Der Richter und sein Henker (1975)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Maximilian Schell

Writers:

Roberto De Leonardis (screenplay)
Friedrich Dürrenmatt (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 May 1978 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

"I could murder her in front of your eyes and you couldn't prove it," said the master criminal to the master detective. And so the game began...

Plot:

While investigating a high-profile murder case, a savvy but unorthodox veteran police inspector has to cope with a bad conscience...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Istanbul | Switzerland | 1940s | 1970s

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Jon Voight	...	Walter Tschanz (as John Voight)
Jacqueline Bisset	...	Anna Crawley
Martin Ritt	...	Hans Baerlach
Robert Shaw	...	Richard Gastmann
Helmut Qualtinger	...	Von Schwendi
Gabriele Ferzetti	...	Dr. Lutz
Rita Calderoni	...	Nadine
Friedrich Dürrenmatt	...	Friedrich
Willy Hügli	...	Clenin
Norbert Schiller	...	Dr. Hungertobel
Guido Cerniglia	...	Coroner
Otto Ryser	...	Blatter
Margarete Schell Noé	...	Mrs. Schoenler
Rudolf Hunsperger	...	Bodyguard 2
Rudolf Hubacher	...	Edy, Bodyguard 1

Also Known As:

Assassinio sul ponte (Italy)
Deception (UK) (video title)
End of the Game (USA)
Getting Away with Murder (USA) (reissue title)
Murder on the Bridge (USA)
The Judge and His Hangman (International: English title) (informal literal title)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

West Germany | Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Bern, Kanton Bern, Switzerland

Company:

MFG-Film

Trivia:

"Friedrich" is consulted to shed some light on Kommissar Baerlach's motives. Friederich is played by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, who wrote the book on which the movie is based.

Movie Connections:

Version of Der Richter und sein Henker (1957) (TV)

Very good European whodunit

"End of the Game," a 1975 film directed by Maximilian Schell, isn't a standard murder mystery. Set in Europe, Martin Ritt is a Swiss police detective trying to capture Robert Shaw. Thirty years earlier, Shaw killed a woman in front of Ritt and was never prosecuted. When Ritt's partner is killed, he gets a new one (Jon Voight).

Ritt is excellent as a man determined to carry out this assignment despite facing death himself. Donald Sutherland, in an early role, plays the murdered detective in photos and as a corpse. The beautiful Jacqueline Bisset is the late detective's girlfriend. Robert Shaw is his usual hateful and smooth self. Voight does a good job, playing his role in a somewhat frenzied manner. He's also has a big nude scene.

"End of the Game" has a very European feel to it, and a host of accents from all over the place. It's unclear if they were all supposed to be speaking the same language or not. Accents aren't necessary, for instance, if you're a German living in Germany because you're not speaking English with an accent, you're speaking German. I suppose one can assume whatever language the characters were speaking, they had regional accents.

Fascinating film, the type of which one saw made more in the '70s than today - uneven, remote, but interesting.