The Sandman (4 Stars)

Here's some information for my readers who aren't acquainted with German cinema. About half of the films made in Germany each year are detective stories. Someone is killed, and a policeman has to solve the crime before other people get killed. Sure, there are detective films in other countries, but the fact that so many are made in Germany must say something about the German psyche. I personally prefer the other half. This film is an exception, maybe because it deviates from the standard formula.

I'm reviewing the film made in 1995 starring Götz George and Karoline Eichhorn in the main roles. It's a popular film title. There were films made with the same name in 1983, 1993, 2011 and 2012, none of them related to one another. This was Karoline's first big role, and she's now one of Germany's top actresses. I've already written about other films she's appeared in, namely "Drei Schwestern: Made in Germany", "Die Frau, die im Wald verschwand" and "Ossi's Eleven".

Götz George plays Henry Kupfer, a best selling author who has just written a novel about a serial killer. Karoline Eichhorn is Ina Littman, the producer of a television talk show called "Eye to Eye". Henry has been invited to be interviewed on the show. While researching for the show Ina finds evidence that Henry didn't just make up the story, he is describing murders that he has committed himself. Rather than hand over the evidence to the police she decides that it would make the show a big hit if Henry could be interrogated and exposed on live television.

As I said, this is a twist on normal detective stories. Instead of a policeman, the investigator is a television producer. As far as I know, this film has never been made available in English. I can recommend it to any of my readers who understand the German language.