November sees the release of the real-life inspired ‘Rescue Dawn’ which tells the story of Dieter Dengler, the only American to ever break out of a POW camp in the impenetrable Laotian jungle.
After months plotting his getaway and a death-defying journey through some of the world’s fiercest wilderness Dengler appeared at his first press conference looking like a dashing movie star and showing neither sentimentality nor bitterness � simply an indomitable will to survive that allowed him to triumph against impossible odds.
Now legendary director Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man) tells Dengler’s tale with Christian Bale (Batman Begins, The Prestige) starring as naval pilot Dengler. A blistering adventure and a stark epic of survival the film eveals how Dieter Dengler relied on the most primal qualities of evasion, endurance, tenacity and courage to find his way home.
Dieter had dreamed of flying since his childhood in wartime Germany. The only place he ever wanted to be was in the sky but on his very first top-secret mission over Laos his plane was shot down.
Trapped in an impassable jungle far from U.S. control, Dengler is captured by the notoriously dangerous Pathet Lao soldiers who subject him to a shocking initial ordeal after which he’s taken to a small Laotian prison camp where he meets two American soldiers already held captive for a stultifying two years � both nearly broken in spirit.
Determined to escape Dengler dreams up an escape plan that takes his fellow prisoners by surprise with its savvy and audacity. Dengler doesn�t even know where he is � but he knows with unwavering certainty that he must not stop fighting for his life. As he makes his way into the jungle, his journey will never let up, as it takes him from the bonds of fraternity to the brink of despair, to one of the most remarkable rescues in modern history.
‘Rescue Dawn’ is written and directed by Werner Herzog, who was close friends with the real Dieter Dengler. Ten years ago, while Dengler was still alive (he died in 2001 of Lou Gehrig�s disease), Herzog made the acclaimed documentary, �Little Dieter Needs To Fly,� about Dengler. Now, he returns to tell more of the story in an epic narrative.
Rescue Dawn opens at cinemas across the UK on November 23rd.
