Capitani (TV series)

Capitani
Genre	Crime Mystery Drama
Written by	Thierry Faber Eric Lamhène Christophe Wagner
Directed by	Christophe Wagner
Starring	Luc Schiltz Sophie Mousel Claude de Demo Joe Dennenwald Konstantin Rommelfangen
Composer	David Sinclair
Country of origin	Luxembourg
Original languages	Luxembourgish French
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	12
Production
Producer	Claude Waringo
Cinematography	Jako Raybaut
Editors	Thierry Faber Jean-Luc Simon
Running time	24–32 minutes
Production companies	Samsa Film Artémis Productions
Budget	€2.6 million
Original release
Network	RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg Netflix
Release	1 October 2019 (2019-10-01) on RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg 11 February 2021 (2021-02-11) on Netflix

Capitani is a Luxembourg crime drama series created by Thierry Faber, Eric Lamhène, and Christophe Wagner that premiered on 1 October 2019 on RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg. In German-speaking countries, the series was released on Netflix on 11 February 2021. The show has been renewed for a second season, which is set to begin filming in March 2021, and will also be directed by Christophe Wagner. Capitani is the first Luxembourgish crime series as well as the country's first Netflix series.

Synopsis

The body of 15-year-old Jenny Engel is found in a forest near the fictional village of Manscheid (Mënscht), in the north of Luxembourg. Inspector Luc Capitani is called in from the south of the country to investigate the murder. He receives support in his investigations from young local police officer Elsa Ley. Capitani has difficulty dealing with the villagers' mentality, however. During their investigation, the two penetrate further into a complicated web of intrigue in which nothing is as it seems. Very quickly, it becomes clear that the villagers know more than they admit. In the course of the investigation, Inspector Capitani must not only track down a murderer, but also understand the mindset of each individual resident and break open a system in which many people are manipulated for the "common good". The story unfolds over the span of eight days.

Production

The budget for the first season was 2.6 million Euros. Of this, €2.1 million came from the Film Fund Luxembourg, which had already supported the development of the script with €50,000 in 2017. RTL contributed €300,000, with the rest coming from Samsa Film and Artémis Productions.

In June–July 2020, Film Fund Luxembourg supported the script development of the second season with €120,000. In November 2020, FFL contributed another €1,300,000 towards filming. The total cost for the second season amounted to approximately €4 million.

Reception

The series broke all records in its respective category on RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg. Polling firm TNS Ilres determined that an average of 147,500 viewers watched each episode upon its initial release, corresponding to 29% of the population of Luxembourg aged 16 and over. A survey by InternetPanel.lu showed that 90.4% of viewers were interested in seeing a second season.

Music

The title of each episode of the first season is a line from poems and songs by Luxembourgish poet Michel Lentz, best known for composing the national anthem of Luxembourg.

Cast and characters

• Luc Schiltz as Luc Capitani
• Sophie Mousel as Elsa Ley
• Claude de Demo as Nadine Kinsch
• Joe Dennenwald as Joe Mores
• Jil Devresse as Jenny / Tanya Engel
• Jules Werner as Mick Engel
• Raoul Schlechter as Rob Berens
• Brigitte Urhausen as Carla Pereira / Sofia Santos
• Pierre Bodry as Pastor Claude Glodt
• Luc Feit as Usch Trierweiler
• Konstantin Rommelfangen as Steve Weis
• Julie Kieffer as Manon Boever
• Esther Gaspart Michels as Lea Holmes
• Désirée Nosbusch as Diane Bonifas

