Quick check
“Tatort” from Wiesbaden
Family constellation with fatal outcome – Murot tries philosophy
Scene from the Wiesbaden “crime scene”: Felix Murot (Ulrich Tukur) makes a family constellation.
© HR / Bettina Müller / ARD
Four people are murdered in Frankfurt – including Commissioner Murot’s former philosophy professor. A “crime scene” full of intellectual references – but with manageable tension.
- 3 out of 5 points
- A “crime scene” peppered with literary and philosophical references that gets a little tired in the long run.
What’s the matter?
A lunatic perpetrator apparently kills people at random in Frankfurt. All four murders seem to be related to Felix Murot (Ulrich Tukur), especially since one of the victims is his former philosophy professor. The inspector suspects the culprit in his family – and asks the three children Inga (Karoline Eichhorn), Paul (Lars Eidinger) and Laura (Friederike Ott), whom Murot knows from the old days. Her neighbor Franziska von Mierendorff (Angela Winkler) and her right-wing extremist son Jürgen (Christian Friedel) also seem to be involved in the bloodlust. Murot begins to play – and soon realizes that he is part of the family constellation himself.
Why is this “crime scene” worthwhile?
The cases with Ulrich Tukur are known for being peppered with cultural references. This is also the case with “Murot and the principle of hope”. The title alludes to the most famous book by the philosopher Ernst Bloch. There are also allusions to Dostoyevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov”, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, the writer Ernst Jünger and Alfred Hitchcock’s “Strangers on the Train”. To name just a few of the many intellectual references. There are psychological theories on this.
What bothers?
There is nothing against such a network of references as long as they form an additional level that is superimposed on the first level of the main storyline. But that requires a functioning story. In the case of “Murot and the Principle of Hope”, however, this level is not really there. The countless allusions and references are intended to plug holes in the arc of suspense. In the long run this is a bit unsatisfactory.
The inspector?
In this case, the viewer learns something new about Murot’s origins: The commissioner was once a supporter of the Frankfurt School, which was critical of capitalism. His professor apparently believed in him: Murot was treated like a family member – and at that time aroused the interest of his eldest daughter.
Turn on or off?
Even if it is the weakest Murot “crime scene” so far: it is still enough for a switch-on recommendation.
Most recently, Commissioner Murot found in these cases: