Novaks Ultimatum (2003)

Former police officer Heinz Novak lives on a houseboat with a tomcat. Several years ago, the highly decorated investigator was exposed as an undercover agent during an operation and held captive under torture for weeks. He accused his colleagues and his superior, Prosecutor General Dr. Erhardt, of betraying him, started drinking, and was forced to leave the service, traumatized. His girlfriend Karin, who was pregnant at the time, has since been living with his former partner, Hofmann. Hofmann now persuades Novak to return to his job as an undercover agent because neo-Nazis are planning to murder Dr. Erhardt. In an attack, Erhardt’s chauffeur Petersen has already been killed, while Erhardt and his daughter survived with serious injuries. Erhardt possesses a Stasi archive that could expose high-ranking neo-Nazis. They have learned about it, however, and want to destroy the archive before it can be fully examined. In a few days, Erhardt plans to head a committee of inquiry that will investigate the Hildebrandt publishing group’s ties to far-right organizations. The prosecutor fears another attack, however, and assigns Novak to investigate Hildebrandt. At the airport, Novak, Hofmann, and Hofmann’s young assistant Claudia Roloff intercept the hired assassin Kunze. Novak impersonates him and is taken by Stefan Schwarze to Dr. Hildebrand’s country estate, where he meets Hildebrand’s daughter Charlotte and his henchman Ziegler. He is instructed to shoot Dr. Erhardt outside the courthouse on the day the committee of inquiry meets, then disappear. During his stay, Novak and Charlotte grow closer, and he realizes she has no idea what her father is involved in. State Secretary Schuster summons Hofmann and reveals the plans he is pursuing together with Hildebrandt. They want to make it look as though Novak intends to shoot Erhardt to avenge the betrayal from several years earlier. If Hofmann warns Novak, they will do something to his wife, Karin, and her daughter. They have also already killed Claudia Roloff and Stefan Schwarze, who had become friends with Novak, and destroyed all the evidence. On the day the attack is supposed to take place, Charlotte finds Stefan’s body in the cellar of her father’s house and understands what is going on. Just as Novak aims his gun at Erhardt, who is wearing a bulletproof vest for protection, Charlotte appears at the courthouse and warns Novak about the trap. In the ensuing panic, Ziegler, positioned as a sniper on the roof of a nearby building, shoots Hofmann first and then Charlotte, who dies in her father’s arms. Novak then shoots Ziegler, mortally wounding him as well.