Crime scene: Red Death
| Episode of the series Tatort | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Red death |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Production company |
SWR Maran film |
| length | 87 minutes |
| classification | Episode 654 ( List ) |
| First broadcast | January 28, 2007 on First German Television |
| Rod | |
| Director | Christoph Stark |
| script | Horst friend |
| production |
André Zoch Melanie Wolber Manfred Hattendorf |
| music | Thomas Osterhoff |
| camera | Ralf Nowak |
| cut | Olga Barthel |
| occupation | |
| |
Red Death is a television film from the crime series Tatort with the Ludwigshafen investigator duo Lena Odenthal ( Ulrike Folkerts ) and Mario Kopper ( Andreas Hoppe ). It is the 654th Tatort episode and a production by SWR in collaboration with Maran Film . The episode was broadcast for the first time on January 28, 2007 on First German Television .
A taxi driver suspected of being HIV-infected through a blood transfusion becomes the main suspect in the case of a murdered doctor.
action
Iris Wegner is a young doctor in the hospital. After the hospital had given her notice after just a year, she was found dead in her bathtub that evening with her wrists cut. Forensic technician Becker can prove based on the course of the cut that she could not have made the cuts herself. He also finds an earprint on the apartment door, which proves that someone must have been listening at the door.
Odenthal and Kopper first investigate in the hospital. There they learn that the patient Enzo Marchese sued the doctor after he became infected with HIV after a blood transfusion. Then she quit the clinic. According to her supervisor, Dr. Klaus Merheim was only justified in the dismissal due to personnel savings. The next path leads the investigators to Enzo Marchese. He was an active boxer to the end and is no longer allowed to do his sport due to his HIV infection. He then works as a taxi driver. Odenthal questions him and finds that he is still very angry with the doctor. But he can prove an alibi for the time of the crime.
Kopper searches for the delivery company that supplies the hospital with blood products. That leads him to Peter Benda, the head of the company "Global Plasma", who is allegedly committed to the fight against AIDS and who is organizing charity events for it. At such a music gala, he is verbally attacked by the lawyer Vera Launhardt, who publicly describes him as a murderer because he would trade in contaminated blood. To end the scandal, she throws a bag of blood at him.
When the investigators want to question Enzo Marchese again, he escapes. But Kopper can stop him and Vera Launhardt - Marcheses lawyer - appears during the interrogation. In her private campaign against the company "Global Plasma" she could use a current victim like Marchese. Becker identifies the ear impression as coming from Marchese. This indicates that Dr. Wegner had called him because she allegedly had evidence that his blood bag was contaminated. Then he drove to her, listened at the door, but then left again. Since his lawyer gives him an alibi for the time of the crime, Marchese has to be released. Odenthal speaks to Vera Launhardt about her action at the gala and so she learns that Launhardt's little daughter died of AIDS after she was given a contaminated blood bag.
The investigators are tracking down the blood reserves and again question Peter Benda, who claims to have been with Silke Merheim at the time of the crime to rehearse for the gala. Silke Merheim confirms this when Odenthal and Kopper ask.
In the end, it turns out that Dr. Klaus Merheims was indebted to Bendas. Since his horse farm was heavily in debt, Benda had loaned him a seven-figure sum and shortly thereafter Global Plasma became the main supplier of blood products. When, in the case of Marchese, untested canned food was delivered and the infection occurred, Benda had put Merheim under pressure so that he confirmed the harmlessness of the blood products. Iris Wegner had got scruples, however, and secured a sample of the contaminated can as evidence for Marchese.
Becker succeeds in proving Peter Benda's DNA in Iris Wegner's apartment, whereupon Ms. Merheim withdraws the alibi for Benda and Benda is arrested.
background
The film was produced by Südwestrundfunk in cooperation with Maran Film and shot in Ludwigshafen and Baden-Baden .
reception
Audience ratings
The first broadcast of Red Death on January 28, 2007 was seen by a total of 9.11 million viewers in Germany and achieved a market share of 23.90 percent for Das Erste .
criticism
Tilmann P. Gangloff judges: 'Red Death' “is a delightful story that, with a slightly different focus, would undoubtedly have had the potential for a gripping psychogram. Director Christoph Stark, however, leaves it to the thriller, which is a shame; Similar to the last excellent 'Tatort' from Cologne (' The Flower of Evil '), it would certainly have been delightful to fathom the soul of the investigator, who is always so controlled. "
Kathrin Buchner at Stern.de criticizes: “Despite the exciting subject matter - the characters in the focus of the investigation, the blasé doctor's wife, the ambitious head doctor, the calculating company boss, they all remain strangely static and one-dimensional. Only the angry, desperate HIV-infected Enzo, who does not want to stand idly by his fate, awakens the viewer's sympathy. [...]
It is the strong and lovingly drawn investigator figures who have to take a lot of blows and make the 'Red Death' worth seeing: the disturbed Odenthal, the operatic Kopper and the meticulous Becker. "
Franz Solms-Laubach at Welt.de judged quite soberly: “It was certainly not the most exciting 'crime scene' thriller. But once again the authors (Horst Freund) managed to turn a socially relevant drama into a captivating crime thriller. [...] The film managed without any kitsch or pathos. On the one hand, this was certainly due to the already proven coolness and aloofness of actress Ulrike Folkerts. On the other hand, certainly also on the work of director Stark, who narrated the crime thriller calmly and with calm camera work (Ralf Nowak).
Overall, the SWR 'crime scene' was worth seeing, precisely because it dealt with a difficult subject in a manner suitable for crime. "
The critics at Prisma.de think that "screenwriter Hort Freund [has] overshot the mark here, because the very interesting approaches to the subject of AIDS, contaminated blood and the commercial trade in blood remain too implausible and unexciting."
The critics of the television magazine TV-Spielfilm write about this crime scene: "Good characters, but staged in a bogus way."
Web links
- Red Death at the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Summary of the plot of Red Death on the ARD website
- Red death in the crime scene fund
- Red Death at Tatort-Fans.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Production details and audience rating at tatort-fundus.de, accessed on March 21, 2014.
- ↑ Filming locations on Internet Movie Database , accessed March 21, 2014.
- ^ Tilmann P. Gangloff : Critique of the film on Kino.de , accessed on March 21, 2014.
- ↑ Kathrin Buchner: A bloody matter on stern.de, accessed on March 21, 2014.
- ^ Franz Solms-Laubach: Commissioner Odenthal times socially critical on welt.de, accessed on March 21, 2014.
- ↑ Film review on prisma.de, accessed on March 21, 2014.
- ↑ Short review on tvspielfilm.de, accessed on March 21, 2014.
|
previous episode January 21, 2007: Smoldering fire |
Crime scene follow |
next episode February 11, 2007: The end of silence |