The ZDF film “Blutholz” (on May 15 at 8.15 p.m. on TV, already in the ZDF media library) with Joachim Król as a worn-out elite soldier Hans Schüssler, who is supposed to track down the missing manager of a German timber company in his old homeland in the Transylvanian-Romanian Carpathians, not only tells one big story, but several. He also has an even bigger concern.
Schuessler, descendant of the Transylvanian Saxons, is an aging soldier who specialized in searching for missing persons in Africa after being forced to leave his old homeland many years ago. Back in Romania, he unexpectedly meets his childhood sweetheart Silvia Dancu (Désirée Nosbusch). The public prosecutor is currently running for the office of mayor of the town of Kronstadt/Brasov, which was once founded by the Teutonic Knights. Years ago, Hans, Silvia and Christian formed a trio that rebelled against the communists with subversive actions. Christian in particular paid a high price for it.
In the search for the missing timber manager, Schüssler works with the young lawyer Katja Schöne (Alina Levshin), who, however, seems to be pursuing completely different goals. Unlike the wife of manager Baumann, who is apparently the only one who really cares about the fate of her husband and her daughter’s father. What can’t be said about the fatherly friend of the family named Rednic (Geo Dobre) and Baumann’s employer Gerd Sasse (Alexander Beyer).
Don’t try to understand this story. Because the moment you understand them, you go crazy.
The father of Hans Schüssler’s childhood friend Christian.
Even more complex than this plot is the background against which the narrative is unfolded. The idea for the film project came about nine years ago when the Transylvanian Saxon Klaus Johannis was elected President of Romania.
At the time, producer Martin Lehwald proposed a film to ZDF in which the Eastern European country was not only used as an impressive scenic backdrop. Rather, a current and explosive topic should be negotiated. The overexploitation of Europe’s last primeval forest, operated with mafia-like funds, was an obvious choice, especially since the subject is slowly becoming public awareness. But the life of the Roma and the remaining Germans from Romania are also discussed.
Together with the criminal plot, this opened up a virtually unknown land for Alexander Buresch (script) and Torsten C. Fischer (script and director) with almost endless dramaturgical possibilities. Who to believe, who to trust? What power do the formerly powerful still hold? It’s about loyalty and love, greed and betrayal, noble goals and corruption. Everything is very close together. With Joachim Król and Désirée Nosbusch, the film also benefited from two extremely versatile actors.
As a TV film, however, “Blutholz” rises to the almost impossible task of wanting to tell such a complex topic in 90 minutes alongside such a multi-layered story. First it takes almost an hour until the background has been completely rolled out, then it has to be done very quickly. There would have been more than enough material for at least one mini-series. As it is, the film leaves many opportunities to go further in depth and give the characters time to develop on the unpaved forest paths of the Carpathians.
