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Ballauf (Klaus J. Behrendt) and Schenk (Dietmar Bär): Brutal moments, perfidiously deluded
Photo: Martin Valentin Menke / WDR
The scenario:
Evil people hear beautiful songs.
Schenk (Dietmar Bär) and Ballauf (Klaus J. Behrendt) chase a murderer who stabs his victim while folk pop is whispering over the headphones.
The investigations reveal that the perpetrator is deliberately targeting single mothers who have pen pals with incarcerated violent criminals in order to marry them after their release.
The psychologist also has a name for the whole thing: hybristophilia.
The term refers to people who are attracted to psychopaths and sex offenders.
Have women become victims of their own desires?
And what does folk pop have to do with it?
The highlight:
The cleverly constructed psychological thriller lets two narrative threads run side by side for a long time and then connects them in a surprising way.
Not entirely plausible in some details, but as a whole an efficient shocker that gently deceives its brutal moments in a perfidious manner.
The picture:
A prisoner, fixed to the table top with heavy leather straps, the face disappears from the nose under black plastic.
The man who claims to be sitting for a woman murder he did not commit is said to have repeatedly attacked police officers in jail.
Hence the Hannibal Lecter hard-shell plastic packaging.
The dialogue:
Inspector Schenk in conversation with the prisoner - from whom he has meanwhile had his "Silence of the Lambs" mask removed.
Schenk: "We would like to talk to you about Andrea Jahn."
Prisoner: “Well, that's going to be a short conversation. I am convicted, serving my sentence. End of conversation. "
Schenk: "We have discovered a few things that are sure to interest you."
Prisoner: "I'm just interested in the fact that I can poop well in the evening."
Schenk: “Unfortunately we can only help you to a limited extent. But there is a new perspective on your case. "
The song:
"Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby" by Cigarettes After Sex.
The delicately breathed slow motion pop somewhere between Mazzy Star and The xx runs through the slasher thriller as a leitmotif.
The promise that nobody will be hurt here is of course broken when the killer stabs the first line of the song.
The review:
7 out of 10 points.
Knife attacks in a minor key: Despite some conventional effects, this “crime scene” also lures experienced thriller users from their reserves.
The analysis:
Read on here!
"Tatort: The Charm of Evil",
Sunday, 8:15 pm, Das Erste
