Poison (2017)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Poison |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language |
German , Hindi , English , French |
| Publishing year | 2017 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Daniel Harrich |
| script |
Gert Heidenreich , Daniel Harrich |
| production |
Danuta Harrich-Zandberg , Walter Harrich , Daniel Harrich |
| music | Ian Honeyman |
| camera | Gernot Roll |
| cut | Bettina Boehler |
| occupation | |
| |
Gift is an investigative feature film by filmmaker Daniel Harrich from 2017, which is based on his research into inferior, tampered and counterfeit drugs and exposes the consequences of outsourcing pharmaceutical production to low-wage countries, especially India and China . The production by Bayerischer Rundfunk, Südwestrundfunk and ARD Degeto was part of the ARD themed evening "Dangerous Drugs" on May 17, 2017. The main roles in the film are occupied by Heiner Lauterbach , Julia Koschitz , Maria Furtwängler and Luise Heyer , Arfi Lamba , Ulrich Matthes and Martin Brambach .
action
During a raid in the German- Czech border area, the Interpol agent Juliette Pribeau came across a shipment of counterfeit cancer drugs that were addressed to the German pharmaceutical dealer "KompaPharm" in Munich. The owner of the flourishing wholesale trade, Günther Kompalla, is targeted by the investigator. What she doesn't know: Kompalla only has a few months to live after a cancer diagnosis. He wants to sell his company as soon as possible and make up with his daughter, the doctor Katrin Kompalla.
Katrin Kompalla works with her fiancé, the Indian doctor Kiran Chitre, for an aid organization in the slums of Mumbai . Pharmaceutical safety, especially the risk of counterfeit and substandard drugs, is part of day-to-day business. Katrin's life is completely in contrast to that of her father, who as an entrepreneur made a fortune at the expense of others.
The sale of “KompaPharm” fails because its main investor, the Swiss investment banker Matteo Kälin from “MIG Bank Zurich”, demands a health check from Kompalla. Kompalla puts the bank under extortionate pressure: he knows from his own experience the background to the trade in counterfeit drugs. The pharmaceutical giant "Poindex", in which the "MIG Bank" also holds significant shares, and its management around Dr. Roger Adler and the head of security Jörg Zenka are deeply involved. Banker Kälin and Pharma Manager Adler are teaming up with the renowned scientist and pharmaceutical lobbyist Prof. Vera Edwards, who has bought herself and her study foundation an influential consultant position in the Interpol special unit. Edwards pounds the ambitious Interpol agent Pribeau on Kompalla. He goes to India with his daughter.
Juliette Pribeau is rewarded and promoted after her successful investigation. She is now in charge of the special unit to combat pharmaceutical crime. The new position enables deep insights into the interdependencies between her agency, the pharmaceutical industry and the financial world - masterfully and manipulatively controlled by Vera Edwards. Juliette is forced to make compromises and agreements that contradict her own ethical principles.
In India, Mumbai: Kompalla, with death before eyes, wants to clear the table and leave his daughter a “clean” legacy. At the same time, he takes revenge on the "MIG Bank" and "Poindex Pharma", which had denounced him to Interpol. He contacts Juliette Pribeau and offers her information about the deep involvement of industry and capital in the counterfeiting business. From this she sees that she is being misused by the “MIG Bank” and “Poindex” for a game that has been agreed: she should put Kompalla in the cold, but not discover the truth. Indignant about this, she takes Kompalla's side without informing her clients and superiors.
Together they uncover an unprecedented economic scandal in the world of the pharmaceutical industry. It is about counterfeit drugs, deception, corruption and insider trading under the protection of international corporations and the responsible authorities. In other words: it is about mass murder and greed, without scruples or conscience.
background
According to current estimates, the trade in counterfeit , substandard and illegal drugs generates annual worldwide sales of an estimated one hundred billion euros. According to estimates by the World Health Organization ( WHO) worldwide, the content of ten percent of drugs does not match the label on the pack; In Germany, experts assume a forgery rate of up to one percent, and the trend is rising. And that in a market with an annual turnover of 50 billion euros. "Fakes" have long since become a system problem, with a high number of unreported cases and inspectors who are sometimes overwhelmed.
The theme evening "Dangerous Medicines" shows the entanglements of pharmaceutical companies, banks and authorities. In particular, the danger of substandard drugs in the legal supply chain is highlighted. These sub-standard drugs are also responsible for the development of resistance, for example in tuberculosis patients. This is a consequence of the outsourcing of the pharmaceutical industry's production capacities to low-wage countries.
