Konterr Brilliant and touching

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Mogadischu" is a German television film from almost 10 years ago that was directed by Roland Suso Richter and written by Maurice Philip Remy. I have seen some other work by Richter and there was some that did not impress me, but this almost 110-minute film here was a really decent watch. The reason may be that the story and the events of the hostage situation were just so interesting and perfect to make a (good) film about the entire affair. Thomas Kretschmann impressed me here too, I did not see him as a greatly talented actor really so far, but he won me over here. As the film is about real events during the days of left-wing terrorism, also be prepared for a couple really shocking moments that obviously had to be handled like that. They could not have turned this into some kind of feel-good movie.I was occasionally tempted to give this one a ****/***** even, but eventually there were 2 or 3 pretty weak moments that kept me from doing so. One would be Nadja Uhl's phone conversation in the cockpit. I am not sure if this one really took place like that back then, but to me it looks as if it was just included for dramatic purposes. And in any case it is truly cringeworthy melodramatic bait. Quite a shame as without these moments, this may have been one of the finest television works in German history. But nonetheless, it was a gritty, edge-of-seat watch for the most part and I very much recommend checking it out. It is not only interesting from the pure dramatic film lover perspective, but also an important chapter of (German) history. Very much recommended.

PippinInOz This is a real treat! You know those rare occasions when you are channel hopping and come across a film that sounds like it could be okay? Well, this is how I ended up being totally absorbed by this film. And I mean totally, by the end nothing could tear me away from the screen.Other reviewers have already done a great job articulating the actual story line, so it is pointless me repeating it again. The power of this film lies in the fine performances - of ALL the cast - including the extras. I was genuinely fascinated to read one of the reviewers here writing about their experiences as an extra on this film. Also not at all surprised to hear the 'method' style approach to those terrifying scenes on the plane, because this is just so horribly convincing. Great work by you all, seriously, a film like this succeeds or fails on its extras!Anyone had the misfortune to experience a long haul flight in Economy recently? Yes? Well, the film makers position you right in that plane with the hostages and you can almost smell the sweat and fear, sense the claustrophobia. Similarly, the terrorists' agitation is convincing and truly terrifying. The actor who plays the leader is just fantastic in the role. Watching him swing between the human being that he is and the terrorist / freedom fighter with a gun in his hand is revealing. SPOILER: Watch this guy's performance during the birthday cake scenes: 'Everybody sing!' It is watching a man edging ever further into madness, into the abyss, credit again to the actor. Having said that, all of the actors in lead roles are magnificent.I could go on....in short: If you see this on television, even if you do not normally watch a sub titled film, watch it. Highly recommended.

anthony-733 Much of this film was shot at the old Casablanca airport as Royal Air Maroc has a 737 identical to 'Landshut' (the hijacked plane) which is grounded there. It was repainted in Lufthansa colours, and the cast was confined to the aircraft for up to 12 - 14 hours a day, so the feeling of being 'hijacked' was very real.... no breaks for long periods, very hot, quite an experience for the extras who made up the majority of the passengers.Also, the whole film of the hijacking was shot 'in sequence' over ten days, and the 'passengers' were not briefed on how the 'hijackers' were going to behave, some of the fear you see is 'real', not acted. Even tho' you know it's just a prop, having a gun waved in your face when you are not expecting it is NOT a nice experience.And very little make up and so on was used, putting on clothes dirty from yesterday at the start of each days filming really put us in the mood. If the film is as realistic to watch as it was to be part of, then it has to be a really good film - it hasn't come to Maroc yet, so all I've seen of it are the (video) rushes we were shown every evening.

Wolfgang E. Ott As a student I was part of - what we call now - the "68 generation". Protest was flowing over all major universities in Germany. This concentrated on the so called "establishment" and later on the Vietnam war was in the focus.A perverted group of this protest movement was the "RAF (Rote Armee Fraktion)". The young German Republic was in no way prepared to give an appropriate response to these terrorists. The reactions of the government to the terror have been helpless and the police had no means to meet the aggressiveness and cynicism of these people. There was a climate of helplessness and hate all over the country.The climax was in 1977 the kidnapping of Hans Martin Schleyer, a representative of the hated "establishment". The purpose of this kidnapping was to free other terrorists who were in jail in Stuttgart/South Germany.The government, represented by Chancellor Helmut Schmidt refused this blackmail and so the terrorists asked their Palestinian friends for help. In the end a group of four PLFP (Popular Front of Liberation for Palestine) terrorists hijacked the German Lufthansa jet "Landshut" with over 80 tourists on board.These are the facts and many documentations have analyzed this event.The film which is no documentation - has a completely different approach and shows the "inside" view of this drama. As all passengers survived, there are many people who could tell what happened inside the plane during these long, dramatic hours. And this gives a lot of suspense - the story of the "Landshut" was never told like this before. You can feel the fear, panic and sometimes the hope of all the passengers who didn't have the foggiest idea of what happened outside - what their government did. They felt lost and given up by their country.The movie shows in a stunning way the people acting inside and outside of the aircraft. So, as a viewer you have the complete picture of what happened and you get an idea about the fear and uncertainty of all persons involved in this dramatic situation.The actors give a realistic picture of the situation and are brilliant, especially Saïd Taghmaoui as Mahmud, Thomas Kretschmann as captain and Herbert Knaup as commander of the special forces "GSG9". Also very good Nadja Uhl as stewardess and Christian Berkel impersonating chancellor Helmut Schmidt.Even if you are not familiar with this part of the German history, this film is worth while to be seen.