Night Crossing

2/5/19821h 47m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ The East German border: 836 miles of barbed-wire walls, automated machine guns, armed guards, and deadly land mines. On September 15, 1979 two families tried to cross it. ~

Overview:

Two men want to escape from East Germany (under Communist rule) but they will only go if they can take their families with them. Based on a true story.

Director:

Delbert Mann

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

1970s
german-german border
based on true story
east germany

Cast

John Hurt

~ as ~

Peter Strelzyk

Jane Alexander

~ as ~

Doris Strelzyk

Beau Bridges

~ as ~

Guenter Wetzel

Glynnis O'Connor

~ as ~

Petra Wetzel

Klaus Löwitsch

~ as ~

Schmolk

Sky du Mont

~ as ~

Ziegler

Günter Meisner

~ as ~

Major Koerner

Doug McKeon

~ as ~

Kay Walsh

~ as ~

Ian Bannen

~ as ~

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

r96sk
Written 5 year(s) ago
7
Good, could've been made a bit more subtly though.

'Night Crossing', which portrays the true story of a hot air balloon escape from East Germany, is an interesting and well acted production. However, it doesn't do anything to throw you off the scent.

Predictability isn't always a negative, but it is one for this film in my opinion. Whether it be through knowledge of the event, reading the opening credits (where they acknowledge the families) or just general direction of the story - it's easy to see where it's going, as such the pacing is very slow; at least across the first and middle acts.

With that noted, things do end brightly thanks to the feel-good nature of the finale and the satisfactory cast. John Hurt (Peter) is the best of the bunch, while the few around him add to proceedings well. Günter Meisner, Mr. Slugworth himself, also makes an appearance. On the cast, it is kinda odd that some characters have British accents and some have German - you'd think the filmmakers would've picked one or the other.

I don't have any recollection of knowing about this true event before watching this, which is a surprise given I know about other stories regarding this topic. Either way, it's a solid film.