The Bozen crime thriller

Television broadcast
Original title	The Bozen crime thriller
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Year (s)	since 2015
Production company	JoJo Film and TV production ARD Degeto Film
length	90 minutes
Episodes	12
genre	Thriller
Director	Marcus Ulbricht , Thorsten Näter
production	Eberhard Jost
music	Mario Lauer
camera	Ludwig Franz , Achim Hasse
cut	Julia von Frihling , Thomas Zachmeier (pilot)
First broadcast	January 29, 2015 on ARD

The Bozen-Krimi is a German crime series that is shown irregularly in the main evening program of ARD on the slot “Thursday-Krimi im Erste” . The pilot episode aired on January 29, 2015. Twelve episodes have been released so far.

action

At the center of the series is the German Commissioner Sonja Schwarz ( Chiara Schoras ). She resigned from her high-ranking position with the Frankfurt police and followed her husband Thomas, who came from South Tyrol , when he moved back to his homeland to support his widowed mother Katharina in the management of the financially troubled family winery . The family also includes Laura, Thomas' initially young daughter from a previous relationship.

The investigative team in which Sonja Schwarz now works consists initially of the young criminal investigation officer Jonas Kerschbaumer ( Gabriel Raab ) and his father, the police officer Peter Kerschbaumer ( Hanspeter Müller-Drossaart ). In the second episode, the Italian inspector Matteo Zanchetti ( Tobias Oertel ) , who appeared in the first episode as an opaque police officer, joins the Bolzano police and takes over the vacant chief post as capo . He previously worked as an undercover agent and had infiltrated a mafia clan in Bari , but was then exposed. After the end of the eleventh episode, Zanchetti leaves the Bolzano police station (and with it the series): At his own request, he changes to the anti-mafia agency Direzione Investigativa Antimafia in Rome. In one of the last scenes of the twelfth episode, Sonja receives a letter of appointment: She will take over the post of capo herself .

In some cases, the officers are assisted by a forensic doctor (initially Marion Mitterhammer as Chiara Bonetti, from episode two first Floriane Daniel as Heidi Grüner), in later episodes other forensic experts also appear.

The investigators work as a team to solve murder cases in the region in and around Bolzano. In addition to the respective cases of the individual episodes, there is a series-spanning framework plot that plays the central role in some episodes, while in others it is only casually developed as an additional narrative thread. It is initially about the suspicion that Sonja's husband Thomas has a dark secret. In addition, Zanchetti's past as an undercover agent and the criminal machinations of the Mafia, which is also active in South Tyrol, are the focus.

The private life of the investigators and the development of their relationships with one another are also constantly discussed. The relationship between Sonja and her mother-in-law Katharina is initially very difficult, which is even worse when Thomas is suspected of murder and then murdered himself. Later, however, the two women find a respectful, almost amicable relationship. The relationship with her stepdaughter Laura is not uncomplicated, especially after Thomas' death, but it also improves noticeably and ultimately becomes a trusting mother-daughter relationship. As a young adult, Laura also takes on responsibility for the family winery.

Sonja and Matteo find each other attractive, but in view of the circumstances, they do not allow a love relationship to develop: After the violent death of her husband, Sonja does not feel ready for a new partnership, while Matteo always has to assume that the Mafia is targeting stand. He also makes allegations in connection with the events that led to Thomas being killed. When Sonja finally falls in love with the undercover agent Riccardo Riello from Bari, Matteo still confesses his love to her, but at the same time announces that he will withdraw from her life. At the time he only moved to the Bolzano police station because of her, but then only brought bad luck to her and her family. Sonja accepts his decision and lets him go. A relationship with Riccardo, who has infiltrated the environment of mafioso Michele Lagagna and continues to live in Bari, does not initially come about.

Jonas Kerschbaumer enters into a relationship with his colleague Sofia Lanthaler, who is also part of the team, who is put to a severe test when Sofia turns out to be a mafia informant against her will and is dismissed from the police force. Mafia lawyer and later godmother Giulia Santoro blackmailed her with information about her father, who was part of the South Tyrol Liberation Committee as a teenager in the 1960s and who was involved in an attack in which a police officer was killed.

main actor

actor	Role name	position	Episodes	Period
Chiara Schoras	Sonja Schwarz	Commissario (1–11), Commissario Capo (12–)	1-	2015–
Marion Mitterhammer	Chiara Bonetti	Forensic doctor	1	2015
Floriane Daniel	Heidi Grüner	Forensic doctor	2–	2016–
Gabriel Raab	Jonas Kerschbaumer	Investigator	1-	2015–
Tobias Oertel	Matteo Zanchetti	Commissario Capo	1-11	2015-2020
Xaver Hutter	Thomas Schwarz †	Sonja's husband	1-4	2015-2017
Charleen Deetz	Laura Black	Sonja's stepdaughter	1-	2015–
Lisa Kreuzer	Katharina Matheiner	Sonja's mother-in-law	1-	2015–
Hanspeter Müller-Drossaart	Peter Kerschbaumer	Policeman, father of Jonas Kerschbaumer	1-	2015–
Ulli Maier	Martina Kronstadt	-	1-3	2015-2016
Thomas Sarbacher	Francesco Rossi	Gastronom, governor of the Mafia	2-7	2016-2019
Sinja Dieks	Sofia Lanthaler	policewoman	7–	2019–
Susanna Simon	Giulia Santoro †	Lawyer, governor of the Mafia	8-12	2019-2020
Stefano Bernardin	Riccardo Riello	Undercover agent	10–	2020–

background

The series, which initially started under the working title Kripo Bozen , was renamed from the second episode to Der Bozen-Krimi . The original working title was Mrs. Commissario .

