Teenage girl Sina Wolf (17) has a secret love affair with her married high school teacher Helmut Fichte (32). While secretly meeting and kissing at the lake, they are seen by Michael, the classroom student in love with Sina. Michael blackmails Sina, threatening to cause trouble for Helmut unless Sina has sex with Michael. In the forest, while he wanted to force himself on her, Sina takes a rock, hits Michael in the head and kills him. Police Commissioner Finke is on the crime scene, but Sina lies that an unknown man attacked her and killed Michael who tried to protect her. Finke tricks her by presenting the corpse of a recently killed rapist, whom Sina identifies as her attacker, but the man died outside of Germany. When his wife pressures him, Helmut finally ends his relationship with Sina, who writes a letter confessing the murder and tries to kill herself in the lake, but she can swim, so she is found alive and well by Finke, Helmut and his wife.
Before his departure to Hollywood, German director Wolfgang Petersen delivered one of the most popular editions in the long TV-movie series "Tatort", episode #73, "Reifezeugnis" (roughly translated as "Graduation Diploma"), which caused quite a controversy when Nastassja Kinski appeared in two short scenes topless even though she was only 15 years old at the time, making the decision questionable. However, overall it is a clever, quiet, sophisticated and quality made crime TV-movie about the always popular topic of a teenager having an affair with a teacher from school, evenly crossing from crime drama to a romance, and back, whereas Kinski demonstrates a surprisingly strong acting ability. Little details will force the viewers to pay twice as much attention than usual (for instance, the information that Kinski's character Sina found a drawing of a suspected rapist in the newspaper and used his appearance to invent her attacker is presented in only one scene), and the relationship between Sina and teacher Helmut has certain sparks (in one scene, while they are both in bed, Sina recounts how in six years she plans to be a teacher, and to have a baby by the age of 25, thereby looking at Helmut and kissing him before leaving the bed). Unfortunately, the second half loses its energy and interest, dwindling in overstretched sequences of 'empty walk', indicating that the story should have been shorter, until it settles for a conventional second half. Bizarrely, police commissioner Finke has been demoted to practically a supporting character who doesn't get much screen time, and is thus underused.
Grade:++
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