DESCRIPTION
THE IDEA
The film is based on the best selling novel “Der Richter und sein Henker” by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, first serialised in 1950-51 in the newspaper “Der Schweizerische Beobachter” and subsequently exceeded a million copies worldwide in book form.
​
THE OUTLINE
Inspector Bärlach forgoes the arrest of a murderer in order to manipulate him into killing another, more elusive criminal.
​
THE TEASER
When Lieutenant Schmied is found dead, Inspector Bärlach, his chief, brings in Tschanz, a young detective, to help him in the case. The two slowly move in on Gastmann, whom Schmied was investigating on. He is then finally brought down although the death of the police lieutenant is the only crime he didn’t commit.
The very identity of the real killer is the film’s one real surprise.
​
​
SYNOPSIS
Short Synopsis:
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!
​
Lisbon 1985. The young inspector Hans Bärlach meets by chance a young entrepreneur named Maximilian Goldblatt. They become friends and enjoy a party at a villa. At the end of the party, both drunk, they make a strange bet.
Max thinks he's able to commit a murder in Hans’s presence without him being able to prove it.
The next day Max kills a man in front of Hans. The young inspector tries all he can to prove it, but the local police has no evidence to charge Max
​
40 years later a police lieutenant (Schmied) is found dead on a mountain road near the Neuchatel lake.
Bärlach, an old inspector of the Bern police department, is in charge of investigating the case, assisted by the young investigator Tschanz.
The investigation eventually leads them to a big Villa in Lamboing. It belongs to a member of high society named Gastmann. It’s Bärlach's old nemesis Max Goldblatt that has changed his name to Gastmann. Unfortunately, the lack of evidence and social status of Gastmann, prevented the police investigating further. Tschanz is frustrated and believes Gastmann is the murderer and tries to force his theory on Bärlach. Bärlach finally meets and confronts his old nemesis, taking his revenge. He makes a counter-bet: he will judge and condemn Gastmann to death for a crime he didn’t commit. Tschanz, being the real murderer of the police lieutenant, is driven by despair and faces Gastmann by visiting him at the Villa. There’s a shooting, Tschanz kills Gastmann and his two servants but is wounded badly. He exchange’s his gun (which was used to kill Schmeid) with one of the servant’s. The police chief has no other choice than to believe in Tschanz theory. Gastmann is charged with the murder of the police lieutenant, and the case is solved.
The same night Bärlach invites Tschanz for dinner and reveals to him the truth. He knew from the beginning Tschanz was the real murderer and he was using him against Gastmann to get justice for the murder in Lisbon. Bärlach was the judge and Tschanz, unaware, his hangman.
​
​
​
Synopsis:
​
Lisbon 1985, along the beautiful coastline road a young entrepreneur named Maximilian Goldblatt is driving his fast sports car. Suddenly he approaches a car in front of him that won’t let him pass. The race is on. The two cars start a chase along the bendy road until the other car, driven by a young criminologist named Hans Barlach, lets Max pass. At a lighthouse Hans sees the car that was chasing him, and he stops. The two meet. It is friendship at first sight so Max invites his new friend to a party in his villa, but Hans declines at first, afraid that it will be too much in one day. Driven by curiosity, he eventually joins the party. There, among the other guests, he meets Max’s lover, enjoying her company. At the end of the party, when both Hans and Max are quite drunk, their conversation heats up and they end up making a horrible bet. Max vows to commit a crime in Hans’s presence without the young policeman being able to prove that he did.
The next day the two meet again at a tourist landmark in Lisbon and decide to take a short boat trip across the bay, Max pushes an American businessman into the water. The poor guy can’t swim and not even Hans’s attempted rescue can save him. Max is arrested, but the police have not enough evidence to convict him. Max is acquitted and Hans loses the bet.
40 years later on a mountain road near the lake of Neuchatel, on a clear winter morning, Police lieutenant Ulrich Schmied of the Bern police, is found dead in his car by policeman Clenin on his way to work.
Inspector Bärlach, Schmied’s supervisor, is in charge of the case. The news reaches him at home when he’s just about to leave for the office. He changes his plans and goes to Schmied’s apartment instead. There he finds Anna, Schmied’s fiancé and, without saying anything about her boyfriend’s death takes a black folder from Schmied’s desk with the pretence of having to meet him later in the office. Anna is fine with that and believes the inspector.
Back in his office in Bern, Bärlach meets his supervisor, Lutz. Due to his old age and a repeating stabbing pain in the stomach from an old sickness, the inspector asks for a young forensic named Tschanz as an assistant in the investigation. The same day he goes to the crime scene together with Clenin. There, the forensics have found the bullet that killed Schmied, and they report the evidence to the inspector.
