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Der Kommissar - In letzter Minute
episode 19
West Germany 1970
produced by Helmut Ringelmann for Neue Münchner Fernsehproduktion/ZDF
directed by Wolfgang Becker
starring Erik Ode, Reinhard Glemnitz, Günther Schramm, Fritz Wepper, Helma Seitz, Heinz Reincke, Gisela Uhlen, Maria Sebaldt, Peter Eschberg, Eva Kinsky, Eric Pohlmann, Gerd Vespermann, Leo Bardischewski, Horst Sachtleben, Lester Wilson
written by Herbert Reinecker, series created by Helmut Ringelmann, Herbert Reinecker, music by Peter Thomas, song performed by Lester Wilson, title theme by Herbert Jarczyk
TV-series Der Kommissar, Harry Klein
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Six years, Kossitz (Heinz Reincke) has spent in prison for
manslaughter, something he has never confessed to but was convicted on the
testimony of his wife Erna (Maria Sebaldt) and best friend Leo (Peter
Eschberg). Since then, Leo has had an affair with Erna but is now in a
relationship with the deceased's widow Hilde (Gisela Uhlen) and runs her
night club. But now he's out and everybody gets pretty nervous, fearing
Kossitz' revenge, especially Leo who goes into hiding. Inspector Keller (Erik
Ode) has worked on the case back when and was never totally convinced of
the man's guilt. But he is convinced that Kossitz is planning something
stupid, so he intercepts him on the train station when Kossitz comes into
town and tries to talk sense into him - with at best moderate success. But
he stays on Kossitz' trail and has his men - Heines (Richard Glemnitz), Grabert
(Günther Schramm) and Harry (Fritz Wepper) - have an eye on the other
parties involved in the story. Kossitz' first way, after not finding his
wife, is to Erna, who remains unusually polite in his presence, given that
he's supposed to have killed her husband, offering him a drink even - much
to the surprise and shock of her daughter Katja (Eva Kinsky), who
eventually starts to realize something in the story doesn't quite figure.
Eventually, Kossitz gets his hands on a gun and learns where Leo is
hiding, so he goes to shoot him, easily avoiding Keller's net of
surveillance, but he's intercepted by Katja, who finally wants to know the
truth about what has happened to her father. Kossitz doesn't tell her, but
talking to the girl has calmed him down so much that he forgets about his
plans of revenge and gets her a room at the hotel he's staying as she's
hell-bent to move out from home, and he even promises to get her things
from her mother. But ultimately, he faces Leo, almost unintentionally, and
the two fight it out until Kossitz gets his hands on a gun and threatens
to shoot Leo - when Keller and company arrive, and arrest Leo for the
murder that Kossitz had been convicted for six years ago. Now
this could have been cool, the story of an innocent man vowing revenge
after years in prison for the crime he didn't commit, and how the guilty
parties react - basically a mix of character study and film noir. The
emphasis is of course on "could have been", as writer Herbert
Reinecker loses all sense of originality in his typical carbon cutout
characters, in standard situations, and far-fetched twists that drain the
plot of urgency. Add to that the usual stilted dialogue and you've got ...
well, a typical episode of Der Kommissar, a series that has
a charm all of its own, which in part stems from nostalgia of course, but
in part from its attempts to often be hard-hitting and relevant while
coming across as very artificial due to its unnatural dialogue, odd
portrayals of enviroment, and characters showing weird reactions to things
(also represented in dialogue). This can be off-putting to some, but is
also great entertainment - if not always for the intended reasons.
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