The King of Cologne

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Movie
Original title The King of Cologne
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2019
length 90 minutes
Rod
Director Richard Huber
script Ralf Husmann
production Till Derenbach ,
Daniel Mann ,
Michael Souvignier
camera Robert Berghoff
cut Knut Hake
occupation

The King of Cologne is a German satire that was first broadcast on ARD on December 11, 2019 .

action

The film begins with the arrest of the Cologne building officer Stüssgen, during which his deputy Di Carlo confesses to his collaboration with the public prosecutor. As the narrator off-screen, he introduces the flashback to the events with “In Cologne everything begins at the carnival”. His wife is expecting the second child and the family would like to expand the house, but this is not possible for reasons of monument protection. At the carnival he meets Stüssgen and the building contractor Asch, who is known by the nickname “Foreman” in Cologne. In other scenes, his contacts and influence in all areas of Cologne life and above all with the Hoppenheim bank are shown.

Stüssgen suggests Di Carlo as a deputy, what Asch wants to campaign for. After Stüssgen suffers a heart attack during the subsequent visit to the red light district in Pascha , Di Carlo temporarily takes over the business of the head of the department. Asch forces him to implement the major project “New City Administration” without a tender and to award it to his company. At the same time, the conversion of Di Carlo's house, which has now been approved, takes place immediately. He implements the city administration project as requested, but he has doubts about the illegality of the procedure. Asch keeps pushing him cash that he can use as a young family man. The Hoppenheim bank celebrates the major project, at the same time the manager Middeldorf is introduced as project and department store manager and the gullible heiress of the Dickeschanz department store is “ripped off”.

The Cologne public prosecutor's office starts an investigation, summons Di Carlo and explains to him through the flower that his approach is correct and that the proceedings will be discontinued. Confused, he leaves the building. The young public prosecutor Behrens got stuck behind the case, but her bosses let the files disappear in the archive and she was transferred. During a visit to the Asch golf course, Di Carlo was able to steal his notebook, in which he was obviously keeping a record of his business. With it he goes to Düsseldorf to the LKA, which means that the investigation with the public prosecutor Behrens is restarted and many of the people involved are arrested. Among other things, the Cologne public prosecutors and Stüssgen.

background

Following the first broadcast, the ARD showed a documentary about the entanglements between the Cologne city administration, the Sal. Oppenheim bank and the mastermind Josef Esch around 2006 during the construction of the Cologne exhibition halls , which obviously served as a template for the film. In the interview, the Cologne public prosecutors investigating at the time explain that some of those involved were sentenced to prison terms, while Esch was only sentenced to a fine.

The film was shot on 24 days from October 9, 2018 to November 12, 2018 in Cologne and the surrounding area.

Before the broadcast, The King of Cologne was subject to a high level of secrecy because of its social explosiveness. Only selected media representatives were allowed to see the film in advance in the production company's office. It was feared that someone would otherwise be legally prevented from broadcasting because they could see their personal rights violated. The producer Michael Souvignier made it very clear: "This film is not about depicting actual processes and characters, they are fictitious". “Instead, we want to use the means of satirical escalation to show mechanisms from the business world. These are not only typical for Cologne, but for every German city. The real themes of the film are: How do business at the highest level work? How is power abused? And what disasters can result from it? "

reception

Audience rating

The premiere of The King of Cologne on December 11, 2019 reached the first 3.7 million viewers and a market share of 14.9 percent. The target group of younger viewers recorded 0.55 million, which means 6.2 percent market share for that day.

Reviews

Rainer Tittelbach from Tittelbach.tv praised the film and wrote: “In addition to the smiley effect, the dialogues [...] always have a high information content. Without being afraid of hearty comedy, they never become uncomfortably slippery, as they are assigned to the characters according to their type. ”“ All the characters in this consistently wonderfully cast ensemble film have their own note and a special tone of humor. Husmann's inductive dramaturgy and his satirical handwriting without any didactics are part of the quality concept of this film, as is the coherent Cologne soundtrack that corresponds to the plot. "

At the Frankfurter Rundschau , Tilmann P. Gangloff rated : “The television film 'The King of Cologne' is a fun, but not entirely successful satire about the 'Kölschen Klüngel'.” “However, the corruptions of the authentic participants seem a bit childish. [For example] the entrepreneurial family Schickedanz [unceremoniously] became Dickeschanz. ”As a result,“ the participants are not exaggerated in a satirical way, but caricatured [...], which is why some have turned into jokes. ”

Julian Miller judged for quotenmeter.de : “Despite his sometimes rather light-footed style and the sometimes excessive humorous overstylization of the eccentric characters, 'The King of Cologne' ultimately functions as a tough, ruthless settlement with the Rhenish clique, which is at the same time an intelligent psychological Cause research assumes. "

Oliver Junge from the FAZ also wrote only positively: “Cologne became so dark and at the same time noisy in its measured pride in the fact that 'you know each other, you help each other' for a long time. Huber stages the city as a quasi-southern Italian self-service shop. ”“ What distinguishes the film above all is the cleverly arranged book with its boyish, apt dialogues. ”

The editorial staff of the Golden Camera said: The film is a “combination of comedy and social criticism. The first few minutes are staged in a very confusing way, but then you get into the plot. In the best moments the film even reminds of classics like Schtonk! . "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The King of Cologne at crew united
  2. ↑ a b Sven Sakowitz: "The King of Cologne": Incredible, but (almost) true at goldenekamera.de, accessed on January 20, 2020.
  3. ↑ Audience figures at quotenmeter.de , accessed on January 20, 2020.
  4. ^ Rainer Tittelbach : Bock, Kaya, Król, Husmann, Huber. Carnival + Corruption = Kölscher Klüngel at Tittelbach.tv , accessed on January 20, 2020.
  5. ^ Tilmann P. Gangloff : "The King of Cologne": Carnival, Kölsch and Corruption at Tittelbach.tv , accessed on January 20, 2020.
  6. ↑ Julian Miller: Film review at quotenmeter.de , accessed on January 20, 2020.
  7. ↑ Oliver Junge: Der Pate op Kölsch Review of the film at faz.net , accessed on January 20, 2020.