Under suspicion: the blood of the earth

“Under suspicion: The blood of the earth” // Start of Germany: January 11, 2013 (Arte)

–

As Toni Schiermeier (Friedrich von Thun), Head of a waterworks in the tranquil small town of Brunnharting in the foothills of the Alps, surprises a burglar, the amazement is great. All the more so when a short time later a cartridge from a police weapon was found in the garden. What exactly did the perpetrator want? And was it actually a cop? Dr. Eva Maria Prohacek (Senta Berger) and André Langner (Rudolf Krause) from the internal investigation in the Munich police station set out to investigate the matter. In doing so, they have to realize that the supposedly harmless work is currently the subject of heated discussions. After all, it is to be privatized, which does not meet with approval from everyone in the population …

Timeless themes

More than eight years is The blood of the earth now old, the 19th of a total of 30 films from the crime series Under suspicion. But it has not become any less current since then. On the one hand, the entire case revolves around the issue of water supply, which – it is predicted again and again – will still be one of the big issues of the future. In addition, it quickly becomes clear that there is quite a bit of whispering at the waterworks in question. For the purpose of personal enrichment, cheating and cheating are used, sometimes even more. In times of the unbelievable Wirecard fraud and the scandal surrounding the procurement of masks, from which politicians have benefited personally, of course, it hits a nerve.

Too much depth should be taken from Under suspicion: the blood of the earth but then don’t expect it. It is true that the importance of a functioning water supply is emphasized several times. But that quickly fades into the background when “only” the perpetrator is searched for. There is also no real discussion of the subject of privatization. While this used to be propagated as a savior for everyone, after all, real companies would work more efficiently, in recent years there have been increasing doubts as to whether the state should at least hold the strings together in systemically relevant areas.

Over-engineered and not very exciting

All of this only takes place marginally here. Under suspicion: the blood of the earth Although it swims a bit on the socially critical wave, it doesn’t really dwell on it. Instead, director did Andreas Herzog (Stubbe: Deadly aid) filmed a classic backroom thriller in which people secretly do everything for personal wealth and, if necessary, even walk over corpses – literally. The topic of internal investigation is therefore only artificial. Basically, the story could have been told with regular police officers without it making any significant difference. Some things are unnecessarily over-engineered instead of concentrating on the essentials.

The biggest drawback, however, is that Under suspicion: the blood of the earth just isn’t that exciting. The story trots along, without highlights, without surprising twists and turns. It’s not even that the characters would give away an awful lot. Senta Berger (Martha & Tommy) appears confident, of course, but apart from a few unmotivated arguments, there are no rough edges. Although the subject is so important, even though there is a fatality – the film babbles for an hour and a half without making a significant impression. A typical assembly line production, as you often find it in the field of TV crime novels. Those who do not expect and need more than that can pass the time. Nevertheless, it is a pity that nothing more has been extracted from here.

–