"Der Schattenmann" (1996) TV mini-series

Director:

Dieter Wedel

Writer:

Dieter Wedel (writer)

Release Date:

1 January 1996 (Germany)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Plot:

Undercover cop Charly Held sneaks into the organization of Jan Herzog, the head of organised crime in Frankfurt...

Plot Keywords:

TV Mini-Series | Police | Mafia

Awards:

5 wins

Cast

Stefan Kurt	...	Charly Held
Mario Adorf	...	Janusz 'Jan' Herzog
Heinz Hoenig	...	Erich 'King' Grobecker
Heiner Lauterbach	...	Fritz Gehlen
Günter Strack	...	Dr. Hans Möllbach
Julia Stemberger	...	Anneliese Held
Jennifer Nitsch	...	Barbara Sattler
Maja Maranow	...	Michelle Berger
Constanze Engelbrecht	...	Sylvia Brant
Hans-Jörg Assmann	...	Rechtsanwalt Dr. Meyer
Claude-Oliver Rudolph	...	Gonzo
Alexander Radszun	...	Dr. Walter Kilian
Florian Martens	...	Drögel
Christine Reinhart	...	Renate
Jürgen Hentsch	...	Oberstaatsanwalt

Runtime:

90 min (5 parts)

Country:

Germany | Austria

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Bad Nauheim, Hessen, Germany

Company:

Corona Filmproduktion

Trivia:

People on the street can be seen using bags from the "Bellheim" warehouse. The owner of this fictitious warehouse was the main character in director Dieter Wedel's previous project, _"Große Bellheim, Der" (1993) (mini)_.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Jennifer Nitsch - Tod einer Schauspielerin (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Whenever You Close Your Eyes

My Comment on Der Schattenmann

Realistic staging, outstanding actors. After the failure of a police trap, where his best friend Otto was murdered, the job of the "Schattenmann", detective superintendent Charlie Held, is to hunt down the mighty "Godfather of Frankfurt", Jan Herzog, undercover. Thus, Held is rather motivated, but he soon begins to enjoy the pleasant life of a business man and protege, friend and successor in spe of Herzog and at the side of the attractive Barbara, particularly when he comes to know that it wasn't Herzog who ordered to kill Otto, whereas his real life as a simple police man with wife (terrific: Julia Stemberger), daughter and terrace house soon becomes dreary and visibly annoying. Although Held alias von Hellberg is impersonated ambivalently, whereas his friend King (likeable and convincing: Heinz Hoenig), who is also working undercover as the bodyguard and and driver of von Hellberg, stays morally correct and is actually more sympathetic than Held, you feel with Held and can imagine, why he overlooks more and more the corruption in politics and milieu, even murder, and becomes part of the whole thing. One reason for this is, that Herzog, who is perfectly impersonated by Mario Adorf, isn't presented throughout as the big evil, but also as a good father and reliable friend, who has thoroughly his moral standards, but is unscrupulous when carrying through his operations. The fatal end seems to be avoidable, a concatenation of betrayal, revenge and accidents, caused by over-zealous officials, irreverent and stupid killers, who overshoot the mark, and the vengeance of Held that goes one step too far at the end. Although the movie is divided into five parts with circa two hours each, there are no lengths in it, it is alternately thrilling, moving, sad and funny and all in all an enjoyment that you can watch more than once. In my opinion the best project of Dieter Wedel and surely in the Top Ten of German movies in the Nineties.