history, herbX film GmbH, Peter Strelzyk (played in the film by Friedrich Mucke) and Gunter Wetzel (David Kross) experimented over many months. Sign up here. Studio Canal, April 20, 2020 |, February 21, 2020 The German film Balloon explores the Iron Curtain from an unusual angle: above. Copyright © Fandango. Two families have laboured in secret for two years to construct a home-made hot-air balloon, sewn together on a manual sewing machine. Don’t worry, it won’t take long. |, July 24, 2020 Old cold warriors will find their cockles warmed: those were the days! Both wives are supportive but terrified of the border guards and their rifles. Just confirm how you got your ticket. About 3.5 million 'Ost' citizens had already voted with their feet and gone west before that. Just below that it reads "Ticket Confirmation#:" followed by a 10-digit number. There isn't much room for comedy in Balloon, although a smidgen of satire in some early scenes points to how the movie might have been more tonally complex. ‘Balloon’: Film Review While handsomely made, Michael Bully Herbig’s Cold War-era thriller undersells the fascinating true story of two families escaping the GDR. Coming Soon. Movie & TV guides. |, February 19, 2020 [W]hen a film establishes its stakes and creates an enveloping atmosphere of paranoia as well as this one does, accuracy doesn't really matter. Please click the link below to receive your verification email. If they work for the Stasi they are either fat, cruel and stupid, or thin, mean and twitchy. |, February 21, 2020 A classic example of this is the old 'Stasi-cars-racing-to-pick-up-our heroes' routine, where they think they have found their targets. All Critics (30) and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango. Directed by Michael Herbig. Michael Herbig’s overwrought drama sucks the thrills out of this story of two families fleeing communist East Germany, Last modified on Fri 14 Jun 2019 07.01 BST. They won't be able to see your review if you only submit your rating. Cinemark Coming Soon. "Balloon" is decent entertainment to a degree, and that is mostly thanks to its handsome production values. | Rating: 3/5 Captures the paranoia and excitement of its time. You're almost there! The partisanship here is a matter of style. Even Thomas Kretschmann, initially imposing himself as the phlegmatic apparatchik leading the hunt for the would-be balloonists, is wasted. Coming Soon. |, February 20, 2020 Disney made a 1982 film about the famous East German balloon escape of 1979, however this latest German version is more of a reappropriation. That kind of manipulation is so old it's quaint, like the late '70s East German threads the cast has to endure. There are no featured audience reviews for Balloon (Qiqiu) at this time. Coming Soon, Regal | Rating: 3/4 Michael Herbig’s overwrought drama sucks the thrills out of this story of two families fleeing communist East Germany. In the summer of 1979, the Strelzyk and Wetzel families--who had been working on their audacious plan for more than two years--try to flee East Germany in a self-made hot-air balloon. Regal How Herbig fails to capitalise on the sheer physical terror of their flight – the balloon’s basket is more a flimsily strung boxing ring – makes you wish someone like Werner Herzog had mounted this mad escapade for real. One of his most beloved characters is his version of Winnetou – a noble red man who featured in a series of hugely popular German 'spaetzle' (dumpling) westerns in the 1960s.