"In truth: In another life" (ZDF) – bitter consequences with long-term effects

For the Arte ZDF series “In Truth”, author Zora Holt took on the subject of sex crimes.

The Arte ZDF series “In Truth” is one of the quieter in the country. That doesn’t make it worse, on the contrary, as the current episode clearly shows. Based on a true case, the author Zora Holt takes up a topic that requires a certain amount of sensitivity: rape.

At the beginning there is a traffic accident. In the dark of night, a man stumbles on a country road and ends up in front of a truck. The driver finds the injured man alive, but he dies the next moment. In panic, the driver leaves the scene of the accident.

“In truth: In another life” (ZDF) – serious delay

Flashback. Five years earlier. Saarlouis. Barbara Falk (Anja Kling) comes to a clinic with bondage marks and bruises. She was raped in her own bed at night while her husband, a teacher, was on a school trip. The doctor informs the police. Actually, the necessary interrogations are at least carried out in the presence of a woman, but Commissioner Judith Mohn (Christina Hecke) is used privately and is late. Just a few minutes, but Freddy Breyer (Robin Sondermann) and Markus Zerner (Rudolf Kowalski) don’t want to wait. Zerner shows a little dismay, but overall both of them handle the survey with the usual routine.

The circumstances make it difficult for the police. The criminal did not leave any traces on the victim’s body. Not even in her house. According to Barbara Falk, the windows and doors were locked. When it is revealed that she has had a mental illness and is still taking appropriate medication, her credibility is shattered. In the absence of further evidence, the case should be discontinued.

“In truth: In another life” (ZDF) – Latent misogynist police colleagues

Lisa Krohn (Jeanne Goursaud), however, discovers a case with a similar outcome that occurred in Saarbrücken. Judith Mohn is investigating the matter. This other investigation was also filed with no result. Mohn sees her Saarbrücken colleagues insensitive, even amused, latent and in places openly misogynistic.

The victim Melek Ergün (Sabrina Amali) is traumatized and rarely leaves the apartment. Mohn discovers a surveillance camera near the restaurant, where the young woman was allegedly administered knockout drops. A first lead.

The author Zora Holt previously contributed scripts to the series “In Other Circumstances” and already mastered a delicate subject in the film “The Murderer Among Us” – her subject was vigilante justice. She seamlessly ties in with this quality with “In Another Life”. Director Jens Wischnewski chooses a quiet tone appropriate to the subject and lets the actors act unobtrusively. Likewise cautious, Frank Küpper’s camera work, no sign of artlessness, rather very subtle, to be read, for example, from the way the figures are set in relation to one another via reflections.

“In truth: In another life” (ZDF) – a model of sensitivity

In this contribution to the series, too, as in some cases the previous consequences, the effects of an act of violence that is not shown because it would be superfluous and unwillingly speculative, is not shown. A good decision.

A comparison with the third season of the British series “Broadchurch” suggests itself. There, too, the investigators had to clarify a rape. As with the first season of the series, author Chris Chibnell set standards. He had been instructed in detail by police departments, advice and self-help centers and described with a sensitivity that could hardly be surpassed and with the greatest accuracy the torments the victim had to endure shortly after the crime and long afterwards.

Chibnall and the directing team had eight episodes available and thus the opportunity to work on the material in a differentiated, more intensive and more detailed manner. A different narrative pattern, a different dramaturgy – seen in this way, both productions are on a related level. (Harald Keller)