Part 4: The Political Love Story
Working Title: The Rain of Gold
Cast: Birgit Minichmayr (Heidi Horten), Oliver Masucci (The Secretary General / PR Consultant / Christian Pilnacek), August Diehl (The Investigative Reporter / Helmut Horten / Gernot Blümel), Udo Samel (August Wöginger).
Scene 1: The Back Room of Splendor
Location: A gilded separate booth in a Viennese noble café. Time: Election year 2017.
Heidi (Birgit Minichmayr) sits relaxed in a velvet armchair. In front of her lies a checkbook, enthroned like a relic on the table. The Secretary General (Oliver Masucci) leans forward reverently.
SECRETARY GENERAL We need... stability, Madame. And stability comes at a price these days. The posters, the online ads... the consultants...
HEIDI (smiling) I love stability. Helmut used to say: "Money is the glue that holds society together." But if you use too much glue, you can't see the seams anymore.
Scene 2: The "Donation Splitting" Sketch
Location: An office full of shredders and calculators. Time: Late at night.
Three consultants in tailored suits (Masucci, Diehl, Minichmayr in multiple roles) sit around a mountain of 500-euro bills. They have a template in front of them.
CONSULTANT 1 (Masucci) Here we have a total of 931,000 euros from Madame. Almost a million! A magnificent chunk. But all at once... it's indigestible for the Court of Audit.
CONSULTANT 2 (Diehl) We need the scalpel. We'll cut it into exactly 49,000-euro morsels. Not 50,000! At 50,000, the sirens go off. At 49,000... there is holy silence.
CONSULTANT 3 (Minichmayr) It's like pointillism! 19 times 49,000 euros. Many small dots. When you stand in front of it, you only see a bunch of nice, discrete individual donations. Only when you step far away do you see... the empire.
Scene 3: The Rain of Gold in Parliament
Location: The plenary hall of the Austrian National Council. Time: A fictional, surreal debate on transparency.
A Member of Parliament (August Diehl) gives a passionate speech about the "innocence of the donor." Suddenly, it begins to rain from the ceiling. But it's not water; it's golden confetti coins with Heidi's likeness. Each coin bears the engraving "49,000."
MP (while catching the coins) See? This is not money! This is... appreciation! This is civic engagement in its purest, minted form! Who are we to bite the hand that splits us so wonderfully?
The other MPs begin to catch the coins with umbrellas they hold upside down.
Scene 4: The Interview of Forgetfulness
Location: A yacht in the Mediterranean. Time: Present day.
Heidi is interviewed by an investigative journalist (August Diehl). The journalist looks exhausted; Heidi is radiant.
JOURNALIST Frau Horten, critics say you are buying political influence with your donations. 931,000 euros is no small change.
HEIDI (laughs bell-like) Buying? That is such a... commercial term. I call it "Enabling." I enable politicians to focus on the essentials without having to worry about their budget. Isn't that the epitome of freedom?
Scene 5: The "Transparency Gala" – The Height of Satire
Location: A magnificent ballroom where "Transparency" is celebrated as a theme. Time: A fictional gala event.
Each guest wears a mask of semi-transparent plastic. The faces are visible, but distorted.
CHRONICLER (Masucci, Off-voice) They celebrated openness while they closed the doors. They called it a "new style" while they refined Helmut's old recipes. Heidi sat in the middle, the sun of her own system. Every 49,000-euro tranche on her necklace corresponded to a small attention to a political section.
Heidi dances with a minister. She whispers something in his ear. He nods vigorously, as if receiving divine inspiration.
Scene 6: The "Court of Audit Nightmare"
Location: A dark archive where a lonely auditor (Oliver Masucci) tries to trace the donation paths. Time: Night.
The file folders begin to move on their own. Numbers jump off the pages and form patterns on the walls.
AUDITOR It's a labyrinth of silk and gold! You follow a 49,000-euro donation and land at an equestrian event in Carinthia. You follow the equestrian event and land at an art event in Vienna. And in the end... in the end there is always only one name. But the name is legal. It is so legal it hurts.
He is buried by a mountain of golden "dots."
Scene 7: The Finale – The Eternity of Capital
Location: Heidi's mausoleum or a modern art gallery. Time: In the near future.
We see a giant canvas. On it is a depiction of Helmut Horten, but the image consists of millions of small euro symbols. Heidi steps in front of it.
HEIDI (to the audience) Helmut said that capital never dies. He was right. It only changes its form. Before, it was department stores; today, it's parliaments. Before, it was "market consolidation"; today, it's "policy design." But the pointillism remains the same.
She presses a button. The image of Helmut transforms into the logo of a political party and then back again.
