"Tatort"
Der Kormorankrieg (2008)

Director:

Jürgen Bretzinger

Writers:

Mathias Dinter (writer)
Xao Seffcheque (writer)

TV Series:

"Tatort" (1970)

Original Air Date:

6 January 2008 (Season 1, Episode 686)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Police | Male Female Relationship | Murder | Crime Investigation | Cop

Cast

Eva Mattes	...	Hauptkommissarin Klara Blum
Sebastian Bezzel	...	Kai Perlmann
Justine Hauer	...	Annika Beck
Sylvia Buchbauer	...	Heike Beek
Mike Maas	...	Spusi Hellmann
Benjamin Morik	...	Dr. Kurt Wehmut
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Karsten Dahlem	...	Thomas Weiß
Roland Frey	...	Alwin Bruttel
Daniela Holtz	...	Almut Weiß
Vera Lippisch	...	Karin Gasser
Bernd Tauber	...	Erwin Gasser

Filming Locations:

Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Company:

Maran Film

Execrable

A stupid screenplay (built around two plot points which have no foundation whatsoever in reality, i.e. the names of the victims of a car accident being spelled out in a newspaper and a politician personally pouring phosphorus - from huge cans bearing not only the formula but also the skull pictogram for "poison", as in a Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner cartoon - into Lake Constance; and since, in German "Krimis", it all tends to boil down to some jealousy and/or adultery thing and a so-called crime of passion, the killer's identity becomes pretty obvious about 5 minutes into the film) + the dumbest dialog imaginable (screenwriters, take note: simple past has no place in German dialog, and phrases like, "Erwähnte er nicht, etwas gegen ihn in der Hand zu haben?" may look like proper German, but most certainly aren't, not to mention the fact that nobody in their right mind would ever spout such a dreadful line - and the script was virtually brimming with them) + bad acting (e.g. Eva Mattes constantly casting glances literally loaded with meaning and pausing for effect at every turn, Benjamin Morik's stupid grinning; and isn't there any better use for a brilliant actor such as Bernd Tauber than this boring piece of unadulterated crap?) + poor direction, ugly cinematography, laughable action scenes, ridiculous hairstyles (Daniela Holtz's Marianne Rosenberg Memorial Hairdo has to be seen to be believed) etc. etc. = a dizzying new low in a series which has long outstayed its rather lukewarm welcome. Please deliver us from evil and, after 37 endless years, finally cancel the damn thing.