The Vixen: A Trace into the Past

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Episode of the series Die Vüchsin
Original title Track into the past
Country of production Germany
original language German
Production
company		 Odeon TV
length 89 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
classification Episode 3 ( list )
German-language
first broadcast		 May 17, 2018 on Das Erste
Rod
Director Sabine Derflinger
script Ralf Kinder based
on an idea by Tim Krause
production Andrea Jedele
music Dürbeck & Dohmen
camera Eva Testor
cut Marc Schubert
occupation
chronology

←  Previous
track on the stockpile

Successor  →
In the golden cage

Trace in the Past is a German television film by Sabine Derflinger from 2018. It is the third episode of the ARD crime series Die Füchsin with Lina Wendel and Karim Chérif in the leading roles.

action

Anne Fuchs has made an appointment with her ex-husband Konrad Gelden, from whom she hopes to learn more about the circumstances of her child's death. The Stasi abducted the boy in 1989 to the GDR and took him to a children's home, where he is said to have died. After Fuchs announced her departure from the organization, she was to be punished for her "betrayal". As soon as he arrived at the Villa von Gelden, he was shot in front of her eyes. The masked perpetrator also aims at Fuchs, but runs away when Gelden's son Markus appears with a rifle and shoots him. Markus is surprised when he learns from Anne Fuchs that she is said to have been married to his father because he lived in Dessau with his mother, who died of leukemia in 1988. Due to Markus' age, Fuchs thinks it is possible that Markus is "her" Florian. But a DNA test turns out negative, and all that remains is the finding that Gelden led a double life with two families for several years.

Youssef El Kilali is assigned by Markus Gelden to find his father's murderer. When trying to look around the premises of Gelden, Fuchs had to deal with Commissioner Eisner, who had the same idea before they did. But both are late because important documents have already disappeared. However, Markus Gelden knows of a secret hard drive on which his father backed up important files. Kilali can steal it from the office at night and learns that Annes Exmann has been working with her former commanding officer, Ruhleben, for years and regularly gave him lucrative local government jobs. Fuchs suspects that he did not do this voluntarily, but was blackmailed by Ruhleben with his past. But since both benefited from this business, Fuchs does not see any motive for murder in it. However, it is sufficient for a charge of extortion and taking advantage, and so she hands over the documents found to Commissioner Eisner. When Rohleben is arrested, Fuchs seizes the opportunity and searches his office in the hope of finding records about her son Florian. Although the official documents have been confiscated by the police and taken away, Fuchs knows the secret hiding places. In fact, she finds a file there that shows that Florian is alive. This news almost makes her collapse. Immediately she drives Kilali to the children's home in Dessau that is mentioned in the file. He is not very enthusiastic about it, because his job is actually to find a murderer and not the prodigal son of his business partner. After the two succeed in finding the teacher who worked in the home in 1989 and looked after Florian, Anne Fuchs learns a little about Florian's time after his deportation to the GDR. It quickly became clear to the teachers that the boy could not have grown up in the GDR; his words and preferences for certain foods and toys were too conspicuous. After a year the boy was adopted. Fuchs and Kilali ask the responsible youth welfare office, which also existed in Dessau in 1990 after reunification . Even if Fuchs is not officially allowed to see the names of the adoptive parents, she still succeeds and so the Boehm family is the next target. Ute Beohm has to admit that it wasn't easy for her with Florian. He was often aggressive and had to begin his first youth sentence at 16. After that she would never have seen Florian again.

Back in Cologne, Anne Fuchs contacted Commissioner Eisner, who helped her to find a friend Florian knew from the time of his youth imprisonment. Here she sees a recent photo of Florian for the first time, as well as documents that show that he was interested in forced adoptions from the GDR. Obviously that was how he found his way to his father. However, their research also shows that Florian and Markus Gelden knew each other, which he had denied. Shortly afterwards, the two detectives are shot, which allows Fuchs to conclude that Markus Gelden himself could be behind the murder of his father.

The search for Florian leads Anne Fuchs to a hotel in which he is hiding. Little does she know that she is being monitored by Inspector Eisner and that he thinks the boy is the murderer. Fuchs has little time to talk to Florian about the most essential things. She makes it clear to him that he was manipulated by his brother and incited to the murder. Had she not unexpectedly appeared in the villa that day, Markus would very likely have shot his brother in "self-defense", which he will now make up for. While the police are already surrounding the hotel, Fuchs discovers Markus Gelden with a rifle on the neighboring building. She can pull Florian to the ground and thus saves her son's life. Both Markus and Florian are found and arrested by the police. Kilali is sure that he can help Florian with a good lawyer. He already knew someone who owed him another favor.

background

The shooting took place from October 12 to November 14, 2017 in Cologne as well as in Düsseldorf and the surrounding area.

reception

Audience rating

The first broadcast of Die Füchsin - Spur in the Past on May 17, 2018 in Das Erste reached 4.36 million viewers and a market share of 15.3 percent.

criticism

Thomas Gehringer from tittelbach.tv said: “Wendel shows her flair for the right mix of hardness, coolness, melancholy and humor. The cooperation between the older fox and the chatterbox Youssef is also getting closer and more warm-hearted. The crime thriller - sometimes a robber-and-gendarme game, sometimes serious drama - retains variety and ease thanks to the change of scene and original supporting characters. The plot is easy to understand, however, and the tension does not exactly grow into the sky. "

The critics of the television magazine TV Spielfilm gave this episode a "thumbs up". They judged: “In the third part of the 'Vixen' series, the focus is entirely on the fateful, also inglorious past of the 'Scout of Peace'. Author Ralf Kinder, who wrote all three scripts, is very familiar with vocabulary and sensitivities as a child in the GDR. And because the award-winning Austrian director Sabine Derflinger ( Vorstadtweiber ) once again demonstrates a flair for sensitive acting and stages it in a thrilling way, we leave the one or two logic knocks unpunished today. ”Conclusion:“ Exciting, political and with a relaxing joke. ”

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A trace of the past at crew-united.com, accessed on January 14, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b Thomas Gehringer: Lina Wendel, Cherif, Bartholomäi, children, Derflinger. A turning point in the film review series at tittelbach.tv, accessed on January 14, 2019.
  3. ^ Film review at tvspielfilm.de, accessed on January 14, 2019.