no English no subtitles that is bad because it looks both informative and funny if anyone knows of a such a version or the producers would like to issue one i would be more than happy i find many Germany movies too have a good sense of humor and i did so enjoy watching this movie it deals with real history so not to have access to English and a wide world audience is a great mistake from what i could make out the actors were very good the escaping dog was very funny their facial expressions made up for the lack of English the world of media has no boundaries any more i like french comedy too its a shame we all can not settle difference with a laugh a smile and a hand shake
4 Reviews
Intense and funny!
fsab-8440019 March 2022
If you didn't already know how the incident ended you would be glued to the screen. I got to watch this with English subtitles a few years ago and I loved it. Now I'm trying to find out where I can watch it with no luck. Does anyone know where I can watch it?
Does partially justice to the subject
Horst_In_Translation27 January 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"Bornholmer Straße" is a German movie from 2014, so this one has its 3rd anniversary this year. It is a small screen release that runs for slightly under 90 minutes. The director is Christian Schwochow and the script actually comes from his parents Heide and Rainer (I think) who adapted the book by Gerhard Haase-Hindenberg. The film plays at the very same time like the more known "Herr Lehmann" for example, namely in the crucial hours of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. The perspective here is from the people working right at the border in East Germany, those who have to make sure that nobody passes the border without permission to do so, which of course turns into an impossible challenge when Schabowski announces that everybody can leave immediately if they want to. So yeah, honestly this subject has been done so many times in German movies, but they still make new ones, which just shows how important it is. And if they turn out as fine as this one here, I am not mad about it at all. It's not too easy to take the film seriously from a dramatic perspective and the overacting and general "overthetopness" in some situations does not help at all, but the comedy moments are pretty good and the are also the main reason why I give this one a thumbs-up.
The cast is also really good for a German television movie: Hübner, Peschel, Matthes, Bock, Lau, Bauer, Werner and others belong to the German acting elite and have been there for quite a while. That's why the outcome is pretty convincing. I would not say that the film makes an emotional impact like "Lives of Others" for example or that it is a great watch by any means, but you don't really see comedies about the GDR too often and when you do, then admittedly they are sometimes pretty bad or mediocre. This one here is slightly above-average and everybody who likes German movies or movies about German history can certainly give it a go. I personally found it rewarding and like I already said, it is relatively short which is a good thing as well as, this way, it rarely drags and stays pretty essential from start to finish. Thumbs up.
The cast is also really good for a German television movie: Hübner, Peschel, Matthes, Bock, Lau, Bauer, Werner and others belong to the German acting elite and have been there for quite a while. That's why the outcome is pretty convincing. I would not say that the film makes an emotional impact like "Lives of Others" for example or that it is a great watch by any means, but you don't really see comedies about the GDR too often and when you do, then admittedly they are sometimes pretty bad or mediocre. This one here is slightly above-average and everybody who likes German movies or movies about German history can certainly give it a go. I personally found it rewarding and like I already said, it is relatively short which is a good thing as well as, this way, it rarely drags and stays pretty essential from start to finish. Thumbs up.
Great movie if you like black humour and want to understand the cold war
victordelavieter9 February 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Originally an ARD TV movie, Bornholmer Strasse was produced at the celebration of 25 Jahre Mauerfall (25 years after the Berlin Wall 'fell'). A film about a country actually ending its existence- you don't get many of those.
Worth seeing for the sheer fun of it, for historical insight and good acting, particularly by Charly Hübner. Even the incident with the dog did happen - only few months earlier. The woman who breaks down at the Schlagbaum as she isn't allowed to go over the border and is then led to West-Berlin illegally by a guard does exist, though the event happened at the Brandenburger Tor.
Germany does have a sense of humor and the characters are quite enjoyable in their Dad's Army-like incompetence, though it feels that element is overdone in the first half. The second half of the movie the tone changes, as the unbelievable happens: there is a buildup to a civil war breaking out but the centre character, Harald Jäger, aptly called Schäfer in the film opens up the border at the Bornholmer Strasse. Literally. (Though in reality he only gave the order.) Thus ends the DDR and one of the worst parts of the cold war. Hundreds of thousands of East Germans cross the border, Germany reunites and what not. Thre buildup of suspense is effective enough to make shivers go down my spine, but then again, I was born just before the wall was built (1960), lived with the East Block border only 500 kms from my home...
Worth seeing for the sheer fun of it, for historical insight and good acting, particularly by Charly Hübner. Even the incident with the dog did happen - only few months earlier. The woman who breaks down at the Schlagbaum as she isn't allowed to go over the border and is then led to West-Berlin illegally by a guard does exist, though the event happened at the Brandenburger Tor.
Germany does have a sense of humor and the characters are quite enjoyable in their Dad's Army-like incompetence, though it feels that element is overdone in the first half. The second half of the movie the tone changes, as the unbelievable happens: there is a buildup to a civil war breaking out but the centre character, Harald Jäger, aptly called Schäfer in the film opens up the border at the Bornholmer Strasse. Literally. (Though in reality he only gave the order.) Thus ends the DDR and one of the worst parts of the cold war. Hundreds of thousands of East Germans cross the border, Germany reunites and what not. Thre buildup of suspense is effective enough to make shivers go down my spine, but then again, I was born just before the wall was built (1960), lived with the East Block border only 500 kms from my home...
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