End of the Game

source: End of the Game

Moviecut—End of the Game

Der Richter und sein Henker

Two bullets. Twoooo bullets. Interesting? Two bullets. That just about describes the wonderful dialogue in the movie. This movie has something in common with "The Sicilian Clan" in the sense that both try to be tense thrillers, but inadvertently end up being awkward comedies. The movie's potential was severely hampered by Martin Ritt, who possesses the worst table manners in the world. He never hesitates to show the world what his food looks like after it's chewed up. Other than that, all the clumsy direction never fails to pull a chuckle or two out of you when it tries to be intelligent (e.g. when the car comes crashing off the highway. It twirls over in slow motion, then lands on the cab and makes a hilarious, synthetic crash sound.) All in all, for me the movie ranks lower than "The Sicilian Clan".

I read Der Richter under Sein Henker in college German class and fell in love with it. Then we saw the German movie version, which was a dubbed version of End of the Game, and I was disappointed. Drastic changes from the source material. Anna's role has been plumped up to the point I scarcely recognized her. She appears only fleetingly in the book, is just the girlfriend of Schmied, and is more innocent. Different person pushed from the bridge. Novella is a great psychological drama; the movie is a bit a a mish-mash. After about 25 years I saw the English version of the film on TV. Book review: Wow! Movie review : Meh. It retains a shadow of the original. Maybe one day they'll do a proper adaptation.

...and Jon Voight is its name. Woefully miscast as a Swiss police officer--no doubt in an effort to secure completion funding--Voight ruins what is otherwise a fine Durenmatt adaptation. The author himself has a cameo role, and Martin Ritt and Robert Shaw are both outstanding. Unfortunately Voight's Beatle haircut and appalling effort at a 'Germanic' accent left this viewer cold. When he's offscreen the film is slowly paced but intriguing. Fast forward through his bits and enjoy what's left, including an odd 'performance' by Donald Sutherland as a corpse.

Well as others have commented there is some great acting here. My favorite is Robert Shaw as the villain, but Martin Ritt as the inspector is also quite good. The problem is that the plot mostly makes absolutely no sense (I can't believe they didn't somehow change what was in the book), and the denouement is more or less unfathomable. It's almost like they had a great setup and didn't know how to explain things or end them. As others mentioned, the film is enveloped in fog and is quite grainy. Switzerland was never that foggy when I was there! And the music didn't really match the action on the film. All in all, from what I can tell, skip this and try the book.

I have described the opening scene of TEOTG to dozens of people over the years, and it always provokes a terrific reaction. A consummate cat & mouse story of two strong wills, a tooth-achingly gorgeous woman, and a dead body. Shaw is in his usual brilliant form. Ritt's performance is extraordinary. Voight is believable and compelling. Bisset is spectacular to watch. Sutherland must have had fun playing the corpse. Directed by Maximilian Schell, and originally titled Der Richter und sein Henker and released in W Germany in 1978 (?), TEOTG became (and remains) my definitive detective mystery. Be sure you get the full-length version in the language that you want. You won't regret renting or buying this classic film.

I saw the movie a long time ago, in a class in (German) highschool. I remember being mesmerized by the book for which I can not find a translation in English. It's one of the greatest whodunits of all movie history. Baerlach the old Police Kommissaire has one more year to live due to illness just when a policeman is found dead on a country road near his native Swiss town. Baerlach lets his over-eager deputy Tschanz handle the investigation, knowing full well it will lead Tschanz to an old nemesis of Baerlach's, a criminal that he could never get his hands on. The investigations seem to be unsuccessful, but Baerlach knows something that Tschanz doesn't, and has a plan.

My wife & I saw this as the second feature at a drive-in (yes, that long ago) and it has stayed with us long after we've forgotten the main feature that night. A marvelous game of cat & mouse between two chess-masters, with Voight as their pawn. We've looked for it on television, on tape and on DVD ever since, hoping to decide if it was as impressive as we thought. Schell's direction is superb, building and maintaining a constant tension throughout. The actors performances are, well, what you'd expect from these actors at the top of their game. Beginning with two young men circa WWII, one betting the other that he can get away with a murder, The End of the Game ranks with the best of Le Carre's work in its examination of a master detective's plot to finally catch his bete noir in a crime.