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Gamer scene in »Tatort«: The visual daring is missing
Photo: Thomas Neumeier / Bavaria Fiction / BR
"Your 'Knife Kill' is on Reddit," says the young detective assistant, who has little hiding his admiration for the knife murder of a celebrated gamer. This time, the Munich »Tatort« is set in the scene of professional gamblers, so it is once again a great help for the graying team of detectives that sidekick Kalli Hammermann (Ferdinand Hofer) keeps track of the entertainment techniques and forms of communication of the digital present.
The murder of a policewoman has led Leitmayr (Udo Wachtveitl) and Batic (Miroslav Nemec) to gamers who gamble for high prize money in public tournaments with the shooter game Counter-Strike. "People who watch people staring at screens," says Leitmayr, who, like Batic, doesn't know what to do with the e-sports scene.
Luckily, Kalli is there, the assistant with the children's chocolate smile and the shooter competence. He refers to the adrenaline level of gamers, which is supposedly as high as that of Formula 1 drivers. With the same comparison, however, Kalli had already tried to convey to the two bosses what happens in the body of a violinist when she plays a demanding classical concerto via high-performance musicians. Leitmayr only waves it off in the face of the hackneyed hint.
A scene that self-deprecatingly reflects the fact that it is not possible to reinvent the »Tatort« every Sunday. The disappointing thing is that the filmmakers really can't come up with anything new, even though they have chosen a material that hasn't been dealt with often in the crime series. But this episode simply lacks visual and narrative daring.
Batic and Leitmayr, the analogue bears
At the end of the day, while watching, we remain in the same position as the two senior Commissioners. We follow the digital subplot (police officers get involved in the gamer scene, tricksters try to subvert the rules in the e-sports industry) from the perspective of the old analogue bears Batic and Leitmayr – and therefore only see: people watching people staring at screens.
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The author duo Stefan Holtz and Florian Iwersen were previously awarded the Grimme Prize for the Sky mini-series "The Ibiza Affair" about the incidents surrounding the video that brought down FPÖ politician Heinz-Christian Strache. Rhythmically, graphically and in terms of film language, the two authors came up with a lot of ideas – this desire for design is now largely missing in »Game Over« (directed by Lancelot von Naso).
Nor is the relationship between digital killing and analogue killing fathomed. Murder at the click of a mouse? What could it mean if Counter-Strike combatants translate this logic from the computer to real life? There is no need to lament shooter players, but a clear narrative attitude to the chosen material is indispensable. There is the childlike enthusiasm of Kalli, and there are a few pedagogical statements. What could be fascinating about e-sports remains just as closed to you in this "crime scene" as what could have a destructive effect.
In the end, so much can be revealed, Batic and Leitmayr order the police operation with the very large haptic weapon cutlery. Kalli can rave about the digital worlds of pleasure as much as he wants – his bosses stick to it: analogue is better.
Rating: 5 out of 10 points
»Tatort: Game Over«, Sunday, 20.15 p.m., Das Erste