Episode list

No.	Original title	First broadcast	Director	script	spectator
1	Who goes without a trace	Jan. 29, 2015	Marcus Ulbricht	Jürgen Werner	5.16 million
Inspector Sonja Schwarz got into a shootout shortly after arriving in South Tyrol. Coming from Frankfurt, she and her stepdaughter Laura move to a winery that her husband has taken over. She has to solve two murders, because a skeleton was found that comes from a young woman who has been missing for ten years. Her husband may be involved in this old unsolved case. Actors in the episode: Götz Burger as Anton Burger, Markus Völlenklee as Prof. Gamper, Jan-Hinnerk Arnke as Andreas Mayn, Kida Khodr Ramadan as Kadim Aziz, Valentina Repetto as Faiza Aziz
2	The fifth commandment	Feb. 4, 2016	Thorsten Näter	Jürgen Werner	5.85 million
Thomas Schwarz is suspected of murder and his wife is determined to prove his innocence. But to do this, she has to deal with the influential local politician Stefan Keller, who is also a possible perpetrator for her. In addition to these investigations, Sonja Schwarz also has to stop a series of mafia murders. Episode actors: Julia Stemberger as Charlotte Keller, Kai Malina as Ludwig Kerschbaumer, Roeland Wiesnekker as Rainer Gruber, Robert Gallinowski as Erich Dornbacher, Heio von Stetten as Stefan Keller and Katja Bürkle as Marita Gruber
3	Sacred Heart of Jesus	Feb 11, 2016	Thorsten Näter	Jürgen Werner	5.97 million
Sonja Schwarz is still fighting for proof of the innocence of her husband Thomas, who has since been taken into custody. With the help of Thomas' daughter and a shepherd, the commissioner receives the decisive clue, whereupon the suspicion against the local politician Stefan Keller increases. In addition, the Bolzano police investigate the death of the host Grandl. Actors in the episode: Kai Malina as Ludwig Kerschbaumer, Martin Feifel as Michael Riedlinger, Bettina Mittendorfer as Bettina Riedlinger, Eugen Knecht as Toni Mayerl, Larissa Fuchs as Ekaterina Rudenko, Heio von Stetten as Stefan Keller and Joachim Raaf
4th	In the abyss	Jan. 26, 2017	Thorsten Näter	Jürgen Werner	4.91 million
Her husband Thomas is critically injured in an attack on Commissioner Sonja Schwarz. At the same time, investigations are taking place in the case of the fatally injured son of a mountain farmer, whose accident with his mountain bike can be traced back to an insidiously laid nail trap. Meanwhile, Schwarz tries to prove the attack to her archenemies Stefan and Charlotte Keller. But Mafia killer Lorenzo Saffione is also considered for the attack. Actors in the episode: Julia Stemberger as Charlotte Keller, Murathan Muslu as Lorenzo Saffione, Katja Lechthaler as Magdalena Falkenstein, Xenia Benevolenskaya as Gertrud Falkenstein, Rosmarie Röse as Maria Falkenstein, Martin Georg Zauner as Dr. Brenner, Thomas Reisinger as Hermann Bichler
5	In the trap	Oct 12, 2017	Thorsten Näter	Thorsten Näter	6.45 million
During the grape harvest, the body of a harvest worker is found at Gut Kofler. Sonja Schwarz, her colleagues Matteo Zanchetti and Jonas Kerschbaumer quickly discover that there are many suspects. Actors in the episode: Julia Stemberger as Charlotte Keller, Anton Algrang as Hans Kofler, Barbara Romaner as Magdalena Kofler, Peter Mitterrutzner as Josef Gasser, Manuel Krstanovic as Miran Horvat, Alexa Brunner as Dorica Novak
6th	Easy loot	Jan. 17, 2019	Thorsten Näter	Jürgen Werner	5.61 million
In a break-in, a retired judge is shot dead with his own gun in his home. But the case also fits seamlessly into a series of break-ins in which the alarm systems failed in a puzzling way. Manuel Steinbrenner, an employee of a security company who runs a ramshackle hotel with his sister Petra, is targeted. Actors in the episode: Johannes Zeiler as Daniele Pravo, Frederic Linkemann as Stefan Karcher, Juliane Fischer as Francesca Tassinaro, Daniela Schulz as Petra Steinbrenner, Emanuel Fellmer as Manuel Steinbrenner, François Goeske as Luca Forlani, Stephanie Lexer as Birgit Maierl, Wolfram Rupperti as Armin Leitner
7th	Wrong game	Jan. 24, 2019	Thorsten Näter	Thorsten Näter	4.95 million
In order to solve the violent death of a driver in a marble factory, Sonja Schwarz once again had to neglect her work on the winery. There is a leak in the criminal investigation team; the policewoman Sofia passes on information to the mafia. In addition, special investigator Carla Pisani is again targeting Zanchetti, who plays in illegal poker rounds at night. Soon he, like the murdered man, owed a lot of debt to the brutal arcade owner Franco Gentile. Episodic actors: Jeanette Hain as Carla Pisani, Anatole Taubman as Luca Rizzi, Tim Wilde as Franco Gentile, Harald Windisch as Julian Bittner, Aaron Friesz as Martin Auer, Ann-Birgit Höller as Elisabeth Auer, Erni Mangold as Magda Auer, Thomas Gerber as Mario Scento, Dietmar Gamper as Robert Auer
