_Blood Trail_ (as translated by Amazon) is perhaps Gotz Spielmann-lite, but still worth a look. The TV film is morally straight-forward compare to his highly rated _Revanche_, _Antares_, and also _Die Fremde_ (those are the three I have had the chance to see). It repeats quite a few motifs and themes from those films however: a underlying romanticism and humanism; ensemble cast with overlapping stories; promiscuous women (or sex workers) who need saving; murder and attempted murder. Here the good guys are the cops and the bad guy reads Nietzsche. The narrative is quite complex though, going forward and backward in time, linking a disappearance from long ago to a seemingly innocuous death in the present day. Unlike his Austrian compatriots Haneke and (I suppose) Ulrich Siedl, who make deeply nihilistic, misantropic films that are highly celebrated, Spielmann is a classicist. (The film is scored mostly to classical music, with a long debates about philosophy between the killer and the detective.) Despite the sordid plot points often found in his stories, forgiveness and kindness triumph in the end. Maybe that is why Spielmann has not been more celebrated in modern film culture! That, and his refusal to engage more famous actors.
Review of Der Schutzengel
Der Schutzengel
(2022 TV Movie)
Spielmann-lite but still worth watching
14 April 2024
Warning: Spoilers