Vera Brühne (TV 2001)

Two-part movie focusing on one of Germany's most controversial murder trials after World War II. In spring 1960, Dr. Dietrich Schwarz and his housekeeper Elisabeth Huhn are killed cruelly ... See full summary »

Director:

Hark Bohm

Writer:

Hark Bohm

Stars:

Corinna Harfouch, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Ulrich Noethen

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Corinna Harfouch	...	Vera Brühne
Uwe Ochsenknecht	...	Johann "Hans" Ferbach
Ulrich Noethen	...	Oberstaatsanwalt Böck
Hans Werner Meyer	...	Dr. Haddenhorst (as Hans-Werner Meyer)
Fritz Wepper	...	Rechtsanwalt Dr. Wallner
Bernd Fischerauer	...	Dr. Vogt
Udo Wachtveitl	...	Sternmüller
Anton Pointecker	...	Dr. Dietrich Schwarz
Kai Ivo Baulitz	...	Pfeffer
Hark Bohm	...	Prof. Peters
Mavie Hörbiger	...	Stephanie Virno
Valerie Niehaus	...	Helga Haddenhorst
Hanns Zischler	...	Kanzleramtsminister Prof. Behmke
Michael Degen	...	Ernst Virno
Katja Flint	...	Isabel Mende

Storyline

Two-part movie focusing on one of Germany's most controversial murder trials after World War II. In spring 1960, Dr. Dietrich Schwarz and his housekeeper Elisabeth Huhn are killed cruelly in his mansion near Munich. Although the police considers suicide, his son brings a charge against his mistress, the self confident Vera Brühne because she inherits the victim's house in Spain. The prosecution runs an investigation and finally believes in the guilt of Brühne and her alleged aide Johann Ferbach. After a dubious trial, they are sentenced to life. Some years later, a young lawyer reviews the files and reveals many inconsistencies. Even very important politicians exerted influence on the case...

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Plot Keywords:

murder trial | murder | police | 1960s | shot in the neck | 

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Genres:

Drama | Crime

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

24 May 2001 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Der Fall Vera Brühne

Filming Locations:

Justizpalast, Prielmayerstrasse, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Constantin Film Produktion, Sat.1

Technical Specs

Runtime:

286 min 286 min (2 parts)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

This TV-production was a big prestige project for German station Sat1 at a time when the station was moving towards more ambitious and expensive TV-movies. While critics liked this movie a lot, it was a huge flop with the audience, probably in part due to its excessive length (both parts ran for more than three hours each including commercials). As a result of this, Sat 1 largely refrained from making more TV movies and now only produces about one event-movie per year.

User Reviews

Rare Example Of Excellent German Film Making

The movie deals with one of Germany's most notorious and controversial crime cases, so it is obviously difficult for me to comment on the movie's most crucial point, its veracity. Nevertheless I had the impression of a truthful, unpretentious, and extremely well made piece of film making, which is all the more laudable since it was "only" made for television. "Der Fall Vera Brühne" proves that there can be world - class cinema from Germany if film makers drop their pretensions and world - market aspirations and concentrate on their craft.