Crime scene: above and below

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Episode of the series Tatort
Original title Above and below
Crime Scene Logo.svg
Country of production Germany
original language German
Production
company
RBB
length 88 minutes
classification Episode 730 ( List )
First broadcast April 19, 2009 on Das Erste
Rod
Director Nils Willbrandt
script Natja Brunckhorst
production Regina Ziegler
music Stefan Will ,
Marco Dreckkötter
camera Jens Harant
cut Lars Jordan
occupation

Above and below is a television film from the TV crime series Tatort by ARD and ORF . It is the twentieth case of the Berlin investigator duo Ritter and Stark . The RBB produced the film under the direction of Bodo Fürneisen and was broadcast for the first time on April 19, 2009 in Das Erste .

The investigators have to solve a murder case in which they are surrounded by ominous real estate deals and end up facing a private act of revenge.

action

The building contractor Horst Baumann is found dead in the Berlin subway . Obviously, the subway is not the scene of the crime, but he was put asleep in one of the wagons and only discovered there by the cleaning staff in the depot. None of the passengers noticed him before, not even when the perpetrator must have placed his victim here. The investigators Ritter and Stark is puzzled, because they cannot find anything suspicious on the surveillance recordings of the subway.

Weber examines Baumann's past and finds out that he is divorced and that a spectacular company bankruptcy had brought it into the limelight. That is why he spent a long time abroad and returned to Berlin with his second wife, Alissa. The bankruptcy it caused has driven almost twenty craft businesses into bankruptcy. One of them was Frank Rothe's small electrical company, which did not recover from it. The investigators go to Frank Rothe to question him. Today he works as a temporary electrician for the Berlin transport company and claims that he did not know that Baumann was back in Berlin. He says that as a businessman he should have noticed earlier that something was wrong with Baumann and that he has no grudge against him. Nevertheless, the commissioners are not convinced, after all, he knows his way around the subway area and would certainly know how to bypass the surveillance cameras.

When Alissa Baumann is questioned, Ritter and Stark get the impression that their marriage was not as harmonious as Alissa Baumann claims it to be. Stark learns from the Baumanns' au pair that there had been a violent argument between the couple on the evening of Baumann's disappearance. He visits Alissa Baumann and she admits that she has not always been of the same opinion with her husband lately, but in the interests of her son they have worked to solve her problems. She gives Stark her husband's laptop as she was asked to. In the drive is a CD on which a presumably homeless woman can be seen collecting empties. Her husband would have watched this CD again and again lately. Stark initially looks after Alissa Baumann and observes her. In the evening she meets with the company's partner, Edgar Alsfeld. Together with him, the Baumanns are in the process of renovating real estate in a cost-saving manner. Your current project are the " Schinkelhöfe ", which have to be demolished due to incorrect calculations. Stark witnesses a massive quarrel between Baumann and Alsfeld, in which he almost strangles her and Stark has to intervene.

While looking through the surveillance recordings, Weber finds a recording that shows Baumann disappearing into the labyrinth of the subway with a suitcase. So Ritter goes there in search of clues in the catacombs of Berlin. There he meets a stranger who is fleeing from him. And he discovers traces of blood and an iron bar. Obviously the scene of the crime is here, an old T-shirt leads Ritter to a group of difficult-to-educate youngsters. Your supervisor is Daniel Roßhaupter, who admits that he occasionally undertakes illegal tours with them into the underground labyrinth. But not only they know their way around here. In the labyrinth of corridors and shafts, Ritter meets the strange, confused-looking artist and hermit Gregor. In his "workshop", Ritter finds the metal suitcase that Baumann had with him.

While the suspect was being interrogated at the presidium, Stark received a threatening letter that Rothe had apparently sent to Baumann and Alsfeld. In it he threatens to settle accounts with them. Stark confronts Rothe and admits he killed Baumann - in his imagination, every day, every hour, every minute. Him who just comes back now and would carry on as before. Rothe put together an entire wall with newspaper clippings and photos of Baumann and his machinations. As Stark looks at the wall, a photo with a woman catches his eye. The research shows that this is Baumann's first wife. He quickly finds the connection to the CD from Baumann's laptop, because that is exactly the person who can be seen there. Although she has a permanent place of residence, she has fallen so socially that she now lives from collecting bottles . Since she mentions a son, Stark has it researched and comes across Daniel Roßhaupter. He initially manages to escape to the subway area and meets his mother there, who does not want to know anything about him and continues to collect her bottles. Daniel calls after her: "He never loved you. I wanted the money for you. He should say that he is sorry. Only once, but he just laughed. I killed him." His mother pauses briefly, but then goes away. On the spur of the moment, Daniel wants to throw himself in front of a subway, but the investigators can stop him.

During the interrogation of Gregor Sasmussen, Ritter had already found out that he had found the slain Baumann dead in his "realm". He then took it back to the subway and prepared it like a work of art. He took the suitcase with the money and distributed the notes freely among the Berlin population.

background

Above and below was produced by "Ziegler Film" on behalf of the Berlin-Brandenburg broadcasting company. The shooting took place in Berlin.

Schwarz zu blau is a title by Peter Fox that is played along with the images of the pulsating city.

reception

Audience ratings

7.79 million viewers saw the episode Above and Below in Germany when it was first broadcast on April 19, 2009, which corresponded to a market share of 23.0 percent.

criticism

Tilmann P. Gangloff from tittelbach.tv says somewhat cautiously: “The investigations in the underworld are more fascinating than the crime thriller plot of the 'crime scene - above and below': the opaque tunnel system under the city. Well occupied, atmospheric, but low-tension. "

Joachim Hirzel at Focus online rates the crime scene as follows: “It seems to be becoming fashionable for German crime novels to fool the audience for a long time. To lure you on the wrong track until the last minute, to present you the wrong suspect. That's fine as long as it adds tension. But it is no longer okay if it leads to what we had to experience with 'Above and Below': That there is no longer enough time to plausibly explain the true course of events and the characters who suddenly have such a central role play [...] to give the necessary depth. It's actually a shame. "

At Stern.de , Kathrin Buchner judges: “'Above and below' [...] a fine network of relationships spins through Berlin. The neon light of the subway stations, train tracks at dawn and dusk, the television tower, refurbished luxury apartments, skyscrapers, the shafts under the capital - director Nils Willbrandt finds strong symbols for social gaps and the discrepancy between the privileged of the upper class and the many People without a chance. Heaven and hell, rich and poor, above and below. "

The critics of the TV magazine TV Spielfilm think that this crime scene is a: “Somewhat top-heavy, deliberately mythological crime thriller that wants to tell of social coldness, but is more convincing in small scenes. [Conclusion:] Heavy-blooded, dark underground thriller. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Filming locations and audience ratings at tatort-fundus.de, accessed on September 21, 2014.
  2. Debate about the ugly capital city of Tatort Berlin-Mitte at taz.de, accessed on September 21, 2014.
  3. ^ Tilmann P. Gangloff : Film review at tittelbach.tv, accessed on September 21, 2014.
  4. Joachim Hirzel: Dark Tunnels, false tracks at focus.de, accessed on September 21, 2014.
  5. Kathrin Buchner: Death in the Catacombs of Berlin on stern.de, September 21, 2014.
  6. Short review at tvspielfilm.de, accessed on September 21, 2014.