Kommissar Jennerwein makes his big-screen debut

The bestselling Kommissar Jennerwein crime series is getting its first cinema adaptation, with the film Hochsaison opening on Thursday, BR reports. The 16 books by Jörg Maurer have sold more than three million copies.

Florian Brückner plays the quirky Hubertus Jennerwein, a police commissioner transferred from the city back to his hometown of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The film adapts the series’ second book. Its plot begins with a murder during the New Year’s ski jumping event, where a sniper is lying in wait. Further attacks follow.

While Jennerwein’s colleagues quickly settle on a suspect, he takes a closer look, to their frustration. The search is complicated by the number of people with different possible motives. The film also incorporates earlier local conflicts, including protests by farmers against the Olympic Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Director Hannu Salonen filmed many scenes and landscape shots on location last winter. Brückner also filmed during the New Year’s ski jumping event, which required organisers to use extras so spectators would not be filmed without their consent.

The comedy also stars Frederic Linkemann, Helmfried von Lüttichau, Gerhart Wittmann and Sarah Thonig. BR describes its humour as mostly subtle, with much of the comedy coming from the eccentric characters.