The Tunnel

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The Tunnel

TV-14

2001

2h 40m

Drama

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Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

84%

Tomatometer

25 Reviews

91%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

East German swimmer Harry Melchior (Heino Ferch) escapes to West Berlin in 1961, but is forced to leave his family behind. When he recruits pals Mathis (Sebastian Koch), Vic (Mehmet Kurtulus) and Fred (Felix Eitner) to help him dig a tunnel under the wall so he can bring his sister, Lotte (Nicolette Krebitz), to freedom, he discovers that countless others are looking for ways to get relatives out of East Berlin. Suddenly, a small tunnel becomes a major engineering undertaking.

Critics Consensus

The Tunnel is both a tension-filled thriller and a riveting history lesson.

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Tom Keogh

Seattle Times

Richter makes wonderful if obvious use of the wall and the tunnel as built-in metaphors for our struggle for human connection and dread of helplessness and change.

Rated: 3.5/4

Sep 23, 2005

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Kevin Thomas

Los Angeles Times

It is the kind of superbly crafted, intelligent entertainment -- a classic suspense thriller -- that nowadays is as welcome as it is rare.

Rated: 4.5/5

Sep 15, 2005

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Ella Taylor

L.A. Weekly

Richter gives a raw, frank but sophisticated account of the excruciating logistics of this great escape, and the appalling, inspiring blend of betrayal and courage that attended the group's herculean efforts.

Sep 15, 2005

Full Review

Urban Cinefile Critics

Urban Cinefile

This true story about one of the many tunnel escape attempts under the Berlin wall in the 60s provides all the excitement of an escape movie, given extra depth and resonance by its real life genesis... a superb film

Aug 3, 2008

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William Arnold

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Well-cast and sporadically gripping.

Rated: B-

Sep 22, 2005

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Marty Mapes

Movie Habit

The Tunnel proved to be too exciting for mere broadcast

Rated: 3/4

Sep 1, 2005

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Audience Member

Good movie, emotional with good acting.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/12/19

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Audience Member

A humanist thriller. Its breathtaking to see how democracy always finds its way. The harder the regime presses you,the more sand trickles out !

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

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Audience Member

Though it contains some rare moments of stupidity in one character (for failed emotional effects), Der Tunnel is a well-made thriller that tells a story many do not know about, providing a solid history lecture about the Berlin Wall.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Audience Member

Some great acting. Meant for TV.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/05/18

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Audience Member

It's hard to believe what some people have been through, especially when it has been at the hands of their own government and in such recent years... What is the price for FREEDOM & how far you are ready to go--A document of history, of permanent emotions at the Berlin Wall...Powerful, Emotional, and very Intense!!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

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Audience Member

touching story, great acting.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

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Roland Suso Richter

Director

Heino Ferch

Harry Melchior

Nicolette Krebitz

Friederike "Fritzi" Scholz

Sebastian Koch

Matthis Hiller

Alexandra Maria Lara

Charlotte "Lotte" Lohmann

Claudia Michelsen

Carola Langensiep

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Synopsis

East German swimmer Harry Melchior (Heino Ferch) escapes to West Berlin in 1961, but is forced to leave his family behind. When he recruits pals Mathis (Sebastian Koch), Vic (Mehmet Kurtulus) and Fred (Felix Eitner) to help him dig a tunnel under the wall so he can bring his sister, Lotte (Nicolette Krebitz), to freedom, he discovers that countless others are looking for ways to get relatives out of East Berlin. Suddenly, a small tunnel becomes a major engineering undertaking.

Director: Roland Suso Richter
Producer: Nico Hofmann, Ariane Krampe
Screenwriter: Johannes W. Betz
Production Co: Sat.1, teamWorx Television & Film
Rating: TV-14
Genre: Drama
Original Language: German
Box Office (Gross USA): $10.9K
Runtime: 2h 40m