The Glass Cell (Die gläserne Zelle) is a 1978 film from West Germany directed by Hans W. Geissendörfer.
It is a German-language adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's English-language novel of the same name. Philip Braun is an architect who, five years previously, was unjustly accused of corruption and embezzlement in the construction of a school that collapsed. The real guilty party was Lasky, the contractor, but it's Braun who was convicted of stealing 350,000 marks.
After five years Philip is paroled and sent home to his wife, Lisa, and son Timmy. After a certain awkwardness Philip settles in. However, he grows suspicious of his lawyer, David Reinlet (Dieter Laser). Specifically, Philip grows suspicious of the awfully friendly relationship between Lisa and David. Eventually, Lisa admits that she cheated on Philip with David while Philip was in jail.
Tropes:
- Blackmail Backfire: Lasky, who bugged David's apartment and thus has an audio recording of Philip murdering David, gets the bright idea to blackmail David for 200,000 marks. Philip murders him instead of paying off.
- Crime After Crime: Philip kills David in a fit of rage. He then kills Lasky to stop Lasky from revealing that he killed David.
- Diagonal Billing: Stars Helmut Griem (Philip) and Brigitte Fossey (Lisa) are billed this way in the opening credits.
- Dies Wide Open: Lasky, when his body falls to the floor of the beer hall after Philip whips out a knife and stabs him in the heart.
- Dramatic Shattering: Philip has been getting more and more suspicious of David and Lisa. But when David puts his arm around Lisa's shoulder at her birthday party, Philip has a sort of spasm, knocking over a wine glass which dramatically shatters.
- Dream Sequence: The opening scene has Philip having a nightmare of being unjustly convicted of fraud and embezzlement.
- Hero Antagonist: Inspector Ostarreicher of the police, who after all is completely correct in thinking that Philip has committed two murders.
- Karma Houdini: Philip. He kills two people, and gets away with it when Lisa backs up his alibi and neither the witness from David's apartment building nor the witnesses at the beer hall can make a positive ID.
- Manly Tears: The first time Philip and Lisa make love after he comes home ends with Philip bursting into tears and saying "I'm home again."
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: The film ends with Philip and Lisa leaving the police station, after Philip has beaten the rap and escaped punishment for two murders.
- Voiceover Letter: A few times throughout the film, the letters Lisa wrote Philip while he was in jail are played over the soundtrack, as Philip is getting more and more depressed about the current state of their marriage.
