Silentium (2004)
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Directors
Cast
Josef Hader, Simon Schwarz, Joachim Król, Maria Köstlinger, Christoph Schlingensief, Udo Samel, Tini Kainrath, Jürgen Tarrach, Georg Friedrich, Johannes Silberschneider
A widow hires an unconventional detective to investigate the apparent suicide of a man whose book exposed abuse at a religious boarding school.
The story
When Gottlieb Dornhelm, stepson of the director of the Opera, is found dead, police conclude that he died by suicide, and Salzburg appears relieved. His recent book had revealed the abuse he suffered as a boy at a religious boarding school and made him enemies. Doubting the police investigation, his widow Konstance hires detective Simon Brenner to find out what really happened. Brenner poses as a homeless man to gain access to the school’s monastery, while his old friend Berti, now a courier for the Opera, helps him enter the backstage world of the Salzburg Festival. His inquiry brings him into contact with both religious and theatrical circles.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
When the body of Gottlieb Dornhelm, the stepson of the director of the Opera, is found and the police conclude that he died by suicide, all of Salzburg breathes a sigh of relief. Having recently published a book revealing the abuse he suffered as a boy at a religious boarding school, the deceased had made more than a few enemies. Convinced that the police conducted a sham investigation, the beautiful widow Konstance Dornhelm hires detective Simon Brenner to try to uncover the truth. To be taken in at the boarding school’s monastery, he disguises himself as a homeless man and plunges into the tainted world of religious silence. With help from his old friend Berti, now a courier for the Opera, he infiltrates the backstage world of the Salzburg Festival. As Brenner investigates all the cassocks and tutus in Mozart and Freud’s city, he will uncover some truths that decidedly stink.
Genres
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