“The End of Truth” (ZDF): Lure refugees with the prospect of asylum

High-class, excellently cast and extremely intense political thriller with Ronald Zehrfeld as a BND agent who is on the trail of a plot in his authority.

Frankfurt – With the movie “We Were Kings” (2014), Philipp Leinemann made the best police film since Dominik Graf’s “Die Sieger” (1994). This was followed by two TV thrillers and the tragic comedy “Willkommen bei den Honeckers” (2017); they were worth seeing, but no longer had the outstanding class of his cinema debut. It was only with “The End of Truth” (2019), now based on his own script, that he was able to build on this quality.

Since the German cinema audience now only appreciates comedies from domestic production, the response with not even 40,000 visitors was very manageable. This is downright regrettable, especially since the genre of the political thriller in this country, apart from the “Dengler” series on ZDF (with Ronald Zehrfeld, based on the novels by Wolfgang Schorlau), has a shadowy existence anyway. After all, the Mainz-based company was also involved in Leinemann’s second theatrical work: the film, like “We Were Kings”, is a coproduction by the editorial team Das kleine Fernsehspiel.

“The End of Truth” on ZDF: Political thriller with idyllic opening scenes

The main character of the story is a civil servant (Zehrfeld) who is investigating against his own authority. The film begins idyllically, and that is always a bad omen in the thriller: Martin Behrens, employee of the Federal Intelligence Service, spends a romantic morning in his girlfriend’s lake house. Aurice (Antje Traue) is an investigative journalist. The couple keep their work and private life strictly separate from each other, and that’s a good thing, because they would probably have little understanding for his work: He recruits refugees from crisis regions with the prospect of asylum as informants; whoever does not cooperate is blackmailed. Once the people have done their part of the bargain, they will be deported again.

At a joint press conference between the BND and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Aurice wanted to know whether it was true that the BND was providing the Americans with target data for drone attacks. In fact, thanks to Behrens’ information, one of the most wanted militia leaders in the border area between Afghanistan and the (fictitious) neighboring state of Zahiristan has just been killed in this way. The journalist collects material for an article about illegal arms deals and asks Behrens for help, but that would cost him his job; shortly afterwards she is murdered in a terrorist attack. A confessional video shows the attack as revenge for the murder of the militia leader, but Behrens recognizes the typical signature of a secret service operation; the real goal was Aurice. Now the BND agent also begins to ask uncomfortable questions and finally comes across a network of powerful opponents.

“The End of Truth” on ZDF: At some point the hero can no longer trust anyone

As befits a good political thriller, at some point the hero can no longer trust anyone because colleagues and superiors turn out to be the henchmen of evil. Nevertheless, Behrens got an unexpected ally in the form of the snobbish crisis leader Lemke. Alexander Fehling gives this role of a typical careerist, for which he was awarded the German Film Prize as Best Supporting Actor in 2019, especially in comparison to Zehrfeld’s massive presence with an impressive body language: Lemke has as much tension as a rubber tree.

The story, on the other hand, is quite complicated, especially since Leinemann leaves it open for a long time which function the characters have. The cast of the official staff (August Zirner, Axel Prahl, Claudia Michelsen, Walter Kreye) is formidable, and despite a budget of around two million euros, the pictures keep taking care of things Big cinema: The action scenes are impressive.

“The End of Truth” on ZDF: Craftsmanship at the highest level

This applies not only to the attack, but also to an ambush in distant Central Asia (the film was shot in Gran Canaria), when a delegation of the BND, including Behrens and Lemke as well as the President (Zirner), was ambushed in distant Zahiristan . Leinemann’s preferred cameraman Christian Stangassinger dips the interior shots taken in the studio in a repellent, cool blue, sometimes in an unhealthy, poisonous green. A view of the city panorama at night is also very impressive, with blue lights flickering everywhere after the attack. The sea settings for the blue hour, which form the bracket for the film, have calendar image quality.

In terms of craftsmanship, “The End of Truth” is at the highest level anyway, and the cut (Max Fey) is not only excellent because of the tension-increasing parallel montages. The ensemble finally turns the thriller into an exceptional film, especially since Leinemann was able to win big names for tiny roles, above all Thomas Thieme as “Planespotter”, who puts Behrens on the right track. There is no better way to direct such a film. (Tilmann P. Gangloff)