Winter Journey

Winter in Bavaria. Franz Brenninger, owner of a hardware company, is a man of good reputation and no little wealth. His two children have long since grown up and he enjoys the loyal support of his wife Martha. But Brenninger is tormented by an inner unrest. He has his phases: either boundless euphoria or deepest dejection. If he's on a high, he loses contact with reality, picks quarrels with everyone and squanders his money inordinately. More and more "asshole mail" begins to arrive: invoices, reminders, de mands. Brenninger's company is about to go broke. Fortunately a letter arrives from Africa. Kenyan businessmen propose a "deal": they will "park" 15 million dollars in his account and he will earn a sizable commission. Brenninger needs money for his company and for an urgent eye operation for his wife. In one of his manic phases he throws caution to the wind and closes the deal. But instead of a commission, he has to put down 50,000 EUR as security. Against better judgement he invests a bank loan for his wife's operation in the spurious deal. He loses everything. But Brenninger wouldn't be Brenninger if he couldn't fix it. With the young Kurdish woman Laila who translates for him he heads for Africa to get back the lost money. Yet he knows from Schubert's lieder cycle "Winter Journey": "I must travel a road / From which no one ever returned." (Berlinale)