The dead man in the wall
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The dead man in the wall |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2008 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Markus Imboden |
| script | Holger Karsten Schmidt |
| production | Claudia Schröder |
| music | Detlef Petersen |
| camera | Peter von Haller |
| cut | Claudia Vogeler |
| occupation | |
| |
The Dead in the Wall is a German crime film by Markus Imboden from 2008. The leading roles are starring Michael Mendl , Anna Maria Mühe , Frank Giering and Devid Striesow .
action
After 46 years of service, Hagen Dudek, Chief Detective Inspector in a north German village, wants to take early retirement and welcomes his successor, Chief Detective Klaus Wendt. Unexpectedly, he has to work on a murder case on his last two days at work. A body set in concrete is recovered during demolition work. It quickly turns out that the dead person is Michael Lehmann, who has been missing in the village for 16 years. At the time there was a murder of a six-year-old boy and Lehmann was the last to see the child alive. Since he was a convicted sex offender, he was immediately charged with the crime. At the trial, however, he had to be acquitted for lack of evidence. A short time later Lehmann disappeared, which didn't surprise anyone in the village.
For Police Commissioner Simone Westermann, who has to solve the case together with her two colleagues, Nadja and Matthias Krüger, the parents of the boy who was murdered at the time, had the strongest motive. Since Lehmann always protested his innocence and his wife continues to be convinced of it, it is possible that it is now even a question of catching two murderers. Dudek cancels his planned trip to New Zealand without further ado and devotes himself to the case that he was unable to solve fifteen years ago. His new colleague obviously doesn't like that, but he has to accept it. First, they question the witnesses to the old case again. Among them Ralf Gerlach, who had often played with little Timm at the time, even though he was ten years younger. Gerlach's blood stain had also been found on the boy's clothes. The problem, however, is that he has an identical twin brother, which makes the evidence difficult to assign the crime to only one perpetrator.
Strangely enough, the two inspectors consider each other to be the possible perpetrators of Timm Krüger and Michael Lehmann. Dudek had found out that Wendt was fired as a youth football coach because he seemed suspicious of a pedophile tendency. What speaks against Dudek is that he had a relationship with Timm's mother and was so angry about Lehmann's acquittal that he was even violent. They go so far that they secretly take DNA samples from each other, which in the end does not work. As a result, however, they talk to each other and really work together on the case.
Your prime suspect is still one of the Gerlach brothers. Frank is considered violent and could have been jealous of Timm, as Timm could be with his brother more often than he was at the time. When interrogated, both of them admit the crime independently. So the investigators are again without a result. So they try to intimidate the brothers, but while they are carrying out a large-scale search of the Gerlachs' houses, Wendt's son disappears for a few hours. At the same time, he comes under pressure from the public prosecutor because he has Dudek investigated, although he is officially no longer on duty. He suspects that the ad comes from the Gerlachs. But that doesn't change the fact that the brothers are still under urgent suspicion. Ralf Gerlach is arrested after the house search found little Timm's underpants. That night he hanged himself in his cell, which the investigators see as an admission of guilt.
Wendt seems satisfied, but Simone Westermann exchanges ideas with Dudek over the phone and has doubts. Wendt comes to the station late in the evening to assist his colleague and notices that she has found something out. He unscrupulously shoots at Westermann and makes it look like Gerlach had committed an act before he hanged himself. Dudek knows that this is not true, because he had spoken to Westermann, which Wendt did not remain hidden. So he has to get this last witness out of the way so as not to be discovered. To do this, he sneaks into Dudek's house, but is noticed by him. In a fight with each other, Wendt claims to have killed Timm because he just didn't want to play with him at the time. When Wendt manages to point his weapon at Dudek, a shot suddenly falls through the window and Wendt leans on the floor, hit. Frank Gerlach storms in and now blames both investigators for the death of his beloved brother. Out of love for him, he also killed Lehmann back then, because his brother was heartbroken over his acquittal. When Dudek tells him that he and Wendt killed Timm's killer, he lets go of Dudek and runs away.
Simone Westermann was very lucky and is brought to the clinic. The shot only hit her speech center, which can be repaired with a lot of practice. While still in the clinic, Dudek says goodbye to her, who visits her again and tells her that he is now going on his big journey. She knows that he is terminally ill and that she will definitely not see him again .....
background
The Dead in the Wall was produced by Bremedia Produktion on behalf of ZDF and shot in Bremen . On November 17, 2008, it was first broadcast in prime time on Second German Television.
Frank Giering , seen here as Inspector Wendt, played the leading role at the side of Christian Berkel in the ZDF crime series Der Kriminalist . Devid Striesow can be seen in a double role .
reception
Audience ratings
The first broadcast of Der Tote in der Mauer on November 17, 2008 was seen by 6.25 million viewers in Germany and achieved a market share of 18.8 percent for Das Erste . In the advertising-relevant target group of 14 to 49 year olds, 1.33 million viewers saw the film and thus achieved 9.7 percent.
Reviews
Rainer Tittelbach from Tittelbach.tv judges this “intelligent television entertainment” which shows “two police officers in a state of ambush”: “'The dead man in the wall' is an exceptionally good crime thriller. This sometimes oppressive film by Markus Imboden is a cat-and-mouse game that always comes up with new twists. Holger Karsten Schmidt has designed characters who cannot be taken to the heart, who are shaken by fate and torn inside and towards whom mistrust is the order of the day, and the author relies on a dramaturgy that is flexible and, towards the end, a certain desire for succinctness Shocking demands from the viewer. The ZDF television film always uses the pattern of the popular provincial thriller to such an extent that it also lures fans of the conventional Whodunit before breaking and laconically decomposing these patterns in the Coen Brothers manner. "
Focus online author Carin Pawlak admits: “Television is much better than its reputation. You just have to let the right people do it. ”She praises the“ decelerated entertainment [and says:] People play the wild west in the far north. An earthy thriller can be so beautiful. "
The critics of the television magazine TV Spielfilm give this crime thriller their thumbs up and say: “A boldly constructed, gripping and atmospherically staged thriller between village crime and psycho duel. Director Imboden ('Bella Block') skilfully plays with the expectations of the audience, which he leads astray more than once. ”Conclusion:“ Sovereignly told provincial psychological thriller. ”
Web links
- The dead man in the wall in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Dead in the Wall Website of the ZDF
- The Dead in the Wall Website by Bremedia Production
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for The Dead in the Wall . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , December 2010 (PDF; test number: 125 469 V).
- ↑ The Dead in the Wall Filming location at the Internet Movie Database , accessed on June 26, 2015.
- ↑ Audience rating at bremedia-produktion.de, accessed on 23 August 2015.
- ^ Rainer Tittelbach : Mendl, Giering, Mühe, Striesow, Markus Imboden & the double face of the north at Tittelbach.tv , accessed on August 23, 2015.
- ↑ “The Dead in the Wall” cockroaches, cows, child molesters at focus.de , accessed on 23 August 2015.
- ↑ TV feature film : TV crime thriller in a north German village. Film review by TV Spielfilm , accessed on 23 August 2015.