Greetings from Lützerath - the new ARD "crime scene" from Cologne is set in an abandoned village in the Rhenish lignite mining area.
A fine film about pain and homelessness.
Stay away from Bützenich, says a battered sign that Cologne detectives Schenk (Dietmar Bär) and Ballauf (Klaus J. Behrendt) pass on their way to the "crime scene" in the Rhenish lignite mining area.
The fictional village, which was almost swallowed up by the nearby opencast mine, was saved.
But at what price?
The long struggle for a home has divided the community, destroyed livelihoods and left scars.
The breeding ground for a murder.
Director Torsten C. Fischer has composed a strong crime thriller with “Abbruch Kante”, which, despite its proximity to Lützerath (the film was shot only 40 kilometers away), does not commit itself to the debate about coal mining and the phase-out.
Rather, the book by Eva and Volker A. Zahn focuses on interpersonal issues: betrayal, loss and revenge.
The long-established doctor von Bützenich was shot dead in an abandoned house.
In a tug-of-war over his homeland, he had acquired property from the locals and made false promises.
So he had enough enemies and a joyless marriage to boot.
So far, so conventional.
But the crime thriller from Cologne elegantly deviates and develops into a successful social drama in a bizarre place that seems to have been forgotten by the rest of the world.
Max Ballauf, who, as the eternally lonely wolf, finds a soul mate in the innkeeper Karin Bongartz (great: Barbara Nuss) is also gripped by the mood between departure and perseverance.
A fine, socially relevant thriller that ennobles itself with the final confession - a resolution à la Hercule Poirot - in the local church.
