quick check
“Police call 110”
The dead au pair in the Oder
Scene from “Polizeiruf 110”: Inspectors Adam Raczek (Lucas Gregorowicz) and Olga Lenski (Maria Simon) come across an old case during their murder investigation.
© rbb/Oliver Feist / ARD
A dead au pair brings investigators to a 15-year-old case. Both cases lead to the same family. ARD repeats this quiet, gloomy “Polizeiruf 110” from Frankfurt (Oder).
- 3 out of 5 points
- A solid “police call” that doesn’t get on your nerves unduly.
What’s the matter?
At the beginning of this film we see a young woman lying on a river bank in a pink bikini and looking towards the bushes from there. Who did she see there? This question will be asked more often in the next 90 minutes. Because shortly afterwards the woman is fished dead out of the Oder. She was employed as an au pair in the house of the doctor Gerd Heise (Götz Schubert). A girl disappeared there 15 years ago. The inspectors Olga Lenski (Maria Simon) and Adam Raczek (Lucas Gregorowicz) are dealing with two cases at the same time.
Why is this “police call 110” worthwhile?
Director Hans-Christian Schmid wrote the screenplay for this case together with Bernd Lange. Schmid is familiar with the region: his 2003 film “Lichter” was already set in the neighboring cities of Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice in Poland. In his documentary “The wondrous world of washing power” he told of a Polish laundry in the border area. In short: he knows the country and its people. You can tell that from the film: the characters are authentic.
What bothers?
This crime thriller really does nothing to create even a hint of suspense: the number of suspects is manageable, the pacing is at best leisurely and otherwise “The Sikorska Case” rarely deviates from the beaten track. A few moments of surprise would not have hurt here.
The commissioners?
This “police call 110” does not require any private antics. Olga Lenski and Adam Raczek meet on a purely business level. No child has to be picked up from school here, no relationship stress has to be mended. Concentrating on the case is quite beneficial.
Turn on or off?
Feel free to tune in if you don’t know this “police call 110” yet.
The “Polizeiruf” episode “Der Fall Sikorska” was first broadcast on November 25, 2018. ARD repeats this case on Friday, July 8 at 10:15 p.m.