammer its attempts at pathos a step too far.

I will say that from a technical point of view, Night Crossing does everything you hope for from a movie like this such as showcasing the building of the balloon, the tests of trial and error, and the paranoia of being found out with the fate of the Keller boy's ill fated boarder run using a hijacked bulldozer only to be riddled with bullets (possibly the reason this isn't on Disney+) periodically playing in the back of our minds as the looming threat of death or imprisonment hangs over us throughout the runtime. The two major ballooning sequences are well shot and filled with a mixture of tension as well as awe and wonder and coupled with a great score by the always reliable Jerry Goldsmith we're given both sweeping majesty and palpable tension.

Night Crossing has a number of flaws that often accompany these true story movies, but with a dedicated cast and crew and a fairly on point execution of the events, the movie is a decent way of experiencing this real life story. You're enjoyment will depend on your level of forgiveness for some of the hokiness or stiltedness that comes from Disney's approach to the material, but Night Crossing is a decent film.

I think that this film has become an important record of the most horrifying aspect of the East German regime - the imprisonment of its people by what the regime called its anti-fascist protective wall. It is a document of desperation and courage not to be missed. I would however like to comment on the actual location of this escape. It did not happen in or around Berlin as supposed by some respondents and was nothing to do directly with the Berlin Wall. The escape balloon was flown over the Iron Curtain which not only divided Germany but it divided the whole of Europe at that time. The balloon took off from Pössneck, 170 miles south-west of Berlin in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and flew 14 miles to Naila in Bavaria and freedom in West Germany. The opening of the Iron Curtain in Hungary in 1989 preceded the fall of the Berlin Wall later that year. Whilst the balloon flight created entertaining suspense cinema, it should remain as a monument to those who lost their lives whilst attempting to escape from East Berlin, other parts of the GDR or other Soviet-controlled states.

I use this at school with my aviation class in our hot air ballooning unit. Students are now so far removed from the time of "The Iron Curtain" that they find it hard to believe this is a true story. Fortunately there are plenty of newspaper clips online to prove it. The balloon in the movie is very close to what they actually built.

This movie is well done, after the first 10 minutes the class sits very quiet and gets caught up in the suspense and action. Don't know if I would recommend it for young children because of some of the violence. But great for middle school and above, and a special treat for those of us who remember the day the wall came down.

'Night Crossing' is about an enormous barrier designed not to keep enemies out but to keep its own people in…

'Night Crossing' is about a very long border fencer equipped with silent alarms and automatic firing systems…

'Night Crossing' is about the denial of the basic human rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…

'Night Crossing' is about the fear and pain that afflict so many families…

'Night Crossing' is about one attempt to risk a crossing through the border zone…

'Night Crossing' is about a loving father whose only desire is to give his boys what should never have been taken away from them…

'Night Crossing' is about a disturbed mother who wants her babies and her husband alive…

'Night Crossing' is about a caring husband who wants his family to be together but in a better place…

'Night Crossing' is about children who want to be free to reach at anytime the sky…

'Night Crossing' is about a hot-air balloon handcrafted and built by two families…

'Night Crossing' is about a balloon which could go just high enough to crash or catch fire and explode…

'Night Crossing' is about two determined men who want their family to climb into a hot air balloon and float away to 'liberty'…

'Night Crossing' is about the fear of getting caught by an evil regime…

'Night Crossing' is about a sensible man who can't let bad dreams stop him…

'Night Crossing' is about an icy policeman who wants every lookout tower on full alert…

With exquisite music by Jerry Goldsmith, Delbert Mann's 'Night Crossing' makes us realize the true value of freedom…

Final thoughts:

There are a few moments in everyone's life, certainly in public lives, that can define a person...

For those of us old enough to remember the Reagan presidency, seeing the clips again in the wake of his death makes it seem like those events happened just yesterday, or last week. The voice, the expressions, are all so familiar. But for a large percentage of people, these events might as well have happened fifty years ago, if not more. They are part of the distant past. President Reagan is a name, and not much more. President Gorbachev is another name, and not much more. So how can we remember these two men who had such a huge impact on their country?

Reagan and Gorbachev worked together to tear down the Berlin Wall and to steer their superpower nations away from nuclear confrontation

What can I say about this film other than the narrative is one of the most exciting in film history...and based on a true story! Being old enough to remember the Berlin Wall when it was still used to contain a country, this film gives you a dark insight into the grim incarceration of East Berliners, and their desperate attempts to escape, no matter what the cost. The film follows the lives of two families , who decide to escape using a hot-air balloon manufactured by themselves. Forever fearing arrest by the authorities, under scrutiny by neighbours, they have to calculate a plan to reach the other side of the wall. A tense & thrilling story of courage and determination which truly pays homage to all those who succeeded and failed the treacherous journey to West Berlin and freedom.