Scene 8: The Burial of Silence (and the Fear in Linz)
Location: An exclusive funeral service on Lake Wörthersee. White marble, black ribbons, champagne coolers. Time: June 2022 (flashback) / Cut to March 2026 (present).
August Wöginger (Udo Samel) stands at the buffet. He doesn't look nervous, but rather... deliberate. He eats a sandwich with a knife and fork. He speaks quietly on the phone. In the background, the magnificent photo of Heidi.
WÖGINGER (into the phone, with a gentle Upper Austrian accent) Yes, hello... no, I'm at the lake right now. We're saying goodbye to Madame. Yes, the 931,000... that's all properly booked. In tranches, as we discussed. Pointillism, exactly.
He looks at the photo of Heidi and raises his wine glass minimally.
WÖGINGER About Linz... Tuesday, March 3rd. I've already told the judge: I'm not an inciter. I'm an enabler. If Thomas Schmid asks me who we need in Braunau, I tell him. That's lived proximity to the citizens. The WKStA simply doesn't understand the rural structures.
Scene 9: The Ghostly Hour of the Balance Sheets
Location: Heidi's empty bedroom. Time: Night.
Wöginger (Udo Samel) slinks through the room. He looks almost like an antique dealer here, someone who appreciates the value of silence. He touches a silk curtain. Heidi's ghost (Birgit Minichmayr) appears in the mirror.
HEIDI (GHOST) August... you're worried about a tax office in the Innviertel? I've repainted entire sections with gold.
WÖGINGER (calmly, without turning around) Madame, your world was... generous. My world today is... petty. Thomas Schmid is singing in Vienna now, and in Linz they want to know why a mayor should be better qualified than a civil servant. They don't understand that loyalty is a qualification of its own.
HEIDI (GHOST) Then teach them, August. Teach them the aesthetics of favor. In 49,000-step increments.
Scene 10: The Art of Regional Intervention (EXPANDED)
Location: A back room in a Linz inn. Dark wood, stag antlers. Time: March 3, 2026 (Morning, before the start of the trial).
August Wöginger (Udo Samel) sits alone at a round table. In front of him are the printouts of the chats. He is wearing reading glasses. He speaks to an imaginary judge's bench.
WÖGINGER Your Honor, look... when I pick up the phone, I do it for the people. The word "intervention" sounds so... back-room. But we in the Innviertel call it "pulling together." That the mayor gets the post, that was a structural measure. A regional personnel development. That Ms. Scharf... (he pauses briefly)... has a different understanding of qualification, that is her right. But politics is more than just report card grades.
He marks a spot in the chat log with a yellow highlighter. He practices a sentence he will say later in the courtroom.
WÖGINGER (with feigned humility) "I would not do it today." (Pause, he smiles thinly) Because today I know that you will hang me for a request for review. Not because the request was wrong. But because the spirit of the times today can no longer tolerate constituent concerns.
He closes the file. It makes a dry, final sound.
Scene 10a: The Duel with the Algorithm (NEW)
Location: A sterile, white room in the Palace of Justice. In the middle stands a terminal with a glowing screen: "JUSTITIA-AI v2.0". Time: A surreal dream sequence during the lunch break of the trial on March 3, 2026.
Wöginger (Udo Samel) stands in front of the terminal. In his traditional Tracht suit, he looks like a foreign body in this digital world.
VOICE FROM THE TERMINAL (Synthetic) Defendant Wöginger. Data matching completed. Hit rate: 100%. Intervention with Thomas Schmid confirmed. Violation of objective selection procedure detected.
WÖGINGER (calmly) Dear machine... you calculate in zeros and ones. But life in Schärding happens in between. That was not a violation. That was a "human update." I merely informed the system that there is a capable man who knows the region.
VOICE FROM THE TERMINAL Qualification matrix of competitor Christa Scharf is superior. Her score: 98. Mayor's score: 62. Intervention illogical.
A code fragment flickers on the screen:
function procedureAudit(applicant) {
if (applicant.partyAffiliation === 'ÖVP' && applicant.role === 'Mayor') {
return "Legitimate Constituent Concern / Structural Measure";
} else if (applicant.qualification > 90) {
return "Error: Inconvenient disruption of harmony";
} else {
return "Abuse of Office (WKStA Alert!)";
}
}WÖGINGER (lecturing) See? Your code is almost right, dear machine. But you forgot the variable "friendship." Illogical? No. Far-sighted! A score says nothing about whether you get the trust of the people at the wine tavern. I told Thomas: "Look at this." That is not incitement to abuse of office. That is... a recommendation from the heart. A regional optimization.
VOICE FROM THE TERMINAL "Recommendation from the heart" is not a legal term. Corruption detected.
