Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Bornholmer Strasse

 Bornholmer Strasse
type
 TVTItem
 Bornholmer Strasse
label
 Bornholmer Strasse
 Bornholmer Strasse
page
 BornholmerStrasse
 Bornholmer Strasse
comment
 Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })Bornholmer Strasse (aka Open the Wall) is a 2014 TV movie from Germany directed by Christian Schwochow.Berlin, November 9, 1989. Harald Schafer is the commander of the Bornholmer Strasse crossing point of the border between East and West Berlin—namely, the Berlin Wall. It's been a tumultuous year in the Eastern Bloc, but it's a quiet night at the station, with the biggest business of the evening being a stray dog that wanders into the border crossing. Quiet, that is, except for Harald's constantly rumbling insides, which keep forcing him to the toilet with diarrhea.The quiet night ends when an East German official named Günter Schabowski holds a press conference to announce a more liberal policy for allowing East Germans to visit the west. The idea was that the East German government would issue exit visas and tourist visas in a strictly controlled manner, but Schabowski simply announced that restrictions on travel to the west would be lifted, and when he was asked when, said "Immediately."Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })Harald and his men watch this announcement on the TV and wonder what it means. It doesn't take long to find out. A few curious East Berliners show up at the gate, taking the evening press conference as an announcement that the border has been opened. Then a few more. Then more. Then a lot more. Soon thousands of people are thronging the border post, booing and heckling the guards, chanting "Open the gate!" As the situation grows tenser by the minute, a stressed-out Harald has to decide what to do.
 Bornholmer Strasse
fetched
 2020-04-26T08:04:38Z
 Bornholmer Strasse
parsed
 2020-06-24T02:08:35Z
 Bornholmer Strasse
isPartOf
 DBTropes
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_18d15922
type
 Title Drop
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_18d15922
comment
 Title Drop: When Harald calls in for orders after the surprising TV announcement, he says he's calling from Bornholmer Strasse station.
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_18d15922
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_18d15922
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_18d15922
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1e12b5b7
type
 Lawful Stupid
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1e12b5b7
comment
 Lawful Stupid: That one officer who keeps insisting that Harald sign a form for the receipt of the dog, even as things are going to hell all around the station.
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1e12b5b7
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1e12b5b7
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1e12b5b7
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1ed05659
type
 No Hero to His Valet
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1ed05659
comment
 No Hero to His Valet: Harald gets back to his apartment after the longest night shift of his life. He tells his wife "I opened the wall last night," and her only response is to blink and then say that he shouldn't joke about stuff like that. Harald smiles a rueful smile and the film ends.
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1ed05659
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1ed05659
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1ed05659
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1f250372
type
 I Need a Freaking Drink
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1f250372
comment
 I Need a Freaking Drink: Kummer, Harald's superior back at headquarters, starts swilling cognac when he realizes what is happening. By the end of the evening he's quite drunk.
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1f250372
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1f250372
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_1f250372
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_32cb267a
type
 Magical Negro
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_32cb267a
comment
 Magical Negro: Harald's guts have been rumbling loud enough to distract people. The ambassador to Mozambique arrives at the checkpoint and demands to be let through. As they're arguing, Harald's stomach rumbles loudly. The ambassador lays his hands on Harald's stomach, and Harald's intestinal distress is gone.
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_32cb267a
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_32cb267a
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_32cb267a
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_3f13413a
type
 Staggered Zoom
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_3f13413a
comment
 Staggered Zoom: A three-shot zoom onto the picture of East German leader Egon Krenz, as Kummer seethes that when he was called that night, Krenz had not even known what was happening. Kummer then pulls out a pistol and shoots the picture.
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_3f13413a
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_3f13413a
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_3f13413a
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_4856ac40
type
 Stock Footage
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_4856ac40
comment
 Stock Footage: Of the press conference in which Gunther Schabowski carelessly said that the border would be opened "immediately", and thus changed history.
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_4856ac40
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_4856ac40
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_4856ac40
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_50f17484
type
 Fake-Out Opening
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_50f17484
comment
 Fake-Out Opening: The opening shots play like someone is trying to sneak past the border checkpoint. It's a dog.
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_50f17484
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_50f17484
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_50f17484
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_97ee273
type
 Momma's Boy
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_97ee273
comment
 Momma's Boy: One guard's elderly mother apparently lives within walking distance of the checkpoint, as she arrives with sweet rolls for the gang. She sees her son with a rifle in hand about to take position, and she tells him to put the gun down immediately. Later, as things are going from bad to worse, another guard walks by the break room and sees the first guard crying on his mom's shoulder.
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_97ee273
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_97ee273
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_97ee273
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_9f80e1da
type
 Sarcasm Mode
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_9f80e1da
comment
 Sarcasm Mode: Harald asks how many men they have on hand to block the untold thousands of civilians at the gate, and he is told "Sixteen." Another officer says he can get two more, which prompts one of his comrades to say "Oh, now we're saved! Eighteen!" When Achim the border guard officer arrives Harald is relieved, saying that he and the other customs officers will do whatever Achim and the border security people want. Achim says uncertainly that actually, he was looking for Harald to tell him what to do.
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_9f80e1da
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_9f80e1da
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_9f80e1da
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_a90fff3
type
 Based on a True Story
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_a90fff3
comment
 Based on a True Story: Harald is based on Harald Jager, the officer who did in fact open up the Bornholmer Strasse gate at 11:30 pm on November 9, 1989. Events that night largely played out as shown in the movie, starting with the infamous press conference, the appearance of huge crowds at the border stations, and the order to let out only a selected few, before Jager decided to open the gate completely.
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_a90fff3
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_a90fff3
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_a90fff3
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_b17f6a27
type
 I Did What I Had to Do
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_b17f6a27
comment
 I Did What I Had to Do: Harald, who is acutely aware that he's going to have to answer for opening the border, says exactly this to himself in the bathroom, while practicing what to say to his bosses.
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_b17f6a27
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_b17f6a27
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_b17f6a27
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_b707726f
type
 Hypocritical Humor
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_b707726f
comment
 Hypocritical Humor: One of the guards keeps urging Harald to let him break out the machine gun and open fire on the people in front of the gate. Later, after the border's been opened, that same guard is telling a Western reporter "I always favored a peaceful solution."
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_b707726f
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_b707726f
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_b707726f
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_e3847ee8
type
 Cigarette of Anxiety
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_e3847ee8
comment
 Cigarette of Anxiety: The officers and men of the unit are smoking up a storm in the break room as they try to figure out what to do. A stressed-out Harald has to ask one of his men for a cigarette.
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_e3847ee8
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_e3847ee8
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_e3847ee8
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_name
type
 ItemName
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_name
comment
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_name
featureApplicability
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_name
featureConfidence
 1.0
 Bornholmer Strasse
hasFeature
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_name
 Bornholmer Strasse / int_name
itemName
 Bornholmer Strasse

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

(none found)