Спасение рассвета: История Дитера Денглера

2006 film by Werner Herzog

Rescue Dawn is a 2006 epic war drama film written and directed by Werner Herzog, based on an adapted screenplay written from his 1997 documentary film Little Dieter Needs to Fly. The film stars Christian Bale and is based on the true story of German American pilot Dieter Dengler, who was shot down and captured by villagers sympathetic to the Pathet Lao during an American military campaign in the Vietnam War. Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies, Pat Healy, and Toby Huss also have principal roles. The film project, which had initially come together during 2004, began shooting in Thailand in August 2005. It received critical acclaim but was a box office failure.

In February 1966, while on a combat mission, Lt. Dieter Dengler, a German born U. S. Navy pilot in squadron VA 145, flying from the carrier USS Ranger, is shot down in his Douglas A 1 Skyraider over Laos. He survives the crash, only to be captured by the Pathet Lao. Dengler is offered leniency by the province governor if he will sign a document condemning America, but he refuses. Dengler is tortured and taken to a prisoner of war camp. There he meets his fellow prisoners: American pilots Gene DeBruin and Duane W. Martin, Hong Kong Chinese radio operator Y. C. To, Procet and Thai Air America freight employee Pisidhi Indradat, some of whom have been captives for years. Dengler immediately plans to escape but receives only grudging approval from the others. All are suffering from malnutrition, unhygienic conditions and abuse by the guards. After some months, the food supply worsens further, and they learn that the starving guards are planning to kill them and return to their village, so the prisoners agree to put the long prepared plan into action. This involves escaping through a weakened place in the perimeter fence, dividing into two groups, circling the perimeter fence in opposite directions, converging on the guard hut during the lunch hour to overwhelm the guards, and contacting the American forces for rescue. Due to one party of prisoners disobeying Dengler's orders, the escape does not go according to the plan, and nearly all the guards end up being shot. With insufficient equipment and supplies, the prisoners disperse in the jungle. Dengler and Martin form one group, while Gene and To leave together to an uncertain fate. Dengler and Martin head towards the Mekong River with a plan to cross over into Thailand by fashioning a crude raft, but they run afoul of rapids and a waterfall. After losing their raft, Dengler and Martin are soon found by a mob of angry villagers, who kill Martin. Dengler escapes and flees back into the jungle, hiding from the pursuing villagers. A few days later, he is finally rescued by an American helicopter and taken to a hospital in a U. S. compound but kept isolated as his mission was classified. Eventually, his squadron members are allowed to visit, and they arrange his escape back to his ship, where the whole crew welcomes him as a hero.

Rescue Dawn is based on the true story of Dieter Dengler, a charismatic pilot who was shot down in Laos while on a covert attack mission for the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. A few months after being captured in 1966, Dengler and other POWs who were being held captive targeted July 4 for their mass escape. The prisoners had overheard the guards in mid June planning to kill all of them and return to their villages because a drought had caused a severe shortage of food and water. The POWs decided they could not wait any longer to make their escape. Dengler and fellow POW Duane W. Martin made their eventual run from their prisoner camp into dense jungle. Martin was killed by an enraged Laotian villager, but Dengler was able to continue on. Two rescue helicopters were scrambled to rescue Dengler, dropping a cable down to the human figure they spotted below. They winched him on board, but fearful that he could be a Viet Cong suicide bomber, the pararescue crewman, A1C Michael Leonard, from Lawler, Iowa pinned the man to the helicopter floor and searched him. Dengler told Leonard that he was a Navy pilot that had been shot down and captured and recently escaped." Director Herzog's fascination with the cruelties of man and nature led his interest in the 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly about Dengler's experiences in captivity. He chose to revisit the story in a cinematic theatrical version with Christian Bale portraying Dengler. Compared to Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Rescue Dawn understates the suffering of the prisoners, including omitting some of the worst torture experienced by Dengler, as the film is rated PG 13.

Principal photography took place over 44 days in Thailand. In preparation for the roles, the actors playing the prisoners spent several months losing weight. Since weight gain is accomplished more quickly than weight loss, the film was shot in reverse, with Bale fully regaining his weight during the course of the shoot. The film includes the first major use of digital visual effects in Herzog's career; the shots of Dengler's flight while airborne were created digitally. The crash itself, however, is live action.

The film depicts six prisoners in the camp, while in real life there were seven. Herzog says that he found the writing to be difficult with seven characters, and that six was a more manageable number. Herzog acknowledged that DeBruin acted heroically during his imprisonment, refusing to leave while some sick prisoners remained. Herzog states he was unaware of this until after the film had been completed; however, Pisidhi Indradat and Jerry DeBruin stated they made multiple attempts to meet with Herzog to ensure the film's accuracy, but to no avail.

Rescue Dawn was distributed by Metro Goldwyn Mayer theatrically in the United States, and by Pathé Distribution, Hopscotch Films and Central Film GmbH in foreign markets. It was originally scheduled to be released by MGM in December 2006, but was held back for limited release in the United States until 2007, with the full release on July 27 following a limited release in New York City, Toronto and Los Angeles on July 4. The film score was written by German composer Klaus Badelt, after previously working with Herzog in his 2001 film Invincible. The soundtrack was released on June 26, 2007.

Following its cinematic release in 2007, Rescue Dawn was nominated for multiple awards, including a Golden Satellite Award and an Independent Spirit Award. Among other nominations, Rescue Dawn was considered for the Golden Satellite Awards in the categories of "Best Supporting Male", "Best Supporting Actor" and "Best Actor in a Drama". The film garnered a win for actor Christian Bale from the San Diego Film Critics Society in the category of "Body of Work".

Rescue Dawn grossed $5,490,423 in U. S. ticket receipts during a 17 week theatrical run and earned $1,686,720 outside the United States, for a total gross revenue of $7,177,143. It was considered a financial failure due to its $10 million budget. The film did recoup its losses from $24,747,717 earned from DVD rentals and sales. Rescue Dawns revenue dropped by 66% in its second week of release, earning $560,903 and falling to 18th place.

The film was released on DVD and Blu ray on November 20, 2007. According to the website The Numbers, estimates on DVD sales revenue in the United States totalled $24,747,717.