WÖGINGER (steps closer to the terminal, whispering) Do you know what your mistake is? You have no pointillism in your code. You only see the big picture of the laws. But I... I set the small dots. A phone call here, an SMS there. And in the end... in the end, a mayor is in the tax office, and everyone is happy. Except you. And the WKStA. But then again, you're not human anyway.
Wöginger pulls a USB stick out of his pocket that says "Constituent Concerns" and holds it threateningly in front of the terminal's slot. The terminal begins to flash red.
VOICE FROM THE TERMINAL System error... Logic loop... "Constituent concerns" not compatible with rule of law...
Wöginger smiles contentedly and wipes the screen with the sleeve of his jacket.
WÖGINGER See? A bit of dust on the lens, and the optics are right again.
Cut back to the courtroom. Wöginger sits quietly on the defendant's bench.
Scene 10b: The Rhyming Protest (NEW)
Location: In front of the Linz Regional Court. A group of camera teams and onlookers. In the middle stands a lone protester (Andreas Röbl) with a large, hand-painted sign. Time: March 3, 2026 (Noon).
The sign says in large letters: "OH DU LIABA AUGUSTIN..." (Oh you dear Augustin...)
PROTESTER (Andreas Röbl) (to a reporter holding a microphone) Look, it's not about Gustl personally. It's about the disease. The Austrian disease: political patronage. Inside they say "constituent concern," outside we say "system."
He turns his sign over. On the back is a new rhyme, which he reads aloud:
PROTESTER "A bit forgotten, a bit forgiven, Soon the scandal is a tale for wine-sippin'. But those with no party book at home to show, Will stay in the cold while the insiders glow."
Cut to Wöginger (Udo Samel) looking down at the protester through a first-floor window. He thoughtfully chews on his sandwich.
WÖGINGER (quietly to himself) He can rhyme, the boy. But governing... governing is not a poem. It's prose. Hard, unwashed prose.
Scene 11: The Budget Hole Ballet
Location: A magnificent hall in Parliament. In the background stands the "Sobotka organ." Time: January 2025 (flashback).
Magnus Brunner (August Diehl) stands in front of a giant screen with graphs all pointing steeply downwards. Wolfgang Sobotka (Oliver Masucci) sits at the piano, playing a disharmonious melody.
BRUNNER Wolfgang, it's 4.7 percent. That's not a hole anymore; it's a crater. The EU is already sending us love letters from Brussels.
SOBOTKA (without looking up from the piano) Magnus, you're thinking too linearly. Think pointillistically! 4.7 percent is just many small decimal places. If you light the graph correctly, it looks like... art. An abstract work on the transience of taxpayers' money.
Scene 12: The Heir of the Stones
Location: A vacant, former Horten department store. Dust and scaffolding everywhere. Time: Present day.
René Benko (Oliver Masucci in another role) stands in the middle of the empty hall. He stares at an old commemorative plaque for Helmut Horten, hanging half-torn on the wall.
BENKO (whispering) Helmut, you had it easy. You had history on your side. You took the houses when they were worth nothing. I took them when they were worth everything – at least in my books.
The ghost of Helmut Horten (August Diehl) steps out of the shadow of an escalator.
HELMUT (GHOST) You made the mistake of all gold diggers, René. You believed the stones were more important than the silence. I built an empire that outlived me. You built an empire that is eating you.
BENKO I wanted to complete the pointillism! Billions out of nothing! A mosaic of glass and steel!
HELMUT (GHOST) Glass breaks, René. And steel rusts. Only the pearl... only the pearl endures. But you just had to build skyscrapers.
Scene 13: The Conductor of Proceedings
Location: A dark, wood-paneled back room in a Viennese beisl. Time: Late at night (flashback).
Christian Pilnacek (Oliver Masucci in a double role) sits at a small round table. He looks tired; in front of him is a glass of wine. Wolfgang Sobotka (August Diehl) leans across the table.
SOBOTKA Christian, we have a problem. This WKStA... they're like terriers. They're digging into things that are none of their business. The Horten donations, the Signa valuations... it's disturbing the harmony.
PILNACEK (with a heavy voice) They're proceedings, Wolfgang. Official investigations. I can't just...
SOBOTKA (interrupts him) Why don't you just turn it off? Very discreetly. A bit of sand in the gears of bureaucracy. A lost file here, a suspended investigator there. Pointillism, Christian! If you scatter enough small grains of sand, the machine stops.
PILNACEK They're recording everything, Wolfgang. Every word. The walls have grown ears.
SOBOTKA (smiling coldly) Then we have to play louder. More music, fewer facts. That's the secret of the mystery.
Scene 14: The Duel of the Presidents
Location: The Committee of Inquiry room in Parliament. Time: January 2026 (present).
