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Old GDR crimes in their sights: Schenk (Dietmar Bär, left) and Ballauf (Klaus J. Behrendt)
Photo: Thomas Kost / WDR
The scenario:
Greetings from Leipzig, once the largest brothel in Europe.
After an old lady was found hanged in a hotel room, Ballauf (Klaus J. Behrendt) and Schenk (Dietmar Bär) investigate a case that leads them back to the GDR shortly before the fall of the Wall.
It's about Stasi snooping and foreign exchange haggling, drinking bouts and sex services.
Activities and transactions that were said to have been running at full speed during the trade fair season in Leipzig.
That is precisely why the Saxon metropolis is once called "the largest puff in Europe".
The highlight:
This thriller is a prime example of how you can conjure up a whole bygone era with short, pointed dialogues.
In the course of the plot, Schenk is kidnapped by a woman (Ulrike Krumbiegel) who was involved in the Leipzig barter and intoxication deals and who now reports to the investigator: This is how it felt, the great GDR sell-out.
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Memories of the »largest pouf in Europe«: Bettina Mai (Ulrike Krumbiegel) in conversation with shady fellows
Photo: Thomas Kost / WDR
The picture:
Schenk is threatened by a former Stasi henchman named "the beautiful Jens" with a brightly colored children's water rifle.
The inspector has to giggle, his counterpart speaks darkly: "That's battery acid!"
The dialogue:
The investigator and his kidnapper talk about the surveillance state and the sex deals that have been done in it.
He: "Were you really just the slightly above-average IM next door?"
She: “I was an intelligence gem. Top employee. Top ten according to a statement by my then command officer. "
He: "Category?"
You: »Fucking for the fatherland. Not only, but mainly. "
Schenk: "Do you know Peter Wagner from back then?"
You: "No."
He: “But you have to. You slept with him. "
Her: “Well, I've slept with hundreds of men. For the last 100 I've put in half a bottle of vodka to forget, to endure. It worked too. I've been in a coma for the last five years in the GDR. I woke up in the summer of 90. "
The song:
"Cut My Wings" by Seasick Steve.
The US roots rock singer's blues is on while Schenk and his kidnapper accelerate on the country road.
The review:
9 out of 10 points.
The power of dialogue makes it possible: In the deepest part of West Germany, a dark chapter in East German history comes to life.
The analysis:
Please read on here!
"Tatort: The Death of Others",
Sunday, 8:15 pm, Das Erste
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