Hot Picks
|
|
|
Derrick - Mama Kaputtke
episode 280
West Germany 1998
produced by Claus Legal for Telenova/ZDF
directed by Alfred Weidenmann
starring Horst Tappert, Fritz Wepper, Willy Schäfer, Sonja Sutter, Thomas Schücke, Carolin Fink, Volker Lechtenbrink, Wolf Roth, Susanne Uhlen, Werner Schnitzer, Henry van Lyck, Sigi Bennett, Wolfram A. Guenther, Günther Kaufmann, Christian Koch, Franco Moscon
written by Herbert Reinecker, music by Frank Duval, title theme by Les Humphries
TV-series Derrick, Harry Klein
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
|
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rather by accident, an ornithologist records an apparent murder on
tape, and really, where his microphone was pointed at, he finds the dead
body of Lizy. When inspector Derrick (Horst Tappert) and his assistant
Harry (Fritz Wepper) investigate they find Lizy's brother Paul (Thomas
Schücke) and sister Gabriele (Carolin Fink) reacting weirdly detached to
the fact that Lizy was murdered even though they've been living together
in a nice house, while her mother, Mrs Kraus (Sonja Sutter) pretty much
overreacts, given that she had left all three kids to their own devices
years ago and now doesn't even know what they're doing professionally -
and that's the point, neither Paul nor Gabriele seem to have a job, even
though they're quite well off, only Lizy has actually worked ... as an
escort. Derrick and Lizy's mother visit the bar of the hotel she's been at
most often and find a pianist (Volker Lechtenbrink), who has been friends
with Lizy and can actually point Derrick to three of her clients. The
first one is Ruperti (Werner Schnitzer), a widower whose relationship with
Lizy was rather harmless though, he needed her for solace not for sex.
Then there's Reuter (Wolf Roth), who says he has just enjoyed Lizy's
company when his wife (Susanne Uhlen) wasn't in the mood to go out, but
she was perfectly aware of this, which she freely admits to. Third on the
list is Kranz (Henry van Lyck), who admits to having had sex with Lizy,
but has been photographed doing so, and blackmailed with the photos. It
doesn't Derrick long to figure out that Lizy's siblings are behind this
operation, but they claim some Italian gangsters having instigated the
whole affair - however, the kingpin of that organisation manages to escape
arrest. And then Derrick also pulls the murderer out of the hat, it was
actually Reuter's wife, as Reuter was among the blackmail victims but
confessed everything to her - and she then met with and killed Lizy, and
confesses to it when Derrick plays her the ornithologist's tape. The
opening with the ornithologist unwittingly recording a murder is somewhat
reminiscent of 1970s giallos that never shied away from eccentric plot
devices. However, after showing promise at first, the audience is quickly
brought down to earth and into a very mundane German crime show, where
writer Herbert Reinecker just plays variations on themes he has been
handling on and off during his long career in German crime TV, from secret
prostitution to blackmail to dysfunctional families. And that he just
fails to get natural actions and reactions out of his characters, loses
himself in stilted dialogues, and over-relies on tired sensationalism
doesn't make things any better, nor does lead Horst Tappert whose
performance is as tired as his 75 years of age suggest. And director
Alfred Weidenmann, at the end of his more career that lasted for more than
60 years (and started with Nazi probaganda movies), sure has seen better
days. So basically a rather boring affair to be honest.
|
|
|