StyleSk8r
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Teddie Blake
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Roxie
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
AnybodyMustermann
Well made movie with good acting and good directing but I was shocked about the content. Just about EVERYTHING this movie shows from start to finish is demonstrably wrong.Some examples:a) in the very first few seconds a voice can be heard telling us how they're powering up a reactor. This supposedly is done within seconds, while in reality going to full power is more like days. Is this important? No, but it sets up the scene for all the BS that follows.b) after the accident happens a couple of kids drive in a car and - this is so cheesy - one after another state - factually wrong - anti- nuclear-talking-lines. Like that after the Harrisburg/ThreeMileIsland accident cancer rates skyrocketed (read Wikipedia on this, 2 additional cancers in the area are not exactly skyrocketing)c) everyone runs away and fears "the cloud". I could not believe my eyes when the movie actually shows a dangerous and dark cloud. WTF !!! There is no reason whatsoever why there should be a visible and dangerous cloud (except for random weather, and in the weather shown this ominous cloud doesn't really fit). But I guess it looks good on screen and is really scary.d) the movie reinforces the (dangerous) stereotype that people suffering from radiation exposure are themselves radiating and therefore dangerous to others! This is for the most part complete and utter BS. Just because you've been exposed you are not a danger to everyone around you and especially not as the movie claims MONTHS after your exposure.e) the movie claims 38.000 people died and EVERYONE in a 5km radius died from radiation. Considering that after several simultaneous meltdowns in Fukushima the death toll from radiation still stands at ZERO... this just doesn't make any sense and is completely disconnected from reality.Watch this movie if you like. It's well made but be aware that it's pure propaganda and has NOTHING at all to do with reality. If you consider yourself a member of the reality-based community you will probably have to puke while watching this if you know anything at all about this topic.
tributarystu
It's strange how trends tend to migrate regardless of their nature - good or bad. And it's definitely not only the case in modern cinema, but also in day to day life. One might actually notice that some trends are more 'adaptable' than others and it just so happens that it's the lesser trends which have this characteristic.Yet, talking about trends is like talking about the act of imitation, because that's all there is to do in order to 'adopt' a certain shift in secular thinking. Unfortunately, though, while the act itself - the act of imitating, that is - was once considered the premise for facilitating swifter advancements in a nation's cultural endeavours, the underlying concept seems to have been...misplaced. That is, the concept of adapting, which implies creating shapes that can serve as a basis for foreign 'imports'.I am so sorry for digressing in such a disgusting manner, but I believe it serves an obvious purpose. It's truly a shame that a culture as vast as the German one is ignored in producing a movie which is so "hollywoodian" it simply implodes. Too much of anything just can't survive."Die Wolke" is based on what I heard to be a heart-breaking story about love facing boundaries. A bit atypical, in the sense that the problem isn't of a common nature, such as family or society, but of a more horrendous one: a nuclear meltdown. Given that the starting point is one of such graveness, it would have been important not to overemphasize *some* aspects of the film. Regretfully, this is exactly what happens and the movie slowly turns into a love story that sometimes simply goes beyond the pathetic (in the Oxfordian sense of "causing one to feel pity or sadness").As the "Wolke" catches up with the main protagonist, a girl named Hannah, she is severely affected by the radiation. Elmar, her boyfriend, defies his father's (who just happens to be as rich as they come) and in a gesture of absolute altruism and complete devotion starts to search for his Hannah. I guess a more pragmatical viewer can imagine what outcome the relationship between a healthy person and a one recently 'radiated' might have.I hate being overly sarcastic, but sometimes this is all we humble mortals are left with, in the face of a work that tries to be of such an astounding magnitude and, actually, is nowhere near it. There are, however, some things I enjoyed about "Die Wolke". Actually, it's only one thing, but of quite an importance: somehow the film managed to convey the disaster at a fine pace, in all it's urgency and in a rather threatening manner. And this is truly an impressive achievement, as the film does not rely on extensive SFX.To digress once more, for a bit: this German movie tries to be as American as possible. The thing is, if you're trying to do a disaster movie without massive special effects, then you might as well try to avoid using ALL the clichés you've ever stumbled over. Not being pretentious when playing with art is of the utmost importance.
eicberin
I saw this film this week and since there is no comment yet I'll have the honor ;) I don't want to go into detail and tell or analyse the story right now but I want to say that it's really outrageous. I haven't read the book to it yet I must confess but my friend did and she said that the movie is somewhat different, which is quite logical. I think that they really made the best out of the story, the book was basically about a catastrophe and the life before and after an atomic accident. I give away that there is a love-story that wasn't obvious in the book but it is not like in other book-picturisations a public-lure, it is just a wonderfully insight-giving thread. I liked it that the film does not rush through things, it's not that you feel after fife minutes like "okay that was the life before it now" and then "ooh yeah the accident, now there's gonna be action". Far from it. It starts like a great movie about common characters, life, family, love, youth .. and the film manages to keep your attention but it does not lead you into a romantic ideal-world-feeling that crashes when the alarm rings, it just is realistic, to sum it up. And all in all it really keeps your attention, your interest and your emotions, it gives room for emotions and thoughts about the meaning of love, of life, existence and death at the same time and there's not a sweet beginning, a total clue of action, sadness and shock with an abrupt ending, it has this sweet expectation that again and again there's something worse to come up that leaves you sitting small but gracefully and caring but not unnecessarily crying in the cinema-chair. The actors did a great job, all of them, above all the quite young main characters. To put it in a nutshell: go and experience that experience, but do it aware and on a day your nerves are strong, with someone you can look at in moving moments where words wouldn't do but loneliness would turn the effect in another direction, don't "just go to the movies" because this is not "just a film". every blessing /eicberin/
malojo
I've read the novel of Mrs. Pausewang when I was a child, so I had an idea what that was about and what I had to expect. The first part of the movie is very closed to the book and well done. The second part is mainly about the main characters and you get interesting information about the situation ( f.e. political decisions ) only in the background. Because of that I give only 8 points. I think this is the price you have to pay to make such a movie work. The movie is well done and gives an interesting view to such a catastrophe in front of my house. If you have read the book or you are interested in this topic I can recommend this good German movie.
