Acting
Vienna, 1813-1819: Beethoven (played by Donatas Banionis) is at the peak of his fame. Orchestras all over the world play his music, but he lives modestly and is dependent upon private patrons. Nagged by his patronizing brothers, spied upon by officials for his republican beliefs and faced by his progressive hearing loss, the composer becomes more and more isolated. Seeman’s poetic film explores the joys, heartbreak and artistic spirit of the great composer as he works on his Ninth Symphony.
In 1930s Berlin, a woman’s life unravels as her unemployed husband succumbs to Nazi propaganda and joins the Storm Troopers, while her brother's anti-Nazi stance leads to his death, prompting her to confront her beliefs and make a risky choice.
In 1952, former farmhand Erich Kattner arrives in a Mecklenburg village from West Germany to take on a new farming job, which he had originally planned to do together with his wife. She has died shortly beforehand, and so he finds himself alone with the almost unmanageable work. His predecessor has capitulated, the new house and barn are only half-finished, tree stumps still have to be cleared in the fields and much more besides. He is skeptical of outside help. He asks Thekla, the maid of the richest farmer, whom he met on his first day in the village, to start working for him, but she refuses. When she does start working on Erich's farm after an approach from her "master", he only sees her as a work partner.
Albert Hauptmann is an out of work waiter in Cologne who is often confused with a former Captain of the Nazi Army. Albert uses this to his advantage and becomes the Director of the Montan Corporation, and a member of the West German Parliament. Herr Karjanke, the real Captain, learns of Albert’s ruse, and wants to claim his "rightful" position in Parliament. But Karjanke cannot come forward until his politicking "Doppelganger" succeeds in passing an amnesty law for war criminals. When Albert is finally brought before a judge on charges of fraud, he learns that this own amnesty law does not apply to him.
Stasi agent Alexander Berg has to uncover a plot of sabotage.
A morality tale from the time of the Saxon Kingdom. The von Siebenthal volunteer fire department has nothing to do. When their local pub is in a very dilapidated state, but the landlord has no money to renovate it, the fire department tries to help out by setting fire to it themselves, but it doesn't quite work. They look for a new object to set fire to, the supposedly empty prison. But there is only one prisoner, who is heroically rescued by Captain Kaden.
