Night Crossing – 1981 | 107 mins | Drama | Colour

Plot Synopsis

The Cold War is not really a subject you expect Disney to tackle but they do so in this drama set in 1979 and based on the true story of the East German Strelzyk and Wetzel families who attempt to escape into West Germany using a home-made hot air balloon. Despite valiant efforts by John Hurt, Jane Alexander, Beau Bridges and Ian Bannen to convey life behind the Iron Curtain, the unimaginative stereotyping, moralising and lack of tension ensure the story never really amounts to much.

Set in East Germany in 1979, Joiner Peter Strelzyk (John Hurt) is impatient to cross the border to the West in search of a western life of liberty, democracy and capitalism. When his close friend Josef Keller (Ian Bannen) is interned by the SSD because of his son’s failed attempt to cross the border – Peter is stirred to concoct a plan to escape to the West. Peter draws up a scheme with work colleague Guenter Wetzel (Beau Bridges) to float both their families across the border in a flimsy homemade hot-air balloon. Their first effort falls short of the border, but the SSD discover the abandoned balloon and begin a desperate search to uncover the identity of the fliers. Meanwhile, in a race against time, Peter and Guenther hurriedly prepare for a second attempt.