Mike Powelz, critic of Hörzu commented: “Imagine that you are dependent on an essential medicine - but the active ingredients that are supposed to help you are not even in some of the packs of the preparation. Unthinkable with us? Absolutely not. "Nikolaus von Festenberg from Tagesspiegel pointed out:" Every year a million people die as a result of taking counterfeit drugs. The global business that pharmaceutical companies, banks and authorities do with uncontrolled pills runs into the billions. ”“ For director Daniel Harrich, however, this fictionalized condensation of his research [...] is only one side of the coin: He wants to initiate debates, the 33rd -Year-olds want attention for his topic, and he has realized that it is greater if an emotional soundboard is created beforehand. "
publication
The film premiered on May 5, 2017 in the large broadcasting hall of the RBB in Berlin, followed by a political panel discussion with the head of the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices Professor Karl Broich and the President of the General Customs Directorate Uwe Schröder. The industry newspaper Apotheke Adhoc wrote "Pharmaceutical industry trembles before Heiner Lauterbach".
reception
Audience rating
The film was on the day of the first broadcast as part of the ARD themed evening "Dangerous Medicines" with an average of 4.19 million viewers on May 17, 2017 in the first rating winner.
criticism
Poison was mainly perceived positively and politically highly explosive.
“In view of the furious picture ballet between the good guys and the villains, one could easily forget that the reality beyond the screen is less spectacular, but much worse,” wrote Nikolaus von Festenberg in the Tagesspiegel . “As if freed from the dry research room”, the images of the television film stormed “into the drinkable life of fiction”. [...] “In Hell” acted “the top television executives in the field of nasty managers, Ulrich Matthes and Martin Brambach, brutal cynicism one, slimy velvet paw the other”. In addition, she adds - "excellently successful - Maria Furtwängler, an allegedly highly respectable neutral representative in questions of medical ethics, but behind the ever-smiling blonde facade a queen of the night".
TV Spielfilm certified that the director and cameraman found “cinematic, powerful images for a story” that wanted to “shake you awake”. Conclusion: "Bitter substance, side effects are guaranteed!"
Peter Luley of Spiegel Online said that the film was "consistently cast with prominent figures".
The facts are staggering, the Frankfurter Rundschau stated : “Allegedly, a million people die every year from taking counterfeit drugs. If the patients are 'lucky', the counterfeits are harmless, but often enough they are also pure poison; a topic that, strangely enough, is rarely reported on. ”This“ captivating film ”by Daniel Harrich tells“ why ”it is. 'Poison' is not free of “weaknesses in the leadership of the actors”, and there is also a “certain dramaturgical indecision” because the film “cannot decide” whether it is the “investigator Juliette Pribeau or her opponent, the German pharmaceutical dealer Günther Kompalla ( Heiner Lauterbach), to make the emotional main character ”. Even the "factual level of the story" is "far too complex for a ninety-minute film, [...] the material would easily have been enough for two hours or a two-parter". Maria Furtwängler embodies her role "very charismatically" [...] and finally takes care of "the grim and frustrating closing punch of the film". It is "quite brave of the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation to take up such explosive material". Gernot Roll's camera work is also praised. 'Poison' is “visibly expensive anyway; not only the stars, but also the international locations ”are“ worth seeing ”.
Web links
- Dangerous drugs on the DasErste.de page, accessed on July 13, 2017.
- Poison in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Gift on prescription on DerFreitag.de, accessed on July 13, 2017.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Preview “Gift” see page rbb-online.de
- ↑ a b feature film “Poison” and documentary “Hazardous Medicines” see page br.de
- ↑ Mike Powelz: TV excitement of the year: Thriller "Gift" with Heiner Lauterbach see page goldenekamera.de
- ↑ a b Pharma fatal. "Poison": In the ARD film about counterfeit drugs, evil celebrates. But why does it always have to result in the very big world theater? In: Der Tagesspiegel , May 16, 2017. Accessed May 30, 2020.
- ↑ a b Peter Luley: Counterfeits have long since reached German pharmacies. In: Spiegel Online , May 17, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
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↑ Lothar Klein: Pharmaceutical industry trembles before Heiner Lauterbach see page apotheke-adhoc.de of May 12, 2017.
Accessed on July 13, 2017. -
↑ Timo Niemeier: ARD theme evening is quota poison for "Aktenzeichen XY" see page dwdl.de on May 18, 2017. Accessed
on July 13, 2017. - ↑ Gift see page tvspielfilm.de (including 59 film images). Retrieved May 30, 2020.
- ↑ "Poison" - A deadly blind spot. The television film has a few weaknesses, but grippingly denounces the multi-billion dollar trade in counterfeit drugs. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , May 18, 2017. Accessed May 30, 2020.