The next morning, Bärlach is in his office and looks at Schmied’s folder as he waits for Tschanz. Although the inspector has a suspicion of whom the murder of Schmied might be, he doesn’t speak out, not even in front of his assistant. Tschanz, on the other hand, finds out what Schmied was doing when he was killed. Under a false name, Schmied was taking part in high society dinner parties. These appointments were marked with a G in his diary. The date in the diary for tonight is also marked with a G.
Bärlach and Tschanz drive to the crime scene and wait for the appointed time. The reason why Schmied was attending those parties is to them still unknown. Shortly after, they follow a few cars leading them to a big and beautiful Villa near Lamboing. On the main gate there’s the big G they were looking for. Tschanz found out that G stands for Gastmann. They are about to search the perimeter, when a fierce dog attacks Bärlach. Tschanz saves Bärlach’s life by shooting the dog with his gun just in time. The gunshot causes the alarm among the guests in the Villa.
Back at the gate, Mrs. von Schwendi, State Councillor and Gastmann’s legal advisor, asks Bärlach for an explanation as to what just happened. She promises there will be some repercussion to the police department and denies the two policemen from meeting Gastmann.
They have no other choice but to leave the Villa. The inspector wants to go to the nearby restaurant to heal his stomachache as Tschanz meets with the local policemen in a bar. There, he finds out about a writer friend of Gastmann and regular guest at the Villa.
On his way to the restaurant, Tschanz stops by the Villa and notices the carcass of the dog is gone. Travelling back to the restaurant it appears that the inspector never got to the restaurant, so Tschanz drives back looking for him. He finds him by the crime scene, Tschanz, a bit surprised by the old man’s behaviour, drives him back home. Bärlach, once alone in his house, takes off the protection he put around his arm, predicting that he would be attacked by Gastmann’s fierce dog.
The next day Von Schwendi meets Lutz and warns him that there will be serious political repercussions if the police won’t leave her client Gastmann alone.
At Schmied’s funeral everybody is there, but the atmosphere is ruined when two drunken men, sent there, probably by Gastmann, bringing a flower crown to the grave with the false name of Schmied on it.
After the funeral, Bärlach goes home where he finds Gastmann sitting at his desk. The two men finally meet and recall that night they first met in Lisbon when they did that crazy bet. Since then, Gastmann became a better criminal at time went by, committing crimes right under Bärlach’s nose and always without the inspector being able to prove them. Bärlach is speechless. Gastmann also reveals to his old friend that he’s aware his sickness, therefore he ironically suggests for him to hurry up in catching the murder as he has only one year left to live.
Before leaving Bärlach’s place, Gastmann takes Schmied’s folder with him. The inspector has no time to run after him as the stabbing pain in the stomach strikes back and he falls on the ground.
Bärlach slowly comes round and recovers from the attack. He then feels better and walks to the police station.
In his supervisor’s office, Bärlach is informed of the warning by von Schwendi and agrees with Lutz in leaving Gastmann alone. He also asks for a short sick leave, due to his recent strong pain attacks.
Tschanz comes back to the office and together with Bärlach they go and visit the writer, friend of Gastmann, finding out that Gastmann has nothing to do with Schmied’s murder. Tschanz is not convinced at all and argues with Bärlach about his theories. The inspector suggests he should speak directly with supervisor Lutz as he will take some time off.
At the doctor, Bärlach finds out he has to have an operation within the next couple of days in order to survive maybe for another year. Tschanz is frustrated and tries to take the stress off at the gym.
The same night a stranger gets into the inspector’s house and tries to kill him. The old man manages to save himself and makes the intruder flee. He then calls Tschanz for help. The inspector tells him that although he hasn’t seen his aggressor, he knows exactly who he might be.
The next day Bärlach is ready to leave for his short vacation. When he gets into the car that will take him to the station, he finds Gastmann sitting in the back seats. He also notices that the driver is one of Gastmann’s servants. He has fallen into a trap.
Gastmann warns Bärlach for the last time, promising to kill him if he carries on chasing him. But this time also Bärlach promises Gastmann that he won’t survive this day as the inspector has already condemned him with a death sentence and his hangman will come after him before sunset.
Tschanz wakes up after what seems to have been a sleepless heavy drinking night. He recovers from the hangover and drives to Gastmann’s Villa, but he has a car accident not far from his destination. Bärlach is on vacation in a small hotel not far from Gastmann’s Villa. He is looking forward to hearing the news on TV. Tschanz comes around from the car accident and manages to get out of the car wreck just with a few wounds. He continues on foot. Once at the Villa, he faces Gastmann and is ready to arrest him. There’s a shooting. Tschanz kills Gastmann and his two servants but is wounded badly. Before calling for reinforcements, he manages to exchange his gun with one of the servant’s.