8th	Murderous silence	19 Sep 2019	Thorsten Näter	Thorsten Näter	4.67 million
The body of Teresa Gamper, accountant of Mayor Preindl in his company, is found. Commissario Zanchetti barely escapes a car bomb attack. Everyone is wondering where Rossi went into hiding. And finally the new village pastor is stabbed to death. Actors in the episode: Murat Demir as Angelo Vitale (Giulia Santoro's bodyguard), Christian Strasser as the car mechanic Marino, Beat Marti as Robert Preindl, Jule Böwe as Maria Preindl (his wife), Peter Pertusini as Joachim Gamper, Heinrich Horwitz as Lisa Mayn (Teresa's best friend , Waiter at Gamper), Fabian Oehl as the new Pastor Severin, Nikolaus Paryla as the old Pastor Holzer, Harald Windisch as Julian Bittner (née Felix Brandner), Helmfried von Lüttichau as Robert Lanthaler (Sofia's father).
9	Against the time	26 Sep 2019	Thorsten Näter	Thorsten Näter	5.09 million
A junkie is found slain. Juna, the daughter of sports entrepreneur Martin Born, is kidnapped from her father's castle. Sofia's father is attacked so that she can continue to cooperate with the mafia. And Sonja Schwarz faces financial problems because the family's new tractor goes up in flames. Actors in the episode: Tim Bergmann as Martin Born, Milena Thirty as Marisa Born (his wife), Blanca-Sveva Keune as her daughter Juna, Johannes Franke as Valentin Born and Devrim Lingnau as Vanessa Born (children of Martin Born from his first marriage), Murat Demir as Angelo Vitale (Giulia Santoros Bodyguard), Harald Windisch as Felix Brandner, Helmfried von Lüttichau as Robert Lanthaler (Sofia's father), Paul Behren as Lukas Bannert, Thomas Schubert as Andro Rumenovic.
10	Blood revenge	Apr 2, 2020	Thorsten Näter	Thorsten Näter	6.07 million
Commissario Zanchetti learns that it was the Mafioso Enzo Saffione who ordered the bomb attack on him, because it blames him for the deaths of his daughter and son. Zanchetti flies to Bari to clear the table. Commissioner Schwarz is also traveling there to look for her stepdaughter Laura. In Bari, she meets the helpful taxi driver Riccardo from Putignano , with whom she begins an affair - until it turns out that he is a colleague who works undercover. In Bozen, Sofia is facing charges of attempted murder because of her shot at Mafia governor Giulia Santoro. Episode actors : Christian Redl as Mafia godfather Enzo Saffione, Leonardo Nigro as other mafia godfather Michele Lagagna, Gianna-Valentina Bauer as Elena Pedrotti, Helmfried von Lüttichau as Robert Lanthaler, Alexander E. Fennon as Dr. Fehling, François Goeske as Luca Forlani, Vittorio Alfieri as Mario Rosato, Maximilian Allgeier as Nino Marchetti, Edita Malovčić as Lorena, David Brizzi as Paolo, Antonio di Mauro as Giuseppe, Murat Demir as Angelo Vitale (Giulia Santoro's bodyguard).
11	Deadly silence	Apr 9, 2020	Thorsten Näter	Thorsten Näter	6.56 million
The Mafia godfather Enzo Saffione has arrived in Bolzano, where he is to be tried. An armed attack on the police van takes place on the way to his detention appointment. Saffione is first freed and finally killed by his deputy Giulia Santoro. Actors in the episode: Christian Redl as Enzo Saffione, Julian Schmieder as Josef Holzer, Verena Plangger as Maria Holzer (his mother), Cordula Zielonka as deaf Emilia Gruber, Kathrin-Marén Enders as Mrs. Malik, Franziska Rieck as Susanne Heckler, Oliver Bürgin as Kurt Garner , Dominik Maringer as Walter Lechner, Peter Strauss as Max Böhning, Martin Thaler as Robert Hombach.
12	Explosive	April 16, 2020	Kaspar Heidelbach	Martina Mouchot	6.57 million
A bomb explodes at a meeting organized by Giulia Santoro in the castle hotel. Inspector Schwarz is nearby: she wanted to sell the innkeeper the wine from her winery. Meanwhile, Sofia is fleeing from a stranger who is chasing her. Actors in the episode: Leonardo Nigro as Mafia godfather Michele Lagagna, Helmfried von Lüttichau as Robert Lanthaler (Sofia's father), Peter Kremer as Anton "Toni" Lanthaler (Robert Lanthaler's brother), Verena Plangger as Maria Holzer, Moritz Heidelbach as Claudio Tornatore, Ron Schuster as Bruno Barone, Eva Kuen as Agnes Petereit, François Goeske as Luca Forlani.

