Wir wollten aufs Meer (2012)

Two newcomers to the port of Rostock, the excitable Andreas and Cornelis, dream of becoming sailors. To that end, they are supposed to spy on their foreman, Matthias, on the orders of Stasi Colonel Seler. Andreas agrees in the hope that he will then be allowed to go to sea. Cornelis, who is in a relationship with the Vietnamese student Phuong Mai that is unwelcome in the GDR, is unsure whether to take part in the betrayal. Shortly afterward, he realizes that Andreas has already betrayed Matthias. Stasi agents take Matthias away right before Cornelis’s eyes. An argument breaks out, and during the ensuing fight Andreas runs in front of a passing truck. Andreas is taken to hospital with serious injuries, while Cornelis flees with his girlfriend and goes to Czechoslovakia. Shortly before Andreas’s life-saving operation, Stasi agents visit him and force him to reveal the escape plans that Cornelis and Andreas had made many years earlier. They make it unmistakably clear that he might not survive the anesthesia if he keeps the plans to himself. As planned, Cornelis and Phuong travel to the Czechoslovak border, where border guards take them by surprise. Cornelis distracts them, allowing Phuong to escape and continue on to Hamburg. There, she finds work in the Vietnamese community and tries to get in touch with Cornelis. By then, he has been sentenced for attempting to cross the border illegally and sent to prison in Cottbus. There he meets Matthias, who is also serving time. At first, Cornelis is very worried that Matthias might discover that he was involved in Matthias’s arrest, but over time the two become friends again. Andreas has survived the operation, but now depends on a wheelchair. The Stasi recruits him, and he films clandestine meetings in a house. He also lives there and gradually makes a life for himself. Andreas learns that Cornelis has been arrested and travels to Cottbus. He questions him and passes what he learns on to the Stasi. The Stasi gives him Phuong’s letters, which he answers in Cornelis’s place, pretending to be him. Cornelis, however, knows nothing about the son Phuong has since given birth to. In this way, a lasting correspondence develops: Andreas leads Phuong to believe that Cornelis is preparing to escape, keeping her reassured, while he tells Cornelis that Phuong plans to return to Vietnam. The Stasi hopes this will make Cornelis give up his thoughts of escape and reintegrate into GDR society after serving his sentence. Cornelis, however, refuses to accept his situation. When he learns that the guards’ wives want Western goods, he approaches the prison director and proposes a deal: the prisoners will write to an exchange organization in West Germany and ask for Western packages, which will then go to the guards’ wives. The prison director agrees to the “deal,” and the first packages arrive at the prison soon afterward. During another visit, Cornelis tells Andreas about the arrangement, still believing him to be his friend. Andreas, in turn, passes the information on to the State Security once again. An uproar ensues when State Security investigates at the prison. Cornelis is taken to the prison cellar, where he finds Matthias in a cell. Matthias had been taken there several weeks earlier after a confrontation with a guard. They remain there for several weeks, and Cornelis confesses to Matthias that he helped betray him. Matthias forgives him. Through the exchange organization, Phuong now learns where Cornelis is imprisoned. She and a lawyer visit Andreas and ask for his help. He comes under pressure, and the situation escalates further when a couple appears at the house he was supposed to be spying on. In private, Andreas demands that Phuong withdraw the lawyer, or Cornelis will be in danger. It remains unclear whether Andreas lied to Phuong or was genuinely being open with her. Shortly afterward, Andreas is taken to his case officer, who plays him the tape recording. The surprised informant is told that he has qualified to become a full-time Stasi employee. Andreas can hardly believe his luck and henceforth works for the Stasi with even greater zeal. Some time later, Matthias and Cornelis are bought out of prison by West Germany as political prisoners. After the fall of the Wall, Andreas sends Cornelis Phuong’s genuine letters. Cornelis travels to Hamburg, only to discover that Phuong has since lost all hope of seeing him again and has left for Vietnam. Cornelis now fulfills his lifelong dream: he gets a job with a shipowner who also came from the GDR. In their conversation, the shipowner tells him that Cornelis’s ship will set sail in three days, bound for Southeast Asia. Cornelis says with a smile, “I know.” That is how the film ends.