User Score
4 votes
In 1981, all of Germany fears for the life of Johannes Erlemann, the eleven-year-old son of entrepreneur Jochem Erlemann, who was in custody on suspicion of fraud at the time of his son's abduction. The boy was snatched off his bicycle by his kidnappers, put into a van and then spend two terrible weeks in a shed in the forest fighting for his life having been chained to a wall and left without daylight, while the kidnappers try to extort a large ransom from his wealthy parents.
Director
Writer
Status
Released
Original Language
DE
Wolf Kruse
The ambitious scientist Franz Walter doesn't hesitate when he is promised a professorship at the university. He immediately accepts, pledges absolute loyalty to the system and agrees to work for the GDR's foreign intelligence service until he can take up his new position. Together with his colleague Dirk, he is sent on foreign assignments to West Germany. Franz soon has to use blackmail to get innocent people to talk. But his superiors go even further: GDR refugees and their relatives are targeted to be psychologically destroyed, forged letters, medical diagnoses, surveillance and wiretapping are on the agenda. However, this is more than Franz can bear: he feels powerless and increasingly isolates himself. When he then decides to steal secret documents for a later defection to the West, this results in an unfortunate chain reaction leading to his arrest and ultimately to his execution...
