Based on a gripping true story and directed by Kilian Riedhof, four part German drama 54 Hours examines an armed bank robbery gone awry in 1988. While fleeing from the police, the two gangsters take an entire busload hostage. The ensuing manhunt, however, turns into a disaster. The police make fools of themselves with their amateurish operations and, above all, are obstructed by the nation’s media who swoop down on the events in their rat race for the juiciest pictures and live interviews with the kidnappers.
As Rösner, the driving force of the duo, orchestrates their 54 hours of fame in cold blood, his accomplice Degowski derives sinister pleasure from manipulating the media. But Degowski is also unpredictable and violent. When he loses his nerve, and kills a teenage passenger in the bus, the two men choose two young women as their hostages while leaping into another getaway vehicle. Thus, begins an odyssey that goes completely out of control, marking one of the biggest hits for the local broadcaster in 1988.
production details
Germany | 4×45 minutes | 2018
Director: Kilian Riedhof
Script: Kilian Riedhof, Holger Karsten Schmidt
cast
Sascha Alexander Geršak as Hans-Jürgen Rösner
Alexander Scheer as Dieter Degowski
Marie Rosa Tietjen as Marion Löblich
Joachim Paul Assböck as Horst Tiemann
Martin Wuttke as Leiter Kripo Bremen
Ulrich Noethen as Einsatzleiter Recklinghausen
Stephan Kampwirth as Innensenator Bernd Meyer
August Zirner as Innenminister NRW
Marcel Hensema as Jasper Maas
Amelie Kiefer as Karin
Johannes Allmayer as Harald
Zsá Zsá Inci Bürkle as Silke
Lilli Fichtner as Ines
Riccardo Campione as Emanuele de Giorgi
Vinicio Marchioni as Aldo
Uli Krohm as Großvater Heinrich
Tatja Seibt as Großmutter Helene
Albrecht Schuch as Pressefotograf
Arnd Klawitter as Redakteur
Holger Handtke
Jörg Malchow
Dirk Borchardt as PHK Schmitz
Christoph Schechinger
Lena Urzendowsky
Christian Skibinski as Reporter
Oliver Bigalke as Kommissar Drasdik
Jesse Albert
André Dietz
Sven Gerhardt as Polizeioberrat Spychala
Gabriele Schulze as ältere Dame
Frank Stieren as SEK-Verbindungsbeamter
Ralf Dittrich
Michael Kamp
Harald Burmeister
Guido Lambrecht as Polizeihauptkommissar
Marian Kindermann
Melanie Tòth
Dirk Sonnenschein as Reporter
Jannik Nowak as Wachbeamter
Lara Brucci as Giuseppina
Giolina Ardente as Tatiana
Michael Lott
Thomas Limpinsel as Telefonpsychologe
Thomas Kügel as Revierleiter
