The new Swiss “Tatort” got off to a great start

Two opposing investigators, two mystery murders, and a look back to the 1980s: the newly created Swiss “Tatort” from Zurich got off to a very ambitious and eventful start. But how did the women’s team fare and what really happened 40 years ago?

The public experienced a small revolution on Sunday evening after the “Tagesschau”: not only because the new Swiss “Tatort” has left Lucerne behind and is now located in Zurich. And not just because the historically and politically disturbing thriller tackled the leftist uprisings in the lake metropolis of Zurich 40 years ago. But above all because for the first time a team of three women, made up of two opposing investigators and a prosecutor, took the reins.

As natural as it should be these days, the female production and directing team still seems to be the exception. But how did the newcomers fare in Switzerland’s largest city? And what really happened in Zurich 40 years ago?

What was it about?

Credibly embodied by Carol Schuler and Anna Pieri Zuercher, the new duo had to get used to under difficult circumstances: Tessa Ott (Schuler) began her work as a profiler with a corpse discovered in the lake, including a shot to the head. She was viewed with skepticism by her French-Swiss colleague Isabelle Granjean (Zuercher). Prosecutor Anita Wegenast (Rachel Braunschweig) completed the female trio.

Ott, whose training was initially denigrated as “reading coffee grounds,” earned self-respect through her analytical skills. Through a tattoo, for example, he recognized that the victim was a Buddhist, depressed and suffered from lung cancer.

But it got even worse: at the aperitif honoring Police Commander Peter Herzog (Roland Koch), who was about to retire, he was presented with a package with a skull, the mystery grew bigger and bigger. It was the head of a young woman, Eva (Julia Buchmann), who disappeared 40 years ago without a trace and was apparently murdered.

Who are the two new researchers?

Carol Schuler, born in 1987 in Winterthur, is already known to the public: in 2015 she acted with Jürgen Vogel in the miniseries “Blochin” and in the Netflix series “Skylines” she can be seen in the role of Zilan. He likes Lynch and Hitchcock movies; According to his own statement, “Der Tatortreiniger” is his favorite German series. Schuler doesn’t stop with his attitude: “In our increasingly consumer-oriented capitalist society, it’s important to make room for free art, self-managed housing projects, and non-commercial experiments. That’s what people need to breathe, ”is quoted at the very politically explicit“ crime scene ”. “The chemistry worked on all levels from the beginning,” says the 33-year-old of her collaboration with Anna Pieri Zuercher.

For the actress from Granjean Zuercher, born in Berne in 1979, “Tatort” is once again the first major role in a German production. Before that, the daughter of a German-Swiss and an Italian acted a lot in the theater, and then also in some television series. In 2019 he received the Swiss TV Film Award for his role in the drama series “Doppelleben”. Zuercher reports on the preparation of “Züri brännt”: “We worked closely with the police of the canton of Zurich and had the opportunity to meet the real investigators. That was very exciting. We were able to complete the shooting training and looked over the shoulders of the investigators at work. “

What did the new Swiss “Tatort” focus on?

First, the differences between the two researchers: the class contrast between the inexperienced Ott, who apparently managed to get the best jobs without any effort, and the working-class daughter Granjean, who had to laboriously to move up, was a characteristic feature. of the new “Tatort” team from the beginning. A conflict that already led to explicit accusations at the premiere: Granjean secretly believed that the new girl from a good house in Zurich only got the job through the contacts of her well-known family. The work of the two women by no means began harmoniously.

On the other hand, the focus was on Zurich in the hectic 80s: the first episode entitled “Züri brännt” began with original recordings from those turbulent times. All the connections between the two victims go back to the anarchic years of the uprising, in which the youth rebelled against the lives of the old in conformity. This second level of time was illustrated over and over again with remarkable footage and sometimes horrific forays from past to present, for example in the form of the bloodied victim.

And what happened in Zurich in the 1980s?

The title said a lot: “Züri brännt” is a catchphrase that is still popular today and that describes the atmosphere in the city 40 years ago. Then, in 1980, Zurich was much less worthy than it is today. In the famous opera riots, the youth and the police clashed brutally; A decade of confusion followed and the struggle for more freedom and solidarity. To this end, left-wing groups repeatedly challenged the state monopoly on the use of force, blowing up cobblestones, burning cars and raiding.

Connoisseurs will also have noticed suggestive details, such as Manni Manner’s classic critical song “Dene wos guet geit” and Fritz Zorn’s autobiographical novel “Mars,” which became the movement’s cult book at the time because the author, who died early, considered the burden on capitalist bourgeois society. Describe the trigger for your cancer.

According to the director, the themes of that time are still relevant today: “As history repeats itself, the themes of the 80s are also repeated. Demands for cheaper housing and open spaces, criticism of the surveillance state, etc., have not lost their importance or relevance ”, says Viviane Andereggen, who also stages the second case of the women of Zurich.

Was the whole balanced and realistic?

“What kind of time was it?” Researcher Ott asked at one point, puzzled. The retrospective was presented on the basis of the recollections of the movement’s elderly protagonists, which were historically and politically informative, but also seemed very clichéd at times. For example, punklady Barbara Dietschi (Karin Pfammatter), who was written in the script as “sassy” and who kept the details of the RAF-related “Red Factory Action Group” behind the scenes, but threw “Drah di ned um” from Falco to the inspector from the stage.

Or Otts’s heroin addict friend Charlie (Peter Jecklin), who described himself as a “chronicler of the movement,” insulted the inspector as a “bull pig” and, as the “crime scene” in Overall, it showed that old hurts can really touch contemporary private life.

On the other hand, the story of the crime continued to draw closer to the reports of the outgoing police chief: “Violence and mistrust on both sides,” he analyzed, who had led many raids and operations at that time. “Cobblestones over bull pigs” was the motto at that time, but the state side was not armed either: “From one day to the next they put us in combat equipment. It is possible that one or the other was feeling a bit overwhelmed. “He was obviously overwhelmed by the situation in the present, as shown by the sassy and hammer-hard ending: The police chief as the perpetrator who therefore shoot yourself!

How did the new Swiss team do?

In the first case very well. Even if (or because) the investigators had to get used to it, they skillfully passed the balls between them. Even if there are some problems: this female constellation has great potential in all its ambivalences and conflicts. In addition, young director Viviane Andereggen managed to stage the investigative chaos with unusual camera angles and unconventional visual language. I also like more of that.

Perhaps the first new Swiss “Tatort” was thematically too crowded: it was about left-wing protests and social struggles, police violence and cover-ups, the legacy of a generation and class differences, but also the fact that murder can turn out to be prohibited by law in Switzerland.

The second “Tatort” with Carol Schuler and Anna Pieri Zuercher is said to be titled “Chocolate Bar” and revolves around the murdered patron of a chocolate factory. The broadcast is scheduled for spring 2021.

crime scene

So 18.10. 20:05 – 21:40 | SRF 1

CH 2020 | 95 min

return to homepage