criticism

Tilmann P. Gangloff describes the series on tittelbach.tv in an overall review of the episode trilogy 10 to 12, which he rated with three out of six possible stars, as “a kind of lucky bag”. "The stories [...] sometimes seemed half-baked because the combination of crime thriller and family level with winery, mother-in-law and stepdaughter often didn't work." The implementation was "rarely really gripping". The weakness of many Bozen crime thrillers is that an exciting, continuous plot is only poorly combined with a self-contained and clearly less interesting case.

Harald Keller is also not very fond of the series (at least after its sixth episode “Leichte Beute”), as he writes in the Frankfurter Rundschau . In contrast to other Thursday thrillers of the first, which recently showed "a positive development towards less clear, sometimes broken characters and intertwined stories", in the Bozen thriller "the protagonists [...] hardly got above the rank of Board pieces that are pushed over the preprinted lines by the author's hand ”. Everything seems "very posed, constructed and arranged".

Frank Jürgens judged much more friendly in a review of the ninth episode (“Against the Time”) in the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung . Director and screenwriter Thorsten Näter knows how to "continue the series from episode to episode continuously at a high level and at the same time offer new viewers the possibility of a problem-free new entry".

Web links

• The Bolzano crime in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• The Bozen crime thriller. In: daserste.de. Accessed February 10, 2019 (official website). 
• The Bozen crime thriller on Fernsehserien.de

literature

• Corrado Falcone: The Bozen crime thriller. Sacred Heart of Jesus , Edition Raetia, Bozen 2017,  ISBN 978-88-7283-591-3
• Corrado Falcone: The Bozen crime thriller. Am Abgrund , Edition Raetia, Bozen 2017,  ISBN 978-88-7283-597-5
• Corrado Falcone: The Bozen crime thriller. The godfather , Gmeiner-Verlag, Meßkirch 2018,  ISBN 978-3-8392-2361-1
• Corrado Falcone: The Bozen crime thriller. Murderous Silence , Gmeiner-Verlag, Meßkirch 2019,  ISBN 978-38-3922-362-8

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ralf Döbele: “Kripo Bozen” becomes “The Bozen-Krimi”. In: wunschliste.de. December 3, 2015, accessed February 10, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Glenn Riedmeier: "Einfach Rosa" and "Der Bozen-Krimi": New episodes of the ARD series in February. In: wunschliste.de. January 4, 2016, accessed February 10, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Sidney Schering: Primetime Check: Thursday, January 29, 2015. In : quotemeter.de. January 30, 2015, accessed February 22, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Kevin Kyburz: Primetime Check: Thursday, February 4, 2016. In : quotemeter.de. February 5, 2016, accessed February 22, 2020 . 
5. ↑ Tobias Ott: Primetime check: Thursday, February 11, 2016. In : quotemeter.de. February 12, 2016, accessed February 22, 2020 . 
6. ↑ Timo Nöthling: Primetime check: Thursday, January 26, 2017. In : quotemeter.de. January 27, 2017, accessed February 22, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Sidney Schering: Primetime Check: Thursday, October 12, 2017. In : quotemeter.de. October 13, 2017, accessed February 22, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Niklas Spitz: Primetime-Check: Thursday, January 17, 2019. In : quotemeter.de. January 18, 2019, accessed February 22, 2020 . 
9. ↑ Niklas Spitz: Primetime Check: Thursday, January 24, 2019. In : quotemeter.de. January 25, 2019, accessed February 22, 2020 . 
10. ↑ Niklas Spitz: Primetime Check: Thursday, September 19, 2019. In : quotemeter.de. September 20, 2019, accessed February 22, 2020 . 
11. ↑ Niklas Spitz: Primetime Check: Thursday, September 26, 2019. In : quotemeter.de. September 27, 2019, accessed February 22, 2020 . 
12. ↑ Sidney Schering: Primetime check: Thursday, April 2, 2020. In : quotemeter.de. April 3, 2020, accessed April 3, 2020 . 
13. ↑ Niklas Spitz: Primetime check: Thursday, April 9, 2020. In : quotemeter.de. April 10, 2020, accessed April 10, 2020 . 
14. ↑ Fabian Riedner: Primetime check: Thursday, April 16, 2020. In : quotemeter.de. April 17, 2020, accessed April 17, 2020 . 
15. ↑ Tilmann P. Gangloff: Series "The Bozen Crime - Blood Revenge / Deadly Silence / Explosive". In: tittelbach.tv. Retrieved April 5, 2020 . 
16. ↑ Harald Keller: "The Bozen-Krimi: Leichte Beute", Das Erste - In love with the Mafia. In: fr.de. Frankfurter Rundschau, January 17, 2019, accessed on April 5, 2020 . 
17. ↑ Frank Jürgens: Tonight new ARD TV crime thriller - "The Bozen Crime - Against Time" (ARD) - gloomy. In: noz.de. September 26, 2019, accessed April 5, 2020 .