On 28 June 1914, the Austro-Hungarianheir presumptive Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg are travelling through Sarajevo on the 525th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo. As a result of the first attack on the Archduke's life, the Austrian examining magistrate Leo Pfeffer is given the task of capturing the person responsible for the attack. Whilst interrogating the assassin, Pfeffer finds out there has been a second attack on the Archduke and his spouse, in which both were killed. Bosnian Serb assassin Gavrilo Princip is then arrested for his part in the second attack. The magistrate learns that only 36 policemen had been available for patrolling the route the Archduke was travelling on.
After the first attack, the convoy headed towards the hospital, but an apparent false turn led to the second attack, where the second attacker was located. All of this causes doubts in Pfeffer's mind. Whilst being tortured, one of the perpetrators confesses, and then evidence and witnesses disappear. In the process of his investigations, Pfeffer encounters further inconsistencies, but is forced by his superiors to state the assassination as a conspiracy by Serbia. As Pfeffer submits his final report, Austro-Hungarian politicians and the military have already decided the assassination of the Archduke would be used as a pretext for an invasion of Serbia.
The film is a German-Austrian cooperation between German television channel ZDF and Austrian channel ORF.[2] It was commissioned as part of the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.
"The ZDF / ORF co-production defies the assassination attempt of Sarajevo, whose sequence and its consequences are generally known, yet still of value compared to a documentary on the topic" - tittelbach.tv [2]
The Hollywood Reporter called it a "handsome-looking and well-acted feature"[4]
