There is nothing objectionable about Michael Bully Herbig’s glossy political thriller, “Balloon,” but there’s nothing particularly exciting about it, either. A true-life tale of how two families narrowly escaped from communist East Germany in 1979 in a homemade hot-air balloon, the movie adopts a path so dramatically familiar we can almost predict each twist and fake-out.
Conventionality, though, has its comforts, and “Balloon” glides by on gentle waves of swelling suspense as the Strelzyk and Wetzel families, each with two children, prepare to defect. Red flags pop up on cue: a teenage son with the hots for the daughter of a cartoonishly nosy Stasi neighbor; eagle-eyed storekeepers who note purchases of large amounts of taffeta fabric. An earlier, failed flight by the Strelzyks has left clues to their identities, and the authorities, led by an enigmatic officer named Seidel (Thomas Kretschmann), are closing in. Prepare to hold your breath and pray for a northerly wind.
Rushing toward its finale in a frenzy of sewing, “Balloon” (a previous version, “Night Crossing,” was released by Disney in 1982) strains to soar. Scenes depicting the state’s oppressive blanket of surveillance are dismayingly corny, and, because the hunter is more fascinating than his prey, the movie can feel upside-down. Seidel’s intelligence and ideological complexity, emerging more from Kretschmann’s slippery performance than from his character’s dialogue, tease a more compelling narrative slant. In one perfect exchange, he asks a border guard why they shouldn’t simply allow those who hate socialism to leave. His expressions while the underling fails to comprehend the question offer a more succinct representation of thought policing than many bigger and better movies have achieved.
Balloon
Not rated. In German, with subtitles. Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
