quick check
“Tatort” repeat from Dresden
Murder in a starred restaurant: the misery behind all the glamor
Bartender Lissy finds the murdered restaurateur Joachim Benda in his office
© MDR/W&B Television/Daniela Incoronato
Dresden detectives Gorniak and Winkler have to solve the murder of a top chef. The case, entitled “Nemesis”, offers surprising twists and has a great emotional fall.
- 3 out of 5 points
- Murder in the mafia milieu or family tragedy? The “crime scene” only answers this question at the very end
What’s the matter?
The restaurateur Joachim Benda is shot dead on the desk in his office. His restaurant “Palais Benda” was one of the best addresses in the city. Everyone of rank and fame in Dresden met there to eat. Apparently, Benda also maintained relationships with shady business partners, which is why the inspectors Karin Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski) and Leonie Winkler (Cornelia Gröschel) assume extortion and a murder in the mafia milieu. But then Benda’s wife Katharina (Britta Hammelstein) becomes the focus of the investigation. The couple had problems and Joachim Benda tried to get his wife admitted to a psychiatric ward. However, she has a complete alibi for the crime night.
Why is this “crime scene” worthwhile?
As is so often the case, what makes a good “crime scene” is not the actual murder, but the drama behind it. Stephan Wagner and Mark Monheim, who are responsible for the screenplay and direction, have succeeded in creating a moving family portrait that focuses on the widow Katharina Benda and her sons Valentin and Viktor. Both the relationship between the brothers and the relationship between the mother and her children are deeply disturbed. The perfidious pattern behind it is revealed in the course of the film and leads to a dramatic conclusion.
What bothers?
“The killer is always the gardener” is a joke in a song by Reinhard Mey. The “crime scene” seems to apply: some investigator always has a private relationship with the victim. Too often the commissioners in this row lose their distance, are personally involved or even the target themselves. In the Dresden “Tatort” episode “Nemesis”, it is Commissioner Schnabel and the father of Commissioner Winkler who know more than they initially admit. For the actual case, however, this strand of history is unnecessary.
The commissioners?
It is the second case for Cornelia Gröschel as Commissioner Leonie Winkler, who took the place of Alwara Höfels (Commissioner Henni Sieland), who left in 2018. After initial differences, Winkler and her colleague Karin Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski) grow more and more into a team and form a unit against their boss Peter Michael Schnabel (Martin Brambach), who repeatedly summons the commissioners to his office like schoolgirls and teaches them there reprimanded unconventional investigative methods.
Turn on or off?
The Dresden case “Nemesis” is a powerful film that you should not miss.
“Tatort: Nemesis” first aired on August 18, 2019. ARD repeats the case on January 28, 2022 at 10:15 p.m.