SPOILERS
Freies Land/Un país libre It turns out the first film is a remake of a Spanish movie, of all things, one that won a bunch of Goyas a few years ago. It's a police drama, with two detectives assigned to investigate a disappearance of two sisters, and in their poking around the small town and its characters they uncover some kind of underground plot to kidnap, torture and murder young girls on a yearly basis. The setting is the old East just after German reunification, so people are not super excited for a cop from the West to come in and stick his nose in their business. They are getting a little sick of Western German capitalism already, with its cheaper prices on products meaning lower wages for them. They seem equally unexcited to have an ex-Stasi there too. The Western detective is suspicious and a little condescending about his new partner's methods, telling him he can't just beat information out of informants in a democracy. The taciturn townspeople don't give them many other options, though. As the days go on and the detectives uncover more clues about what is really happening to girls who everyone thinks have just run away to Berlin or another big city in search of opportunity, threats start to come their way, even against the Western detective's family in Hamburg. They persist, however, and manage to pin the kidnappings on "Handsome Charlie", who had dated many of the missing girls, and was leading another one off to slaughter right under their noses. The detectives save her and kill another man who is part of the murder ring, but they don't quite get to the head of the organization. Still, they are treated as heroes for saving the girl and arresting at least one of the culprits. The Western detective has developed respect for his partner over the course of the movie, although a journalist does make him wonder about his Stasi past. The partner explains that it was a misunderstanding, and he was just covering for a colleague who lost control, saying that he will always have his parters' backs no matter what. This calms the Western detective's suspicions, until the end when the journalist shows him photos of his current partner aiming his pistol at protestors and standing over their bodies lying in the street. He leaves the town, refusing to give his now former partner a lift to Rostock. One thing that seemed very odd to me in a German setting, but less so in a Spanish one, is the psychic. She tells the detectives that they have to check out an abandoned farm outside of town, and there they find a purse in a well and eventually the bodies of both sisters. The psychic and her husband work on a fishing boat in the river, but apparently they all make more money from drug smuggling. The boss of the operation gets his underlings to tell the detectives some things they had seen in exchange for the police leaving the river, and the smugglers, alone. The drugs are something I wouldn't think as out of place, but the psychic doesn't seem very German to me, and even less in just barely ex-communist Germany. Maybe they did have people like that in small towns, but it feels a lot more natural in a Spanish movie or series. It would be bizarre if that character wasn't in the Spanish movie (La isla mínima, if you're curious).
Did I have a German beer with my movie? I actually had one from a few days before that I got as part of a selection of German styles. The beer stores have been more limited in their services for a while, but they have not abandoned us. The first out of the box was Augustiner Helles Vollbier, a good standard German style. I found it a little oddly toasty, but overall tasty. Not as much grain as some German beers throw at you. A good balance in sweet and bitter, very mild and easy to drink, but with a presence in the mouth. It's not watery, but not overly forceful either. The beers in the film were pilsners, and probably not quite as nice.
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