Police call 110: The duel

Episode of the series Polizeiruf 110
Original title	The duel
Country of production	Germany , GDR
original language	German
Production company	DEFA on behalf of DFF
length	78 minutes
classification	Episode 143 ( List )
First broadcast	November 4, 1990 on DFF 1
Rod
Director	Thomas Jacob
script	Ulrich Frohriep
production	Uwe Kraft
music	Arnold Fritzsch
camera	Peter Krause
cut	Brigitte Krex
occupation
Günter Naumann : Captain Günter Beck Gerald Schaale : Lieutenant König Werner Tietze : Captain Böhme Helmut Schellhardt : Colonel Reuter Annekathrin Bürger : Thea Beck Volker Herold : Holm Kati Grasse : Doris Anja Kling : Anna Ralph Sählbrandt : Johann Uwe Teufer : Dieter Möller Peter Donath : Andreas Beck Klaus Gehrke : ABV First Lieutenant Alfred Jörg Steinberg : brother of the bride Cornelia Heilmann : Conny Heiko Wolff : groom Arnim Mühlstädt : 1st landlord Holger Franke : Comrade forensics Heini Müller : Lieutenant Colonel Michael Kinkel : 1st People's Police Officer Klaus Tilsner : 2nd People's Police Officer Rose Becker : Old woman Günter Drescher : Old man Bodo Krämer : pub owner Romeo Riemer : 1st drinking brother Fred Schmidt : 1st bat Lothar Hans : 3rd People's Police Officer Thomas Förster : 2nd racket Beatrice Bergner : Young woman Andreas Brandt : 2nd drinking brother Hans-Joachim Brieske : Criminalist Roman-Eckhard Galonska : 3rd drinking brother Frank Haberland : 3rd bat Werner Kamenik : Older man Uwe Karpa : Head of Genex warehouse Wolfgang Lindner : 4th racket Edmund Raats : Obermeister Knut Schultheiß : Captain Wolfgang Seher : 2nd host

Das Duell is a German crime film by Thomas Jacob from 1990. The television film was released as the 143rd episode of the film series Polizeiruf 110 .

action

The GDR's 40th National Day takes place on October 7, 1989 . The Leipzig Monday demonstrations upset the state leadership and the Stasi . Since “ counter-revolutionary ” demonstrations are also on the horizon in Berlin , the MfS wants to prevent disruptions at all costs. Colonel Reuter announces that the police are now subordinate to the MfS. While Captain Böhme brings his men to the new line, Captain Günter Beck is called to a break-in. For some time he has been on the heels of the brutal burglar Holm and now catches him in the act. Holm flees. Since Beck does not receive any additional men due to the unrest, he alone takes on the pursuit. He can steal the bag with the stolen items from Holm, but almost loses sight of it at Schönhauser Allee station . He shouts that Holm is not allowed to flee, and in fact young Johann stands in his way, who is on the way to the demonstration with his girlfriend Anna. Holm brutally pushes him down the stairs and Johann remains seriously injured. Holm flees and can finally go underground in the demonstration. Beck still tries to find him in the stream of people, but only comes across his son Andreas. Beck reacts with incomprehension. Johann is brought to the hospital a little later. One vertebra is damaged and it is soon clear that it will be partially paralyzed and will be dependent on a wheelchair for life. Anna continues to stand by him, but Johann rejects a relationship in view of his condition.

Beck returns home to his wife. He is surprised that Andreas hasn't come home yet. The news of the mass arrest of demonstrators makes him return to police headquarters. Here he is appalled by the brutal actions of the men from the MfS, but also of his own people. Demonstrators have to endure for hours like felons against the wall, old men, mothers with children waiting at home, but also injured young people are forced to endure. Beck also sees his son among those captured in this way. He refuses to come with his father. Unlike the other prisoners, Andreas is released the next day. Beck is suspended from duty because of his son's behavior. Holm, who was arrested as one of the demonstrators and interrogated by Beck, is now also allowed to leave on the instructions of the MfS. Beck is outraged, but also irritated by the development of the situation. His son refuses to go into his parents' home while his father is "on the other side". In his local bar, Beck is thrown out as a police officer by guests.

There is a change at the top of the state: Egon Krenz becomes the new Secretary General and replaces Erich Honecker . Beck's suspension is lifted. At a service meeting under the direction of Colonel Reuter, he and Captain Böhme protested against further deployment of the police in the service of the MfS. Beck, on the other hand, is still interested in Holm's arrest. Because of the uncertain situation, he feels above the law. After another break-in, while on the run, he runs over a woman who dies. Beck can prove that Holm drove the getaway car and that the bag with the stolen goods was also in the getaway car. The evidence is still thin and when Holm provokes Beck during the questioning, he loses his temper and beats Holm. After a cat-and-mouse game between the People's Police and the MfS, as a result of which Holm was released and re-imprisoned several times, Holm was finally allowed to leave. Beck enforces continuous monitoring of Holms. He finally loses his nerve and tries to flee with his girlfriend across the still closed border to West Berlin. Beck can now arrest him for attempted unauthorized border crossing, especially since Holm also has a bag with stolen property.

It seems to come to a happy ending between Anna and Johann. After Anna, rejected by Johann, attempted suicide, Johann realizes that he too can be there for others and be important. There is a cautious approach between Johann and Anna, as well as between Beck and his son. Beck has recognized that Andreas understood the situation better than he did. He asks his forgiveness. He is now ready to report publicly on what he saw in the basements of police headquarters.

production

The duel was filmed in Berlin from July 10th to August 13th, 1990 . The costumes for the film were created by Charlotte Busse , Renate Herrmann and Günther Pohl , the film structures were created by Peter Gericke . The film had its television premiere on November 4, 1990 on DFF 1 . The audience participation was 37.2 percent.

It was the 143rd episode in the film series Polizeiruf 110 . Captain Günter Beck investigated in his 4th case. In addition to the crossover episode with the crime scene , Unter Brüdern , Das Duell was the only police call in 1990 that specifically dealt with the current political and social situation. Both police calls had their television premiere just a week apart; The duel took place on the first anniversary of the Berlin mass demonstrations. In retrospect, the criticism found that in no other police call “so much is reflected and ideologized as here”:

"The criminal case [...] is little more than the case study that demonstrates Beck's honesty. However, the film still captivates today [...] with the detailed realism with which the scenes from autumn 1989 by Thomas Jacob are modeled. The goal of acquitting the police call criminalists of historical guilt and making the transition to the new social order possible for them was achieved in The Duel . "

- Peter Hoff 2001

literature

• Peter Hoff: Police call 110. Films, facts, cases. Das Neue Berlin, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-360-00958-4 , pp. 192–194.

Web links

• Police 110: The duel in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Police call 110: The duel at filmportal.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Presentation according to http://www.polizeiruf110-lexikon.de/filme.php?Nummer=143 (link only available to a limited extent)
2. ^ Peter Hoff: Police call 110. Films, facts, cases . Das Neue Berlin, Berlin 2001, p. 151.
3. ^ Peter Hoff: Police call 110. Films, facts, cases . Das Neue Berlin, Berlin 2001, p. 185.
4. ^ Peter Hoff: Police call 110. Films, facts, cases . Das Neue Berlin, Berlin 2001, p. 194.

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