At the beginning of the 1990s, the Swiss writers Friedrich DÜRRENMATT (1921-1990) and Max FRISCH (1911-1991), both of whom were among the most important authors in the German-speaking world and were also considered candidates for the NOBEL PRIZE for literature, died in quick succession. DÜRRENMATT was the more popular of the two. Based on his material, films such as IT HAPPENED ON BREAK LIGHT DAY with Heinz RÜHMANN and THE VISIT with ACADEMY AWARD winner Ingrid BERGMAN had already been made. His novel JUSTIZ was published in 1985 by his house publisher DIOGENES in Zurich, but could only be made into a film after the author's death. So in the film you see Zurich as it looked in the early 1990s.
An unheard-of incident is told: a respected government councilor (ACADEMY AWARD winner Maximilian SCHELL) shoots a man in front of Zurich's upper society. After the government councilor Dr. After Isaak Kohler has already spent a few weeks in prison, his daughter Helene (Anna THALBACH) commissions an idealistic young lawyer (Thomas HEINZE) to re-examine the actually obvious case. The lawyer, blinded by money, realizes too late what a game of intrigue he has gotten himself into...
Since the mid-1980s, German director Hans Werner GEISSENDÖRFER has been seen primarily as the inventor and producer of the long-running family series LINDENSTRASSE. Following the example of British series such as CORONATION STREET and EASTENDERS, the West German television station ARD wanted a similar series, which would then run quite successfully from 1985 to 2020. GEISSENDÖRFER had already been very successful as a director before. He received an ACADEMY AWARD nomination in 1979 for his Patricia Highsmith film adaptation THE GLASS CELL. Three years later, the lavish film adaptation of THE ZAUBERBERG, the famous novel by Nobel Prize winner Thomas MANN, followed. He then certainly used the money that GEISSENDÖRFER earned with the production of LINDENSTRASSE for films like JUSTIZ.
And this business model was worth it. The Dürrenmatt film adaptation is surprisingly daring when you think of the furious naked appearance of Suzanne von BORSODY (daughter of Rosemarie FENDEL and CINECITTA divo Hans von BORSODY) in the role of a high-class Zurich prostitute. Ulrike KRIENER, director Hark BOHM and Dietrich SIEGL shine in other roles, who remains unforgettable as tennis teacher Stefan Nossek from the first three years of LINDENSTRASSE and also gives an impressive performance on the screen.
And then there is Maximilian SCHELL as the main actor; in 1962 he received the ACADEMY AWARD for his role in JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG. SCHELL excels in a story where justice is confused with justice.
Hans Werner GEISSENDÖRFER did not receive another ACADEMY AWARD nomination for JUSTIZ, but his film was nominated for a GOLDEN GLOBE in 1994. Completely right!
