Scene of the crime: The President
| Episode of the series Tatort | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The president |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Production company |
SWR |
| length | 88 minutes |
| classification | Episode 468 ( list ) |
| First broadcast | April 22, 2001 on Das Erste |
| Rod | |
| Director | Thomas Bohn |
| script | Thomas Bohn |
| production | Ulrich Herrmann |
| music | Hans Franek |
| camera | Hans-Jörg Allgeier |
| cut | Gudrun Bohl |
| occupation | |
| |
The President is a television film from the crime series Tatort . The episode was produced by Südwestrundfunk under the direction of Thomas Bohn and first broadcast on German television on April 22, 2001. It is the 468th episode of the crime scene and the 21st episode with Ludwigshafen investigator Lena Odenthal ( Ulrike Folkerts ). For her colleague Mario Kopper ( Andreas Hoppe ) it is the twelfth case.
action
While Commissioner Lena Odenthal is in the process of clarifying the circumstances under which a family man has killed his wife, children and himself, Police Commissioner Kaysser is killed in a car accident. Since he told her shortly before his death that he wanted to move to the Ministry of the Interior because it was “easier to clean up from there”, Odenthal is convinced that Kaysser was the victim of an assassination attempt. After forensic technician Becker finds evidence that the accident vehicle has been tampered with, Kriminalrat Friedrichs commissioner Odenthal, as head of a special commission, sets up this attack. To her annoyance, Kaysser's successor, Chief Detective Georg von Manikowsky, has his confidante, the BKA officer Ulrich Roland, also investigated. The commissioner learns from him that Kaysser was an undercover agent in the RAF scene 20 years ago . On the basis of his information, two well-known terrorists could be caught, one of whom was shot during arrest. He therefore suspects an act of revenge from the terror scene.
However, Odenthal first wants to investigate the suspicion against Renate Stern, who attacked Kaysser with a knife at a reception a few years ago. The inspector learns from her that she had a relationship with Kaysser at the time and that she only acted out of disappointed love.
Ulrich Roland surprisingly presents evidence against Kaysser's daughter Christa as an assassin on her father. Odenthal is outraged, after all, she has made friends with Christa Kaysser and says she knows her better. The relationship with her father was in fact not very close, but a motive for the crime cannot be deduced from it. However, she is in heavy debt and the burden of proof is overwhelming. Inspector Roland obtains an arrest warrant, but when he tries to take Christa Kaysser into custody, she escapes and runs in front of a truck. She is seriously injured and taken to the clinic. Odenthal doubts Christa's guilt and after looking around Kaysser's apartment with Kopper, they find a drug that indicates Karl Kaysser's mental illness and drug addiction. Odenthal is determined to have Kaysser exhumed and autopsied to prove the drug. But her application is rejected.
After Kopper evaluates Kaysser's cell phone calls, he finds a lead to a therapist. The investigators learn from her that Kaysser was manic-depressive and that he only wanted to be treated with medication. In her opinion, Kaysser had inferiority complexes, which he tried to compensate for with extremely ambitious work. But at some point his battered soul began to strike, so that he saw death as a welcome alternative. His daughter had seen through him for a long time, which he really disliked. So his relationship with her was not very paternal, but rather hateful.
It is clear to Odenthal that Kaysser planned his death as cold as ice and arranged everything in such a way that suspicion falls on his daughter. Her theory is in stark contrast to the opinion of the Chief Criminal Police Officer and since the latter wants to receive a positive souvenir for his deserving colleague, he explains that the BKA has received a letter of responsibility for the terror scene and that he would therefore take the Kaysser case to the Federal Criminal Police Office.
reception
Audience rating
When it was first broadcast in Germany on April 22, 2001, 8.16 million viewers saw the episode The President , which corresponded to a market share of 23.03 percent.
criticism
Tilmann P. Gangloff considers "The President" to be "one of the stronger 'Tatort' contributions from Ludwigshafen," which would be "primarily due to Bohn's multi-layered script". “He skillfully links his central plot with supposed side threads. The secondary characters in particular are not just key words here, but complex characters. Above all, however, at Bohn, Commissioner Odenthal has always been allowed to be not just a 'fight emancipation' (as Kaysser's successor once called), but also a person. [...] And because Assi Kopper (Andreas Hoppe) also has to do without his antics, this 'crime scene' is a mature achievement - and by the way a thriller in which not a single shot is fired and not a drop of blood can be seen. "
The critics of the television magazine TV Spielfilm give the thumbs up for this crime scene and recognize many "superficial lies in a case with profound depth ..." and so it can be stated: "Nobody is as he appears."
Web links
- Crime scene: The President in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Summary of the plot of The President on the ARD website
- The president at the crime scene fund
- The president at Tatort-Fans.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ The President Rating at tatort-fundus.de, accessed on August 8, 2016.
- ^ Tilmann P. Gangloff : Tatort: The President Film Critique at kino.de , accessed on August 8, 2016.
- ↑ TV feature film : Lena Odenthal is looking for her boss's murderer. Film review by TV Spielfilm , accessed on August 8, 2016.
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previous episode April 16, 2001: Innocent |
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next episode May 6, 2001: Bienzle and the secret witness |