Many people who saw this film let out a lot of negative criticism on Twitter. Some pointed out plot holes with which I agree. Some mourned about where has the good old who-dune-it gone, as Tatort used to be? Well, this is only partly true. I watch this series since its beginnings and there have been always unpredictable stories interspersed like this one.
But the general impression I had was a very dark and disturbing story, very well played by Maria Furtwängler and others. The most disturbing in this story about a kidnapped wife and her suspected husband was, that we don't see a perfectly balanced detective chief commissioner doing her work as we have seen her doing it in 24 previous episodes, but a beaten woman, who is not allowed to stay home and lick her wounds but forced to work. She is not suited under this circumstances to do this job and she makes mistakes, is particularly snappy to colleagues and is more and more going to pieces the longer the search for the kidnapped woman drags on. This is most uncomfortable to watch since we like to sympathize with her although we feel that she gets on the wrong track. This has lethal consequences and leaves her and us with an unsolved case. There are inserts at the end indicating that even after a year has passed the case is still open. And yes, the case is closely based on a real crime that took place in 2010.
The film shows drastically how fast police work can go wrong even in the hands of capable people. We all make mistakes and detective chief commissioners fail too. And there are cases that never get solved! The film left me brooding for quite some time and I had difficulties falling asleep. Very well done!
But the general impression I had was a very dark and disturbing story, very well played by Maria Furtwängler and others. The most disturbing in this story about a kidnapped wife and her suspected husband was, that we don't see a perfectly balanced detective chief commissioner doing her work as we have seen her doing it in 24 previous episodes, but a beaten woman, who is not allowed to stay home and lick her wounds but forced to work. She is not suited under this circumstances to do this job and she makes mistakes, is particularly snappy to colleagues and is more and more going to pieces the longer the search for the kidnapped woman drags on. This is most uncomfortable to watch since we like to sympathize with her although we feel that she gets on the wrong track. This has lethal consequences and leaves her and us with an unsolved case. There are inserts at the end indicating that even after a year has passed the case is still open. And yes, the case is closely based on a real crime that took place in 2010.
The film shows drastically how fast police work can go wrong even in the hands of capable people. We all make mistakes and detective chief commissioners fail too. And there are cases that never get solved! The film left me brooding for quite some time and I had difficulties falling asleep. Very well done!
