"Am Abgrund": Thriller for the early evening series "Morden im Norden"

TV tip - "Am Abgrund": Thriller for the early evening series "Morden im Norden"

Fans of the regional crime series"Morden im Norden" will need to have good nerves next Tuesday (January 2) at 8.15 pm. For one thing, ARD is presenting a feature film in the main program for the first time in addition to the 140 popular early evening episodes to date. A real thriller in which even the Baltic Sea is raging. And then the 90-minute film (title: "Am Abgrund") begins with events that actually mean the irrevocable end of the collaboration between the two down-to-earth, shrewd Lübeck detectives.

It is a case that goes to the heart of the matter for the two investigators Finn Kiesewetter (Sven Martinek, "Tierärztin Dr. Mertens") and Lars Englen(Ingo Naujoks, "Magda macht das schon"). And their actors apparently felt almost the same way while filming.

It gets very personal

"The story revolves around the personal concerns of the two police officers. This time, we're not just the investigators who come in from the outside. We're investigating on their own behalf. So we have to deal with their feelings and thoughts in a special way," Martinek (59) told the German Press Agency in Hamburg. "So it was a completely different story for us actors too. I was mainly concerned with how I would have felt if I had snuffed out someone's life. That's a horror scenario. So it was quite mentally exhausting."

Naujoks (61), who as Englen is determined to help his colleague, adds: "When we're filming, we always ask ourselves what all this does to the characters - and to us. It also brings up personal memories and experiences. When acting, you have to be prepared to get involved as a person and empathize."

But what is "Am Abgrund" actually about? The case begins with a hammer blow, which shall not be revealed here. Flashbacks then show how a man takes a young passer-by (Maja Juric) hostage at an old town market in the picturesque Hanseatic city. Kiesewetter and Englen, who are nearby, take up the chase. Things come to a head in the parking garage - when he sees Englen in the perpetrator's line of fire, Kiesewetter shoots the young man. To make matters worse, the hostage - a young immigrant who is soon to be deported - tells police colleagues during interrogation that the perpetrator has already surrendered.

The pithy Kiesewetter, who is otherwise not easily knocked over, is left with a heavy sense of guilt. He is also suspended from duty and pilloried by the local press. When the strict Linda Stamm (Pina Kühr, "Schlussklappe") from the internal investigation department takes up her work, he takes refuge in his old cottage on the seashore. But there, Kiesewetter and his ex-girlfriend (Tessa Mittelstaedt, "Praxis mit Meerblick"), who wanted to help him, find themselves in mortal danger. And the experienced detective sees only one way out.

Between Lübeck and Fehmarn

Director Dirk Pientka ("Die Heiland"), who has already been responsible for almost 30 episodes of the early evening series, has skillfully and excitingly translated all of this into Nordic, austere images based on the script by Christine Rousseau ("Die Bergretter") between Lübeck and the island of Fehmarn.

However, the story could have done with a little more depth. For example, when the perhaps questionable deportation is briefly alluded to, but the actual topic is immediately dropped. Incidentally, the makers of "Die Bergretter" (ZDF) have already made an evening feature film. The advantage for the broadcaster is obvious: it can increase the number of viewers who are fans of the series - and also make the usual evening audience curious about the early evening program.

Incidentally, Martinek and Naujoks have influenced the scripts for both "Am Abgrund" and the series from time to time. Especially on the language of their characters.

"We like to shorten our dialog - when we see that we are much more concise with two sentences than with seven. Then we say that Finn Kiesewetter wouldn't talk like that, Lars Engler doesn't talk like that. And delete - with the blessing of our authors," said Naujoks. "They are writers in a positive sense. But we have to bring the roles to life. An intervention like this is also really fun - and sets us apart from actors."

Thanks to their collaboration with the authors, the cases in the new season of their series, which starts on Monday (January 8) at 6.50 p.m., are becoming increasingly serious, say Martinek and Naujoks. "But as always, it's not about cocaine dealers or terrorist organizations, but rather about incidents in the family sphere. So primarily about people, about fates. Where people are in the wrong place at the wrong time and their whole lives change as a result," say the two actors, explaining the recipe for success in "Morden im Norden".