Crime on Sunday
Did you fall for it? This is how the end credits gag came about in “Tatort” from Kiel
For Axel Milberg it was the penultimate case as Commissioner Borowski, Almila Bagriacik remains as Commissioner Mila Sahin.
© NDR/Thorsten Jander
Wait, over already? At “Tatort” from Kiel, the makers made a joke and played the end credits early. This is how the gag came about in “Borowski: The Revenant”.
On Sunday evening, some spectators may have looked at the clock in confusion when the “Tatort” from Kiel, the credits started rolling – almost twenty minutes before the regular end. Should that have been it? It fit into the plot: Inspectors Sahin (Amila Bagriacik) and Borowski (Axel Milberg) had just talked about it, that they put their case on file.
Because in “Borowski and the Revenant” there was no corpse, instead a missing husband and numerous suspects. “It’s not our job to invent a crime just because we don’t have an explanation for a person’s disappearance,” Borowski told Sahin. “I understand. What we can’t explain didn’t happen. No victim, no crime. We solved the case. Great. Is the camera still running?” she commented and ran out of the interrogation room. “It’s nice that you see it that way too! That’s it, closing time,” said Borowski and pressed the off button on the camera, whereupon the melody of the “Tatort” credits immediately sounded.
“Tatort” gag: “A little cheek!”
For a few seconds, viewers had to imagine themselves confronted with an unsatisfactory ending – then the camera zoomed out again and showed the suspect Greta Exner (Cordeliawege) watching “Tatort” on the couch. Andreas Kleinert calls the gag a little cheeky. The director of the crime thriller explains how it came about: “I could have imagined an open ending. Not where it is now. That was supposed to be a little cheeky thing. We had a lot of fun with that. We were like Children who were happy that they were just doing it now. That after an hour you think, that’s it. That’s it. That’s what I pay my license fee for!”
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The whole thing must have made many viewers laugh. And screenwriter Sascha Arango is also enthusiastic about the little idea. “Greta Exner has almost succeeded in the perfect murder at this point, hence the end credits gag. Borowski reaches deep into the box and brings out the revenant. In doing so, he places himself in a shadowy area of the law and puts her under psychological pressure. The film “Finale is the result of many discussions and influences. Master director Andreas Kleinert contributed a lot to shaping the ending like this,” he explains.
By the way, this was the penultimate case for Axel Milberg alias Borowski: He will investigate the “crime scene” from Kiel again next year before he retires from the crime series after more than 20 years.