Til Schweiger talks straight with Hallaschka

RTL invites you to the big review of the year and it's not just the celebrities who turn up: Til Schweiger talks about the time he had "standing gas", a German victim of justice talks about a wrongful conviction in the "bathtub murder" and 80-year-old Mick Jagger reveals what's in store for 2024. All about the entertaining ride through an extremely difficult year.

"Since 2008, colleagues have affectionately called me the Emperor. I didn't even know who that was because I've never watched Star Wars," says Til Schweiger to Steffen Hallaschka. In keeping with tradition, the presenter has invited him to RTL's annual review and Schweiger, who has kept quiet for a long time since the many negative headlines about him, does not avoid unpleasant questions at all.

It is one of the first interviews the director has given since the allegations of alleged abuse of power. In "People, Images, Emotions", he speaks freely about having an alcohol problem, hopefully not to the detriment of his liver. However, he has never been "domineering" and has never abused his power. There were only a few disputes on the film set with a few new employees, and it was these who eventually went to the press.

The director openly and honestly admits to having "lost his temper" and of course to having crashed the occasional party: "Yes, I got rowdy in the hotel, I locked myself out. But I didn't turn up on set drunk. When this incident happened, which had become public, I was "certainly still on the gas. (...) I also apologized," says Schweiger and adds: "Sometimes you drink out of sorrow, sometimes when you're alone and sometimes when you're celebrating. But I don't want to lose control."

That's why he sought professional help for his alcohol problem. He also talks about the pressure on movie sets. It's incredibly hard when you have to deliver in 40 days what you would actually need 60 days of filming. However, he has "never wanted to hurt anyone".

Fast-forward through 2023

Hallaschka presents the show with his usual routine and looks back on 2023 together with his guests Olivia Jones, Evelyn Burdecki, Tim Mälzer and Agnes Strack-Zimmermann. In the meantime, a lot of things have been left out, partly to avoid despairing about the state of the world: New Year's Eve riots and attacks on police officers, Christine Lambrecht's "embarrassing New Year's speech", the "civil war-like conditions" over lignite in Lützerath or the severe earthquake in Turkey with more than "57,000 deaths".

We also look back on dried-up rivers in Europe, a flood of the century in Italy of "unknown proportions" or the death drama surrounding a diving capsule with which adventurers wanted to dive to the wreck of the Titanic. But what is sure to have burned itself into the collective memory is the "most incomprehensible crime of the year": the murder of 12-year-old Luise from Freudenberg, committed by two girls the same age as the victim.

When Hallaschka is not talking to Strack-Zimmermann about her flight in the Eurofighter or to Evelyn Burdecki about living with her mother again, he fast-forwards through a turbulent, often sad year, which quite a few people are glad is almost over.

Judicial scandals and the stupidity of people

One of the most emotional moments of the show is the interview with Manfred Genditzki. The German victim of the justice system spent almost 14 years in prison, innocent of any wrongdoing, due to unbelievable sloppiness on the part of investigators. The case surrounding the death of an old lady became known as the "bathtub murder" and is considered "one of the biggest judicial scandals of the post-war period".

The show has flown by almost as quickly as this year. A ride through 2023. Taylor Swift has made music history. October 7 will forever remain unforgettable and painful and music legend Mick Jagger is going back on tour with the Stones in 2024.

In the pre-recorded interview, which Hallaschka can still "tell his grandchildren about", the 80-year-old, whose new album will also feature a joint song with Paul McCartney, reveals that he sees artificial intelligence as an opportunity.

At the end of the show, Tim Mälzer in particular finds the right words. While Olivia Jones says that she is sometimes more "afraid of people's stupidity than of artificial intelligence", Mälzer says: "Humans are often very ugly, but if we come together as a society, we can prove that we can create great and good things.