Bloch: Black dust

Episode in the Bloch series
Original title	Black dust
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
length	90 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
classification	Episode 1 ( list )
First broadcast	September 4, 2002 on Das Erste
Rod
Director	Ed Duke
script	Peter Märthesheimer ; Pea Fröhlich
production	Maran movie
music	Irmin Schmidt
camera	Benedict Neuenfels
cut	Monika Bednarz-Rauschenbach
occupation
	Dieter Pfaff : Dr. Maximilian Bloch; Michael Mendl : Josef Klettenberg; Eva Kryll : Dr. Annegret Bloch; Henriette Heinze : Rita Klettenberg; Thomas Schendel : Dr. Kilian; Karin Baal : Mrs. Köster; Jürgen Holtz : Professor Hellmer; Anja Franke : Edith; Franziska Ollendiek : Lucia Klettenberg; Uwe Steimle : Varell employee; Janis Kiriakidis : Head of Climatica; Lars Gärtner : Doctor; Katharina Wackernagel : Leonie Bloch;
chronology
	Successor → ; A buried dog

Schwarzer Staub is a German TV film directed by Ed Herzog from 2002 . It is the pilot of the Bloch television series with Dieter Pfaff in the title role of Dr. Maximilian Bloch. The main guest stars of this episode are Michael Mendl as patient Josef Klettenberg, Eva Kryll as Bloch's wife Annegret, Henriette Heinze as Rita Klettenberg and Thomas Schendel , Karin Baal and Jürgen Holtz .

action

The psychotherapist Dr. Maximilian Bloch, who lives in the country with his wife Annegret, who works as a doctor in the nearby district hospital, is depressed, also because he is not getting on with writing his book. The therapist misses the lively city life and feels lonely in the quiet countryside.

His wife referred him to his first patient, the suicidal Josef Klettenberg, who was very unhappy with himself and his existence because he firmly believed that he had killed his wife ten years ago. Klettenberg, who has pulmonary fibrosis, has tubes in his nose and is constantly gasping. "Nobody can take long with me," he says to Bloch. When Bloch asks about his wife, he sobs, “I think I killed her”. Klettenberg's daughter Rita and granddaughter Lucia are also repeatedly affected by the suicide attempts.

Bloch's reaction from Professor Hellmer, head of the clinic, who wants to withdraw Klettenberg from him as a patient and can do something with the name of the patient immediately, seems strange to Bloch, even though he is only a funded patient and the professor actually only treats private patients. Bloch doesn't want the case to be taken away, however, and then decides to treat Klettenberg as a private patient. He picks him up for a drive and takes him to places that could shape his medical history. Klettenberg was once employed by Climatica as an electrician and specialist in air conditioning. Their journey also takes them to the house where Klettenberg was happy with his wife for 14 years, as he emphasizes. A Mrs. Köster, who was acquainted with the Klettenbergs, tells Bloch that Klettenberg destroyed everything in the house, even the kettle in the laundry room. Klettenberg tells Bloch that there was dust everywhere in the laundry room, black dust.

At the Climatica company, Bloch learns that Klettenberg was a good man and a worker until the day his wife died. The head of the company tells the psychotherapist that he has to be careful, these are powerful people at the Varell company, for whom Klettenberg carried out maintenance at the time. As Bloch approaches the company's heavily secured site, he notices the unrest behind the heavily fenced-off area.

Bloch and Klettenberg gain access to the Varell company by using the Climatica boss to pretend that they are employees of the company. Klettenberg remembers the fine black dust that had stuck to him and his work suit. At that time he already suspected that something was wrong, but still had his wife washed his work clothes, three times until everything was completely clean, and he said nothing to her. He was responsible for her death.

Through his wife and her computer in the hospital, Bloch gets the information he needs to hold the Varell company accountable. Klettenberg's wife contracted cancer, from which she died, from inhaling a large amount of radioactive dust. Bloch demands 300,000 euros in compensation from the Varell company. When he tries to surprise Klettenberg with the check, it becomes very bitter for him. Klettenberg succeeded in his fourth suicide attempt; Bloch finds him hanged in his room.

Since the psychotherapist had focused too much on his case, his relationship with his wife Annegret was shaken. When she confesses that she and her colleague Dr. Killian slept, but that didn't mean anything, says Bloch, funny, that doesn't even affect him, he just lost a patient who didn't want to live anymore because his partner was no longer there. The two of you would just move on in such a case.

production

Filming, age rating

Schwarzer Staub was filmed in Cologne . It is the opening film of the 24-part television film series with Dieter Pfaff in the title role. This film in the series is the only one that is only approved for ages 16 and over. The other films in the series were all released from the age of 12.

background

The episode at the beginning is based on a true story. It was always clear that Dieter Pfaff would play the psychotherapist, said Peter Märthesheimer, and it was he who had the idea for this project. However, it was said that such a therapist figure could not wear a number. Finally, the broadcasters WDR and SWR gave the green light.

publication

The film was first broadcast on September 4, 2002 in prime time as part of the ARD series “FilmWittwoch im Erste ”.

Studio Hamburg Enterprises published cases 1 to 4 on DVD on May 30, 2007 in cooperation with ARD Das Erste .

To the Bloch figure

He is “a specialist in affects and defects of all kinds,” says the DVD with the first four cases. Bloch is “not an international luminary, but a man with an open ear for all those stranded and stumbled, for the traumatized and frustrated, for all phobias and manias, fears and depression”. He is sometimes “rough” in dealing with him, but he knows “that the real causes of mental disorders, the stubbornly hidden spiritual secrets, cannot be fathomed without well-calculated cunning, a bit of humor and a sense of detectiveism”. In addition to his cases, the “grumpy and unconventional psychiatrist” also has to deal with the fact that his marriage is always on the brink, because when it comes to “saving a sick soul”, Bloch “accepts any sacrifice” whereby he endangered his private life again and again.

reception

criticism

TV Spielfilm gave the film the best possible rating, gave the thumbs up and wrote: “Demanding soul thrillers, a complicated lead actor - this series brought fresh color to the ARD program.” Conclusion: “A clever work with brains and compassion”.

In the taz it was read: “If a good psychotherapist distinguishes himself by making his own person disappear behind the patient's problems, then Bloch is a disgrace for his profession. But how was he supposed to make his three hundredweight disappear? He doesn't even try. ”The“ dramaturgical shooting of the series 'Bloch' [is] as simple as it is efficient, ”it continued, and that Dieter Pfaff played his role“ expansively ”.

Prisma was of the opinion that the series "overtly with the psychological thrillers of Georges Simenon ". It is true that the matter is “quite leisurely”, but the actors “bind” the “interest”. "First and foremost Dieter Pfaff, who seems to have been made for the role of the knowledgeable and humorous explorer of the human soul." Pfaff had alreadyprovenin his roles as investigator Sperling and as monk brother Esel that he understood roles "excellently" to implement.

In Spiegel there was talk of the "difficult birth of a new German TV hero", while the screenplay and direction was " learned from the famous English police psychologist series For all cases Fitz with Robbie Coltrane and her hero Bloch (Dieter Pfaff) shrunk to extremely human dimensions ”:“ Shrinker Bloch [was] fat, unstable, prone to depression and unreliability. ”In addition, his marriage was in crisis. It is true that “such a merging of patient and analyst” “contradicts all rules of abstinence in the profession, but it benefits the tension and the need for variety in film aesthetics”. The beginning of the series was apostrophized as "very promising".