Here's a brief (spoiler free) summary of the first 15 to 20 minutes of the film - read it and decide for yourself if you'd like to watch this 'Tatort' episode.
Setting: a small theatre in Ludwigshafen staging crime comedy plays in the local dialect.
The detective Ms Lena Odenthal is visiting the premiere of a new play when the main actress dies from an allergic shock after having eaten a filled croissant during a break between the acts of the play.
Was this an accident or was it murder? Does this sound like a classical Agatha Christie crime plot of the 60s to you?
Well, the director of this 'Tatort' episode has decided that you might not be intelligent enough to understand a crime story without guidance. Therefore the dead actresses ghost needs to constantly appear in dreams to the detective and tell her that this was a 'murder by croissant' and that the detective should look for clues - threatening to return in dreams as long as the case remaining unsolved.
Ms Odenthal, our detective, is not really completely convinced but nevertheless visits the funeral ceremony and makes acquaintances with the family and colleagues of the ceased actress. At this point we're getting into full throttle script genius mode: We are introduced to the lesbian daughter of the actress who left the theatre 3 years ago and is not on good terms with the rest of the theatre cast, we learn that the dead actress had two lovers simultaneously, the theatre director and - what a twist! - the owner of the bakery next door which delivered the deadly croissant. And we meet the theatre building's owner who would like to knock down the building and build a home for migrants instead (to profit from state supplies for migrants) - the theatre's rental agreement was in the name of the deceased actress. Also there is misfortune and mistrust amongst the remaining theatre personnel.
Unfortunately for us, Ms Odenthal is not clever enough to figure out any clues within this messy setup so the ghost of the dead actress has to return in another dream and give her a few more hints. Ms Odenthal follows the ghost's inspirations and visits the lesbian daughter, interrupting a heated discussion between her and her lesbian girlfriend who (as we learn) is still living in marriage with a man and doesn't want to admit to her lesbian (or bisexual?) lifestyle in public. The girlfriend leaves enraged, but the lesbian daughter keeps it cool and out of the blue suggests to the detective to play a part in the theatre play although Ms Odenthal does admit having no experience at all. Who cares - in the the next scene we see the lesbian daughter in the empty theatre teaching Ms Odenthal how to play her role in the play...
At this point I stopped watching - I was just not longer interested to find out if there had been a murder in the beginning or not, nor who could be romantically involved with somebody or holding a grudge, nor wanted to see another ghost appearance in another dream, nor find out what in another sub plot the detective's partner had wanted to announce during a weekend get-together (he left early)... and also I was so fed up with the unnerving musical score.
I'll award one point for the funny dialect which is spoken throughout the episode and zero points for the script (and the director).
Setting: a small theatre in Ludwigshafen staging crime comedy plays in the local dialect.
The detective Ms Lena Odenthal is visiting the premiere of a new play when the main actress dies from an allergic shock after having eaten a filled croissant during a break between the acts of the play.
Was this an accident or was it murder? Does this sound like a classical Agatha Christie crime plot of the 60s to you?
Well, the director of this 'Tatort' episode has decided that you might not be intelligent enough to understand a crime story without guidance. Therefore the dead actresses ghost needs to constantly appear in dreams to the detective and tell her that this was a 'murder by croissant' and that the detective should look for clues - threatening to return in dreams as long as the case remaining unsolved.
Ms Odenthal, our detective, is not really completely convinced but nevertheless visits the funeral ceremony and makes acquaintances with the family and colleagues of the ceased actress. At this point we're getting into full throttle script genius mode: We are introduced to the lesbian daughter of the actress who left the theatre 3 years ago and is not on good terms with the rest of the theatre cast, we learn that the dead actress had two lovers simultaneously, the theatre director and - what a twist! - the owner of the bakery next door which delivered the deadly croissant. And we meet the theatre building's owner who would like to knock down the building and build a home for migrants instead (to profit from state supplies for migrants) - the theatre's rental agreement was in the name of the deceased actress. Also there is misfortune and mistrust amongst the remaining theatre personnel.
Unfortunately for us, Ms Odenthal is not clever enough to figure out any clues within this messy setup so the ghost of the dead actress has to return in another dream and give her a few more hints. Ms Odenthal follows the ghost's inspirations and visits the lesbian daughter, interrupting a heated discussion between her and her lesbian girlfriend who (as we learn) is still living in marriage with a man and doesn't want to admit to her lesbian (or bisexual?) lifestyle in public. The girlfriend leaves enraged, but the lesbian daughter keeps it cool and out of the blue suggests to the detective to play a part in the theatre play although Ms Odenthal does admit having no experience at all. Who cares - in the the next scene we see the lesbian daughter in the empty theatre teaching Ms Odenthal how to play her role in the play...
At this point I stopped watching - I was just not longer interested to find out if there had been a murder in the beginning or not, nor who could be romantically involved with somebody or holding a grudge, nor wanted to see another ghost appearance in another dream, nor find out what in another sub plot the detective's partner had wanted to announce during a weekend get-together (he left early)... and also I was so fed up with the unnerving musical score.
I'll award one point for the funny dialect which is spoken throughout the episode and zero points for the script (and the director).
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