Was the Bundeswehr happy with the start of the “Tatort” season? Although the Ludiwgshafener “Tatort: ​​Das Verhör” with Lena Odenthal (Ulrike Folkerts) and Johanna Stern (Lisa Bitter) also showed a modern female troop leader (Katrin Röver as a lieutenant colonel), but also the anti-feminist, violent Captain Kessler as the main character/villain , who was also played by former James Bond antagonist Götz Otto. How exaggerated, exciting, realistic or gaga was this interrogation thriller about female victims who were burned alive? And how often does murder out of misogyny actually occur in Germany?

Investment banker Ann-Kathrin Werfel was cruelly killed by being burned alive. The first suspicion falls on her ex-husband Patrick Werfel (Jonathan Müller), whom the murder victim had previously accused of domestic violence. Mr. Werfel, however, presents a well-attested alibi. The trail of a pickup truck then leads to Bundeswehr officer Kessler (Götz Otto). In further investigations, the evidence against the smugly friendly and correct giant is substantiated. During a marathon of interrogations, it becomes clear that this man has a hard time with women in positions of power and leadership. But how dangerous or capable is the captain really?

You didn’t need a sociology degree to realize that extreme toxic masculinity is being told here. Officer Kessler and his “followers” humiliated by strong women were quite the comic villains, whose injured masculinity did not shy away from complex killing arrangements – even if the women had made a fool of them beforehand. This thriller was thought up by Stefan Dähnert, who wrote, among other things, the two legendary Odenthal episodes “Tod im Häcksler” (1991) and its atmospheric sequel “Die Pfalz von Oben” (2019) with Ben Becker. The latter film in particular was atmospheric and psychologically quite complex. Although Dähnert does not shy away from the wooden hammer or shredder. Although his new “Tatort: ​​Das Verhör” contains long word duel scenes, the film is more of a misogyny B-movie in its exaggerated drastic plot. Entertaining, but also a bit gaga.

The term femicide comes from the English (“femicide”) and was coined in 1976 by the sociologist Diane Russell. What is meant is the deliberate killing of women because they are women. Most of the crimes are committed by male partners or ex-partners. But killings of women and girls by family members – for example “honor killings” – and in the context of sexualised violence are also recorded in the statistics. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has provided the following number of victims of femicide in Germany over the last few years: 135 (2015), 155 (2016), 147 (2017), 122 (2018), 117 (2019), 139 (2020).

The giant, who was born in Offenbach in 1967, suddenly became known as the henchman of the boss 007 opponent Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) in the James Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997). The 1.98 meter tall Götz Otto, trained at the renowned Otto Falckenberg School in Munich, fit the clichéd image of the blond German bad guy too well in terms of his physique to be overlooked. After that, the privately level-headed, socially committed father (four children, now living near Munich) lost his image as a brutal giant for a long time. Examples: In Oliver Hirschbiegel’s “Der Untergang” (20049 he was Sturmbannführer Otto Günsche. In 2005 he acted as the villain Harry Melton in the ensemble of the Karl May games in Bad Segeberg. Otto was last in March 2022 in strong Franconia – “Tatort: ​​Why” No one wants to spoil whether it’s “good guy” or “bad guy,” but let’s put it this way: He stayed true to his image.

Lena Odenthal (Ulrike Folkerts) and Johanna Stern (Lisa Bitter) are expected to return with “Lena’s Aunt” in the first half of 2023. This screenplay was also written by Stefan Dähnert. Tom Lass (“Pressure”, “Love. Now!”) directed his first “Tatort”. Why is? Lena is visited by her aunt (Ursula Werner), a former public prosecutor, who is becoming more and more interested in the current case of a pensioner who was allegedly murdered. The more her aunt keeps secret, the stranger her behavior seems to Lena, so that she begins to distrust her despite the actually good relationship.

The original of this post “Realistic “crime scene” – There are so many femicides in Germany” comes from Teleschau.