In the summer of 2016, a youth killed nine people in the Olympia shopping center. On Pentecost Sunday, ARD will repeat a “crime scene” from Munich in which the commissioners Batic and Leitmayr are dealing with a very similar operation.
What’s the matter?
In the middle of the day, shots were fired in a Munich bus. The ticket inspector lies on the ground covered in blood, the passengers remain in the vehicle in panic. The shooter is the student Tom Scheuer (Manuel Steitz). He is able to flee, but is tracked down a little later and shot during an SEK operation. For the chief inspectors Franz Leitmayr (Udo Wachtveitl) and Ivo Batic (Miroslav Nemec), however, the case is far from over: They are sure that Scheuer had an accomplice who would complete the planned crime. Because the instructions for building a nail bomb can be found on the young person’s computer. A race against time begins that sends the entire city into a panic.
Why is the “unclear situation” case worthwhile?
Director Pia Strietmann chose an event for her “Tatort” debut that caused horror nationwide. On July 22, 2016, the teenager David Sonboly shot nine people in Munich’s Olympia Shopping Center (OEZ) and then killed himself. For a long time it was unclear whether it was a killing spree or a terrorist attack, whether there was one or more perpetrators . The attack on the beach promenade in Nice had only happened a week earlier, and the terror from Paris in November 2015 was still very present. Strietmann manages to credibly transport this feeling of panic and uncertainty in her film. On the one hand, the police are weighing how much information they can give to the public, and on the other hand, the public’s concerns that they are being deliberately left in the dark. And then there is the hysteria from social media, where new photos, videos and theories are constantly being disseminated. She wanted to show “the smoldering, increasing feeling of a threatening, unclear situation on such a day,” says director Strietmann.
What bothers?
Screenwriter Holger Joos and director Pia Strietmann wanted to create a police film and deliberately not focus on the perpetrators and their families. Nevertheless, the question of the motive arises. This is only touched on vaguely, but ultimately remains unclear. The viewer also learns nothing at all about the background or family history of those involved. The police director Karola Saalmüller (Corinna Kirchhoff) puts it in a nutshell: “We have to find out why they did it.” The film does not adequately answer this question.
The commissioners?
While Batic and Leitmayr are out on the streets, detective inspector Kalli Hammermann (Ferdinand Hofer) is promoted to senior management. At first, the young policeman feels flattered, because all the important people are in this control center of power. But Kalli becomes the servant of two masters: he is supposed to fulfill the wishes of Batic and Leitmayr on the phone, while in the crisis team he has to deal with police director Saalmüller. In the end, Kalli finally provides the crucial clue – through simple witness interviews.
Turn on or off?
The allusions to the attack in Munich’s OEZ in the summer of 2016 are unmistakable. If that’s too much for you, maybe you shouldn’t see the film.
The “Tatort: Unklare Lage” was first broadcast on January 26, 2020. ARD repeats the case on Sunday, June 5 at 8:15 p.m.