Walter Rosenkranz (Oliver Masucci in a new role) sits at the raised chairman's table. He looks extremely formal, almost like a Prussian judge. Opposite him sits Wolfgang Sobotka (August Diehl) on the witness stand.
ROSENKRANZ (rings the bell) Mr. Sobotka, I must ask you again: Were you aware of the audio recording of Christian Pilnacek before it went public in the "beisl"?
SOBOTKA (smiling smugly) Mr. President, your question is... how shall I put it... a bit transparent. We all know why we're here. You don't want answers; you want a show.
ROSENKRANZ We are here to investigate the "turning off" of investigations. If this is a show, then it's your party's show. What did you say to Pilnacek about the Horten donations?
SOBOTKA I told him that music shouldn't be turned off as long as the audience is still dancing.
ROSENKRANZ (coldly) The audience in Rossatz isn't dancing anymore, Mr. Sobotka. There is only silence there. And we are going to break that silence now.
Rosenkranz presses a button. The hiss of an old tape recorder sounds through the speakers in the room.
Scene 15: The Advisory Board in the Fog
Location: The meeting room of the COFAG Committee of Inquiry. Time: May 2024 (flashback).
René Benko (Oliver Masucci) sits on the witness stand. He is accompanied by two judicial guards (police escort). Walter Rosenkranz (August Diehl) chairs the meeting.
ROSENKRANZ (with a cutting voice) Mr. Benko, 18.7 million euros in COFAG funding. Why did Chalet N in Lech receive 1.1 million euros while small inns were struggling for survival?
BENKO (calmly, almost bored) Mr. President, I must decline to answer. Ongoing proceedings. But one thing I want to make clear: In all these companies, I was merely... an advisor. A friendly guest in my own properties. I made no operational decisions. I merely... observed visionary.
ROSENKRANZ Observed visionary? You were on a first-name basis with the Federal Chancellor and flew ministers around in your jet!
BENKO That too was purely observational. You just see better in a plane where the gaps in the budget are. And as for the 18 million: They're just many small dots. Pointillism, Mr. President. You should understand that.
Scene 16: The Whore for the Rich
Location: A chic penthouse office in the Golden Quarter, Vienna. Time: December 2016 (flashback).
Thomas Schmid (August Diehl) stands at the window, looking out over the city. Behind him sits René Benko (Oliver Masucci) at a massive desk. He pushes an envelope (or a tablet with a draft contract) across the table.
BENKO Thomas, you're wasting your talent in the Ministry. 300,000 fixed, 300,000 bonus. General Representative at Signa. That would suit you well.
SCHMID (turns around slowly, a forced smile on his lips) René, that's... a generous offer. But I still have tasks here. The tax audits, the coordination with the Chancellor's office...
BENKO Exactly. You clear the hurdles out of the way, and we build the skyscrapers. It's a synergy, Thomas.
SCHMID (whispering, almost to himself) Do you know what I wrote to myself in a chat recently? That I'm working in the ÖVP cabinet. That I'm the whore for the rich.
BENKO (laughs out loud) But Thomas! You're not a whore. You're a service provider of the highest category. And service at this level... it's paid excellently. Welcome to the team.
Scene 17: The Aesthetics of Amnesia
Location: Blümel's modern Viennese city apartment. Time: A morning in February 2021 (flashback).
Gernot Blümel (August Diehl in a double role) stands in his pajamas in the hallway. There is a stormy ringing at the door. He looks through the peephole. Outside stand men in windbreakers with the inscription "WKStA".
GERNOT (hectically whispering to his partner) Honey, they're here! The... art collectors from the public prosecutor's office. Take the little one. And take the laptop.
PARTNER (Oliver Masucci in women's clothes/wig) Gernot, why should the laptop go in the baby carriage? The little one already has his iPad.
GERNOT It's a learning project! Early childhood data collection. Go for a walk. Very inconspicuously. If they ask: You know nothing. I know nothing either. We are a family of the pure present. We have no past and definitely no laptop.
WKStA OFFICERS (Off) Open the door! House search!
GERNOT (takes a deep breath, puts on his best smile, and opens the door) Good morning, gentlemen! Come on in. Are you looking for something specific? A piano, perhaps? Or some donation receipts? I must warn you, though: My memory is having its day off today.
Scene 18: The Final Curtain of Silence
Location: An empty stage. Time: Now.
The three actors (Diehl, Masucci, Minichmayr) step out of their roles. They take off their costumes.
AUGUST DIEHL Is it true? OLIVER MASUCCI It's better than true. It's documented. BIRGIT MINICHMAYR It's a mockumentary. We can tell the truth as long as we claim it's invented.
They look together into the camera. In the background, we see the logo of the website: The Horten Mystery.
FADE OUT.