Der Chinese

Berner police sergeant Studer celebrates his daughter's wedding at the inn of an old friend. When a murder occurs outside the restaurant late at night, he takes charge of the investigation. Strong debut performance by Hans Heinz Moser in the role of Glauser's brooding investigator Studer.

A dead man is discovered in the machine room of the Randlingen sanatorium and nursing home. The man is Dr. Ulrich Borstli, the director of the institution. Constable Studer from the cantonal police takes over the investigation and soon realizes: it was no accident! The hospital director must have been beaten to death with a sandbag around midnight. The search for the perpetrator and motive proves difficult. The patient Pieterlein comes under suspicion because he has been on the run since the crime. However, Studer doesn't really believe in this solution and examines the friendly façade of the psychiatrist Borstli. He soon realizes that the solution must lie in the treatment methods of the nurses and doctors...

In this interesting World War I drama, Bruno Ganz gives a compelling performance as Jakob, an obsessive inventor who lives in a Swiss village. He receives unconditional support from his friend Otti (Walo Luond), but that is about all; the other villagers do not tolerate Jakob's eccentricities very well, and regard him as a crackpot. He perserveres in spite of this obstacle and finally invents a viable carriage that does not run on wheels but on a tread. Unfortunately for Jakob, the military have already come up with the same invention: the tank. The discovery finally breaks him, and he is quickly shuttled off to an asylum.