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New Zurich “crime scene”: An unlikely duo
The Zurich “crime scene” is a nice example of two friends with and without disabilities. But then unfortunately he gets bogged down in too many stories. more...
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There is a moment in “Tatort” this week that could be the beginning of a story with potential.
Two men, one motorcycle, one mission: Jacob, a laundry employee with Down syndrome (Benjamin Raue) goes on a bad boy hunt together with Simon, an ex-rocker boss without Down syndrome (Ronald Zehrfeld). They are looking for Simon's daughter, who has been kidnapped.
This is a duo that, as far as I know, hasn't been seen before. The chemistry is also right between the two: Zehrfeld plays the washed-up criminal with a heart of gold, while Raue plays the seemingly innocent sidekick who quickly freaks out.
Zurich “Tatort”: “Free as an Eagle”, Sunday, November 8th, 8:15 p.m., ARD (8:05 p.m., SRF 1)
Crime fans will now imagine what a nice buddy dynamic could arise from this. I love dissimilar but compatible duos and think that many possible combinations haven't even been tried yet. I can't wait to see more duos of people with and without disabilities in crime films.
Only: When the two get on the motorcycle, the film is already half over. The Zurich “Tatort” has set itself the task of telling a good half a dozen stories at once, and each of them as few as possible.
Firstly, the inspectors Grandjean (Anna Pieri Zürcher) and Ott (Carol Schuler) have to solve a murder, namely that of the owner of the laundry. The ex-rocker boss in question, who has just come out of prison, is under suspicion. He, in turn, has a subplot, namely that he wants to be a good father to his daughter from now on. The daughter, as I said, is kidnapped.
Jacob, who is struggling with the loss of his job, is also a suspect. And he has a subplot in his group home, namely relationship problems with his roommate.
Inspector Grandjean also gets a subplot: the fact that she has to suspect a man with Down syndrome as a murderer makes her feel guilty.
Admittedly, in this shaggy tuft of narrative threads, each one is ultimately linked to the other. It's also nice that we worked with the ensemble of an inclusive theater here.
Unfortunately, none of the plots get enough time to get emotionally stuck, let alone create suspense. Even the motorcycle buddies are only in the picture for a few minutes. But you can look – perhaps as inspiration for a good half a dozen passable crime novels.