Müllers Büro (1986)

Private detective Müller, who is—as always—short of money, is supposed to find a client’s missing boyfriend together with his friend Larry. The trail leads into Vienna’s criminal underworld, which is controlled by various gangs. As the clues gradually mount, it becomes clear that the client is not quite what she seems, and that the missing man is in fact being sought by everyone chiefly because he has photographs showing the top crime boss killing a prostitute. The plot and characters are modeled on Dashiell Hammett’s stories; at one point Müller even passes himself off as Sam Spade, while Larry calls himself Miles Archer.