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Oh You, Up There"	Christophe Wagner	Unknown	1 October 2019 (2019-10-01)
Day 1: The body of Jenny Engel, a 15-year-old girl, is found in a forest close to the village of Manscheid. Inspector Luc Capitani is sent in from out of town to take over the investigation. Local police officer Elsa Ley assists him. They find out that Jenny's twin sister, Tanja, is missing. The girls' mother, Nadine, is severely distraught and has to be hospitalized. Capitani interrogates her husband, Rob (Jenny's stepfather), and later her father, Mick. Rob is seen hanging from a rope in his house at the end of the episode.
2	"Below Is a Dark, Wooden Crown"	Christophe Wagner	Unknown	8 October 2019 (2019-10-08)
Day 2: Capitani goes for a jog in the morning, then is greeted by the owner of the inn where he is staying; this turns out to be Carla, a former lover who disappeared from his life fifteen years ago. Capitani and Ley return to the hospital to speak with Nadine, then go to Jenny's school to interrogate one of her friends and the principal. Capitani holds a press conference at the local primary school. The town's mayor gathers a search party to comb the forest where Jenny's body was found. One of them finds a pair of glasses that matches those worn by Rob, who is the prime suspect in Jenny's death. When asked, Nadine tells the police that she sells the same glasses at her shop.
3	"Out of Childhood, Out of Childhood"	Christophe Wagner	Unknown	15 October 2019 (2019-10-15)
Day 3: Capitani and Ley go to interview Mady Berens, Rob's mother, who expresses her distaste for Nadine and Jenny. Capitani goes off to further investigate the place where Jenny's body was found, while Ley returns to the school with officer Joe Mores to try and obtain camera footage from the principal. This latter is at first unwilling to cooperate, but the officers make him believe that they will obtain a search warrant if he obstructs their attempts to investigate. Ley meets her boyfriend Steve at the obstetrician and has an ultrasound that reveals she is pregnant with a boy. Capitani spots her kissing Steve from the woods and later scolds her for not focusing on the investigation fully. The village gathers at a church mass for Jenny. While the pastor is speaking and the choir sings, the door opens and Tanja walks in, looking dirty and in shock.
4	"No Rest for the Eyes, No Rest for the Heart"	Christophe Wagner	Unknown	22 October 2019 (2019-10-22)
Day 4: Capitani goes for his usual morning jog and meets a forestry crew. Mores gets accosted by several gossiping villagers and inadvertently tells them Jenny may have been sexually assaulted. Capitani and Ley go to the Engel home to speak with Tanja, but get no satisfactory answers from her. Capitani is met by the town's mayor, Pierre Rommes, instead of the person he was meaning to interrogate, the mayor's wife. The meeting is tense and threats are made in both directions. The mayor attends a municipal meeting to discuss the merging of three communities, including Manscheid. His deputy, Mick Engel, accuses him of fabricating evidence against Rob Berens and tells him he should resign. Capitani and Mores go to the army base in order to meet with the officer in charge. Tanja is visited at home by her boyfriend Tun. Mayor Rommes goes hunting for a wolf.
5	"Strangers Will Be Obliged to Accept"	Christophe Wagner	Unknown	29 October 2019 (2019-10-29)
Day 4: Capitani and Mores are denied entry to the army camp, and the detective promises to return with a warrant. After getting back to town, Mores searches Rob Berens' car and finds a bag of blue pills hidden in the back hatch. Steve Weis, Ley's boyfriend, has a talk with another soldier, Jerry. Capitani meets with Carla at the inn over wine, and he tells her how he tracked her down. Following this, Capitani and Ley go back to the school and confront the principal with the pills that were found in Rob's car. He admits that the school has a major drug problem. Tanja goes to Jenny's room and smokes a cigarette from the window. Her mother comes in and consoles her. Capitani interrogates Lea Holmes, a friend and classmate of Jenny's, about what they were doing the last time she saw the dead girl. She makes up a false alibi. Her parents barge into the office and storm off after a confrontation with Capitani. Ley tells the detective that he needs the cooperation of the villagers and that he should soften up. Meanwhile, Mick visits with Usch at the church. Capitani races after the Holmes family and intercepts them on the road. He offers Lea's father a bag of pastries and apologizes. Lea comes clean about what she and Jenny were doing on the night of the twin's death. Returning to the office, Capitani angrily confronts Ley about her tryst with Steve and tells her to find out why he wasn't allowed to enter the army base. Ley receives the coroner's report on Jenny's autopsy and begins an investigation into sex offenders. Capitani meets with Carla again at the inn, and after speaking about their past, they proceed to have sex.
6	"So Far From Me, So Far!"	Christophe Wagner	Unknown	5 November 2019 (2019-11-05)
Day 5: On her way to work, Ley spots the bakery van. Inside, she finds Manon, the baker's daughter, asleep on the floor. She offers her help but Manon says she only needs sleep. Ley buys some pastries and leaves. She goes to see Capitani, who is still asleep in his hotel room. Together, they go to the army base to speak with Jerry Kowalska, who has a previous conviction for a sex offense. Tanja goes back to school for the first time after reappearing, only to be stared at and mocked by other students. She finds offensive graffiti on her locker. Tanja gives Lea and Tun the cold shoulder, and later tells her boyfriend they should break up. The town's new mayor, Mick Engel, visits with Mores and tries to get information from him about the police investigation. The constable is reluctant to reveal anything, but Mick's cajoling convinces him to give him a lead. Capitani and Ley return to town and go find Gérard Gaspard, who is also on the sex offender list. He tells them he has an alibi for the night Jenny disappeared, claiming he was playing cards with the pastor and the baker. While driving later on, Capitani and Ley spot Tanja walking on her own, so they give her a lift into town. At home, she shares an emotional moment with her parents as they plan Jenny's funeral. Capitani and Ley return to the forest to investigate further. Capitani decides to explore a previously unknown path marked by a unicorn, a symbol that matches an image on the bag of pills they found in Rob's car. Ley goes back to town to confirm Gaspard's alibi, but not before Capitani snatches the bag of pastries that she got from Manon in the morning. Ley's first stop is the bakery, where she finds out that Gaspard lied about the time the card game finished. She asks about muffins with Smarties on top, the pastry she got from Manon and which Capitani took from her, only to be told that the bakery doesn't sell such an item. Tanja visits the church and goes to the confessional. Ley arrives shortly after, and Tanja runs out. Pastor Claude corroborates the baker's story, which confirms that Gaspard is lying. Capitani is seen walking in the forest, eating his muffin, but he gradually becomes dizzy and passes out.
7	"And I Know Misfortune and Sorrow"	Christophe Wagner	Unknown	12 November 2019 (2019-11-12)
8	"These Wonderful Golden Dreams"	Christophe Wagner	Unknown	19 November 2019 (2019-11-19)
9	"My Heart Was Full of Trust"	Christophe Wagner	Unknown	26 November 2019 (2019-11-26)
10	"I Knew Nothing of Tears and Pain"	Christophe Wagner	Unknown	3 December 2019 (2019-12-03)
11	"My Breast Full of Darkest Night"	Christophe Wagner	Unknown	10 December 2019 (2019-12-10)
The ambulance arrives and takes the critically wounded Elsa to the hospital. Unch gives Capitani a clue. Mick is arrested.
12	"It Happened One Beautiful Summer's Day"	Christophe Wagner	Unknown	17 December 2019 (2019-12-17)
While Capitani is checking out of the hotel, he finds out new information, and goes to question Manon. Elsa loses the baby. Steve confesses that his men apparently had chased Tanja over the cliff on the fatal night, and that Mick had actually moved the body afterward. Tanja confesses to having been the one who actually pushed Jenny over the cliff while struggling with her sister. Capitani is arrested for failure to appear at the inquiry.

External links

• Capitani at IMDb
• Capitani on Netflix