The next morning Tschanz is questioned by Lutz and Bärlach about the shooting at the Villa. They have to believe his version as there is enough evidence to point to Gastmann as a criminal, that one of the servants was holding the gun that shot Schmied and Schmied’s folder was found among Gastmann’s belongings.
Lutz, together with Bärlach meet von Schwendi at the morgue. The case is closed. Bärlach takes the last look at Gastmann’s body. His nemesis was defeated, and he finally won the counter bet.
The same night Bärlach invites Tschanz for dinner at his place. The inspector knows the truth and reveals to his assistant that he knows what really happened. Tschanz is the real murderer of Schmied, and the inspector knew it from the beginning. He also explains how he carried on his investigation and solved the case.
Tschanz was always in Schmied’s shadow and killed him in his ambition for success and career. This meant, he had to accuse Gastmann of the crime in order to get away with the murder and be safe himself. Unfortunately, the police investigation’s change of strategy to leave Gastmann alone put Tschanz in danger. The inspector knew that it was Tschanz breaking into his home to obtain Schmied’s folder of evidence against Gastmann and to kill the inspector. Tschanz didn’t find the folder, because Gastmann took it the day before, but Tschanz didn’t know that. So, desperate to find a way to accuse Gastmann, Tschanz was able to be manipulated by Bärlach to condemn and to kill Gastmann for the only crime he really didn’t commit.
The inspector was the judge and Tschanz was, unaware, his hangman.
​
Director's Notes
Since the first reading I was always fascinated by this short novel by Friedrich Dürrenmatt for its simplicity and narrative strength of the story.
At a first analysis it looks like a normal detective novel where the usual inspector is in charge of a straightforward case of murder. Thanks to Dürrenmatt’s fluid and clear writing style and his brilliant description capacity, as you read on, you discover that behind the simple investigation there is a complex psychological game among the characters like a complicated chess game.
But, as the author says through the lines of the main character: “… to commit a crime is an act of stupidity, because you can’t operate with people as if they were chessmen.”
Human imperfection – the fact that we can never predict with certainty how others will act, and that furthermore we have no way of calculating how chance interferes in our plans – guarantees that most crimes will perforce be detected.
Here, the usual investigation, controlled by a rational logic – typical of the detective stories – is turned upside down by the irrationality of chance and are brought inevitably towards a complete unexpected conclusion, very unusual for the genre. This chaotic element has a role in everything and in the story is seen as a key element, a character by its own.
The case behind the case. The requiem for the detective novels, that’s how Dürrenmatt’s four detective novels are often called. “The judge and his hangman”, the first of the series, introduces inspector Bärlach, a Swiss kind of Maigret for some characteristics, but very different from his famous international colleagues for style and psychological skills. He’s strongly obsessed with the quest for justice and is chasing for many years an old acquaintance of his, the bad guy: Gastmann.
In the novel they meet only twice, but that’s enough to give the reader an insight of what stays behind the way the inspector acts, behind his suspicions and behind his will to complete his nemesis.
The two made a bet to demonstrate which theory about the perfect murder would prevail: “…I kept my bold vow to commit a crime in your presence without you being able to prove that I did it.”, says Gastmann. Later on, Bärlach makes an opposite bet: “…So this time I’ll prove you guilty of something you didn’t do.”
This brilliant psychological game between the two characters it’s the base for a more elaborate debate about justice and the ways to achieve it.
This very complexity in the subject finds place in a simple and bucolic small Swiss village. The contrast between the inspector’s intricate psychology and the normal routine of a small provincial police station plays a fundamental role in the story. The lake by the village and near the crime scene, the beautiful and pastoral landscapes of the Swiss Alps perfectly described by Dürrenmatt are the ideal background for this kind of narrative.
Fifty years after the last adaptation for the screen by Maximilian Schell in the film “End of the game”, I think it’s about time to bring inspector Bärlach back to life.
It would have a more modern, contemporary and fresh setting in which the new investigation techniques, the progress in criminal science and the more organised structure of the police, are undermined by the simplicity and unpredictability of chance and by a thin psychological game used by the inspector to obtain justice.
The script will be as close as possible to the outline of the book, because I would rather not change the already perfect narrative structure written by Dürrenmatt.
Even the location will be very similar to the one in the novel: a small village in the mountains, an unspecified common place where time seems to have stopped. A place where time and space coexist, where Gastmann finds a refuge after his long international criminal existence and where Bärlach – chasing him for all these years – comes to the finish line.
Two strangers in a strange place aimed to finish their personal chess game, a deadly game where there will be inevitably only one winner. Although they know, because their lives are bond together since they first met, one won’t survive the other for much longer. One is the cause for the other’s existence.
​