Baltic Storm
Encyclopedia
Baltic Storm is a 2003 film written and directed by Reuben Leder about the MS Estonia disaster. Based on the book Die Estonia: Tragödie eines Schiffsuntergangs by German journalist Jutta Rabe
, the film focuses on the confirmed transport of defense materials by the Swedish Armed Forces
, and alleged cover-up
of the true cause of the disaster.
's sarcophagus
.
Jutta Rabe
Jutta Rabe is a German journalist and the current deputy chairman of the Europe section of the German Federation of Journalists, Berlin chapter....
, the film focuses on the confirmed transport of defense materials by the Swedish Armed Forces
Swedish Armed Forces
The Swedish Armed Forces is a Swedish Government Agency responsible for the operation of the armed forces of the Realm. The primary task of the agency is to train, organize and to deploy military forces, domestically and abroad, while maintaining the long-term ability to defend the Realm in the...
, and alleged cover-up
Cover-up
A cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or not, to conceal evidence of wrong-doing, error, incompetence or other embarrassing information...
of the true cause of the disaster.
Plot
The plot portrays the Swedish government as being responsible for using the ship to covertly transport Russian high-tech components to the United States. The story is uncovered by a young female journalist, not unlike Rabe herself. According to Rabe, divers hired by the Swedish government (signing contracts swearing lifetime secrecy) spent hours breaking into cabins frantically searching for a black attaché case carried by a Russian space technology dealer, Aleksandr Voronin (who died 2002). She highlighted US interest in various Soviet technology, including nuclear-powered satellites. She also suggested that panic about the stability of some form of nuclear device is the most likely reason behind the initial Swedish government suggestion of burying the wreck in concrete, a highly unusual proposal for a wreck, reminiscent of ChernobylChernobyl
Chernobyl or Chornobyl is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, in Kiev Oblast, near the border with Belarus. The city had been the administrative centre of the Chernobyl Raion since 1932....
's sarcophagus
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
.
Cast
- Greta ScacchiGreta ScacchiGreta Scacchi is an Italian-Australian actor.-Early life:Scacchi was born Greta Gracco in Milan, Italy, on 18 February 1960, the daughter of Luca Scacchi Gracco, an Italian art dealer and painter, and Pamela Carsaniga, an English dancer and antiques dealer...
stars as Julia Reuter, a young female journalist who examines the story of MS Estonia. - Jürgen ProchnowJürgen ProchnowJürgen Prochnow is a German actor. His most well-known roles internationally have been as the sympathetic submarine captain in Das Boot , Duke Leto Atreides I in Dune , the minor, but important role of Neo-Stalinist dictator General Ivan Radek in Air Force One and the villain Maxwell Dent in...
as Erik Westermark, a passenger who survives the sinking and later helps Reuter to uncover the facts. - Rein Oja as captain Arvo Kallas (based on captain Avo Piht), who survives the disaster and is later kidnapped by US Army.
- Donald SutherlandDonald SutherlandDonald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
as Lou Aldryn, an American official who deals with transport of defense materials and cover-up.