There is a lot of death on German television, and naturally there have to be people who examine the death. In addition to the professional qualifications, the job description of the TV forensic pathologists is, above all, the character trait of “weird oddball”, and apart from the very dominant Professor Boerne in Münster, they are in the crime scene Stirrup holder of dramaturgy. Here a keyword for the inspectors, there a flippant saying so that the death doesn’t take too much of a toll on the cozy, warm living room. Prototype: the rough-necked Dr. Roth from Cologne. But also: the quiet Dr. Vogt from Stuttgart. While in the Rhineland actor Joe Bausch mainly outside the crime scene has made big appearances, Jürgen Hartmann’s hour has come in the crime thriller “Forgiveness”.
As Dr. When Vogt is called to a corpse in the water, he immediately recognizes her as his kindergarten friend. He doesn’t tell inspectors Lannert (Richy Müller) and Bootz (Felix Klare) anything about it; his pain is too great, but so is his desire to function professionally. He doesn’t succeed, and when the widow identifies her husband and speaks to Vogt in a familiar manner, it is clear: this case will be different than all previous cases, the sidekick becomes the protagonist.
Vogt is catching up with his old life with all his might
Vogt dissects his old friend – and suffers. Vogt is digging into the past – and that only causes pain. Vogt investigates – and puts his life in danger. Vogt wants to forget – and remembers too clearly.
The loner ran away from his old life, now it is catching up with him, like a huge wave, with all its force. The old clique, the old love that was never allowed to be, the colleagues who wonder why they know practically nothing about him even though they have worked together for years.
Flashbacks from Vogt’s teenage years alternate with lines from the 19th century poem “Lethe” by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, which is about love, youth and transience. In Greek mythology, the Lethe is the river of forgetting. Anyone who tastes its water or bathes in it loses their memory. Unfortunately it doesn’t work for Vogt, which makes it so complicated.
The strong presence of the forensic doctor in the film by Katharina Adler (writer) and Rudi Gaul (writer and director) was suggested by actor Jürgen Hartmann himself. A good idea! Challenge the detectives to approach the case differently, challenge the people in front of the screens to see the case through different eyes. Especially because Hartmann does his job damn well.
The first, Sunday, 8:15 p.m.
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