The movie ,which is in German , begins with the first attempt on the life of the Archduke - a botched bomb attack on the imperial convoy.Leo Pfeffer , a Hungarian Jew by ethnicity , is put in charge of the investigation. While interrogating the bomb attack suspect , news arrives that the Archduke has been assassinated in a second attack - by the bullet from Princip`s gun.
When Pfeffer starts his investigation.,there are many loose ends that don`t fit - the convoy proceeding in spite of the attack , the driver of the first car in the convoy taking a wrong turn in the direction of the assassin,the car stopping right in front of the assassin , a mere 36 policemen being deployed along the route of the convoy. In the course of his investigation , he hits quite a few stonewalls - many because of the rising anti Semitism , that has always been dormant but well alive in Europe.
During the course of his investigative work , Pfeffer falls in love with Marija ,a married woman who is the daughter of Stojan Jeftonovic , a rich Serbian military contractor whose car was loaned for transporting the Archduke . Stojan has now fallen out of favour because of his Serbian ethnicity and is planning to flee to the safety of France. He tells Pfeffer that the whole thing is a German conspiracy - Germany has laid a railroad from Berlin to Baghdad , in which many German bureaucrats and military top brass have stakes in. The line runs through all friendly lands , except Serbia. The Archduke , who is to be crowned Emperor next , is a progressive man who wishes to provide equal rights to Serbians in his empire- a fact that the Germans resent. So,the Germans instigate, fund and provide the logistics for a young Serbian ( through the Black Hand organisation ) to assassinate the Archduke and then use it as pretext to invade Serbia.
Pfeffer completes his investigation and hands over his report , but the Austrians and the Germans have already started preparations to attack Serbia. Pfeffer is forced to change his report favorably , incriminating the Serbians for the assassination , in exchange for a safe passage for Marija and her father to Paris.
The movie beautifully captures the political and social conditions in Europe , especially in the Balkans , on the eve of the Great War. Though it is ostensibly a criminal investigation movie , the socio-political context is very deftly woven into the story. This is a great movie to watch for history buffs and also others.
According to the movie - the Germans wrote the screenplay and the Serbians enacted it , thereby paving the way for a war that would involve 40 states .In the four years that it raged for , it would result in the deaths of 9 million combatants, 13 million civilians and in related genocides and pandemics , cause another estimated 100 million deaths worldwide.
Oh..Sarajevo ! Did you ever know that you would leave an indelible mark on the history of the world ?
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