Novel: Commissario Brunetti‘s 10^th Case

First Broadcast: November 2^nd 2006

 

Storyline

A narrow strip of land that separates the Venetian lagoon from the Adriatic Sea lies south of Venice. A little south from it is the small island of Pellestrina in whose fishing village an incident takes place in the middle of the night. The townspeople are torn from their sleep by the explosion of a boat.

 

First, the fishermen try to remove the fishing boats lying near the burning ship so they do not even catch fire. Once this has happened, the arrive to the question, where the owner of the boat, Giulio Bottin, and his son, Marco, are, since they were not present during the rescue operation. During a search of the house, they find that these were also not home.

 

Meanwhile, the burning boat has sunk, so a few volunteers dive down to the wreck and find that both father and son were on board. Both are them are now dead. Since everyone assumes that someone else has notified the police, it takes quite some time before the Questura in Venice is informed.

 

Together with his assistant, Sergente Vianello, Commissario Brunetti makes his way to Pellestrina. He first arranges that the bodies of the two dead fishermen are recovered. After the rescue was carried out by divers, the police notice that neither the father, nor the son have did in the explosion or the fire. Giulio Bottin's head was smashed and his son, Marco, was stabbed.

 

Brunetti and Vianello quickly realize that the residents of Pellestrina do not think too highly of an eventual collaboration with the police. They appear reticent and closed. Giulio Bottin was not a popular man, his son, however, was a kind and gentle man, who was, contrary to his father, considered popular. Nevertheless, Brunetti and Vianello do not manage to gain information that could suggest a motive or a perpetrator.

 

In the Venice Questura, Signorina Elletra tells about her cousin who lives on Pellestrina and whom she visits every year. She suggests that she visit her relative and interview her during this encounter. Although Brunetti is not overly keen on the idea, because he is concerned about Elletra Zorzi’s safety, he has no other option of obtaining the required information.

 

Thus, Signorina Elletra makes her way to Pellestrina to help solve the murder of the two fishermen. But then another murder occurs, whereupon Commissario Brunetti asks the secretary to immediately return to Venice. Signorina Zorzi refuses since during her stay she has met the young fisherman Carlo Targhetta. It does not take long until they start a relationship.

 

Brunetti then instructs the young policeman Pucetti, to work on the island on a smuggling as a waiter. Through this undercover operation, Brunetti hopes, on the one hand, to gain information on the villagers, and, on the other hand, to keep an eye on Signorina Elletra and protect her in case of an emergency.

 

As part of his further investigation, Commissario Brunetti discovers that Carlo Targhetta has a history. The fishermen used to work as a financial officer. But then his uncle, Vittorio Spadini, was accused of tax evasion by an anonymous caller, whereupon Targhetta tried to protect his uncle.

 

Later investigations lead Brunetti to fear that Signorina Elletra could possibly be the killer’s next victim.

 

Starring

Uwe Kockisch – Commissario Guido Brunetti

Julia Jager – Paola Brunetti

Karl Fischer – Sergente Vianello

Michael Degen – Vice Questore Patta

Annett Renneberg – Elettra Zorzi

Laura Syniawa – Chiara Brunetti

Pattrick Diemling – Raffi Brunetti

 

Other Roles

Wolfram Berger – Danilo Bonsuan

Hansa Czypionka – Vittorio Spadini

Saskia Vester – Siginora Follini

Dietmar Mossner – Alvise

 

Director: Sigi Rothemund

Script: Donna Leon

 

Producers: Benjamin Benedict, Katharina Trebitsch

Production Managers: Enrico Ballarin, Jurgen Schott

 

Camera: Dragan Rogulj

Assistant Director: Ronny Begullar

 

Music: Andre Rieu

 

 

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