Stuttgart "Tatort" surprises with role reversal
Dr. Vogt has been standing around in Stuttgart's morgue for more than 15 years, cutting open one dead body after another in a deeply relaxed manner. Suddenly, however, the forensic scientist in "Tatort" has corpses in the cellar himself.
There are characters in "Tatort" who have been around for so long that they are practically part of the inventory - and yet are difficult to remember. In Stuttgart, this is Dr. Vogt (Jürgen Hartmann): Unlike many of his colleagues, the forensic scientist is not a weirdo or a cynical patterer, but simply very good at what he does. Since 2008, he has helped detectives Bootz (Felix Klare) and Lannert (Richy Müller), who are also not prone to extravagance, in a total of 27 cases. And yet, in one of the opening scenes of the new Stuttgart "Tatort", you have to think for a moment about who the man at the stove actually is.
The fact that there is even a scene showing the forensic scientist in his private life is the first indication that things are different in case number 28. In fact, Dr. Vogt advances in "Vergebung" from a deeply relaxed sidekick to a torn main character with a dark past: "You ask yourself: why is he standing in the cellar cutting up corpses?" says actor Hartmann, explaining his character. "You couldn't have guessed that he now has a corpse in the cellar himself."
"Why is he interested in corpses?"
The story of the secret love between the pathologist and his childhood friend, who turns up on his autopsy table 40 years later, is told in an unusually timid, almost gentle manner despite the multiple murders. Together with the change in perspective away from the investigators, this creates a strangely intimate atmosphere: as a viewer, you are very close to the torn forensic scientist, who is "burdened by fate due to his dark secret and has actually been living in a strong state of repression".
Hartmann's sensitive performance makes a decisive contribution to the believable development of the character, which was actually initiated by the actor himself. "I asked myself: Why is he actually doing this? Why is he around dead bodies and always looking for clues that lead him to the perpetrator? Then I came up with the idea that something must have happened in his childhood that made him take this step."
The trained theater actor, who is still mainly seen on stage alongside his "Tatort" role, suggested his idea to the editors in charge at SWR - and they were immediately enthusiastic. "Less than two weeks later, we had the go-ahead," says Hartmann.
Katharina Adler (screenplay) and Rudi Gaul (director and screenplay) developed the idea further and took out a few crucial parts that would have been rather irritating: instead of a burning cornfield, for example, the river that can now be seen in the film became a youth crime scene. The result is an unusual and, in many respects, strong case in which one thing is certain: the new Dr. Vogt will be remembered.
Source: www.ntv.de
