It’s over. „Forever. For now,“ says the woman in the supermarket. Retired teacher Ecki has to be very strong now. His beloved cold cut isn’t being sold anymore. There’s a slice of mortadella as a consolation. But the pain is deep. He sits alone at home with his parrot and broods over the latest injustice in the world.

Somewhere else in town a family father and hobby beekeeper wonders if he’s still useful in any way. Everything has been achieved: a nice house, a wife, two children. The fact that his wife doesn’t sleep with him anymore is alright. But now she’s a vegan and tells him to let go of the bees. They’re the only ones that need him. He doesn’t know that his daughter is debating whether to give someone a 100€ blow job.

Those are just two of the 13 protagonists featured in Lars Montag’s adaptation of Helmut Krausser’s episodic novel that deals with their small dramas, searching for long, happiness, themselves, a friend, or the moment when everything started to go wrong. Of course they see themselves as heroes or tragic victims, but sometimes they are just supporting characters or the pure objects of someone else’s drama. Much like Robert Altman’s SHORT CUTS, the stories intersect and influence each other till a complete picture forms.

Films that allow themselves to tell such complex stories and are so successful in doing so aren’t easy to find. The film is emotionally challenging but it is also fun to watch the compressed, socially surreal soap opera. And don’t see you didn’t recognize yourself later.

Christian Klose

Translation: Elinor Lewy