MovieChat Forums > Der Tunnel (2001) Discussion > Which parts are Fiction?

Which parts are Fiction?

posted 17 years ago by sndform
6 replies | jump to latest

I saw this wonderful film last night. I had never before heard of this true story so I have only the way they were portrayed in the movie to serve as the "history book" so to speak. I am wondering which parts of the film are not historically correct. Did Harry really dress up as an East German guard? Were the communists really aware of the tunnel before the escape? Did Heiner really die with Lotte listening on the other side? Did one of the tunnelers really pose as a plumber to get the water main fixed from the East German side?

[–] NoSpam_IMDb-1 16 years ago

I had exactly the same questions after watching it last night. Was it an action adventure or a fairly accurate representation of the real story ?

[–] jnmohr111 13 years ago

Pretty much accurate what the historic background and time concerns, but I'd say with some creative freedom in the plumber story and as an East German guard. Probably each of it is true by itself, but not necessarily with this tunnel project,. In this respect it seems more like a collage of similar happenings. After all they had to make an interesting movie.

[–] Semi-evolutionary 13 years ago

It was quite accurate in representing the general events and deeds of the time, even if this specific incident was a "composite" of several different stories in the 1961-1969 era of Berlin. (The wall came down in 1989.) The part about an American TV network filming an actual dig IS in fact quite true. It became a documentary shown on, I think, NBC in the early-to-mid-60s.

You can rest assured that there is very little that differed from many things that really happened even if the particular names and details are disguised or somewhat invented.

[–] lexnlido2 13 years ago

I loved this film. I think it would probably be fair if you called it "embellished" or "dramatized" reality. Some of the scenes I thought milked the emotions a bit shamelessly but I highly recommend it.

[–] mike-848 11 years ago

I like this film but I always wondered if the plotters were that stupid to plan the tunnel escape in a public bar/restaurant in a police state?

[–] sc_taylor 8 years ago

They weren't planning it in a bar in a police state. They were in West Berlin. Tunnels under the wall were dug from west to east