Verena Buss

At the end of the 19th century, an educated white-collar worker finds himself in the employ of an inventor. As he is neither a "worker" nor an "owner," his position in the inventor's household and in the world at large is equivocal. Despite the difficulties he encounters, he tries to hold onto his job in order to support his family, but is eventually fired. This Swiss movie is based on a novel written around 1900 by Robert Walser.

Four hours by boat from the lightship Elbe 1 is the southern entrance and lock of the Kiel Canal. There, in Brunsbüttelkoog, is a seamen's home run by Klara Andresen. This is the main setting of the movie. In the sailors' wives' home, the wives of sailors wait for their return. Klara Andresen not only looks after the concerns of the waiting sailors' wives, but also her brother-in-law Gustav Andresen . Gustav has gone to sea as a ship's cook and now wants to get married. That's why he has placed a marriage announcement and is waiting for the reactions.

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Bernhard works as a warehouse clerk in Munich. After being sentenced to probation for a physical altercation with a right-wing extremist, he could no longer continue his engineering studies. Bernhard meets Johanna. She comes from a well-to-do family; her father is a real-estate developer and her brother is in the diplomatic service. Bernhard wants to share his roots with her, so the two go to Prague, where he lived until the end of the war. But her father disapproves of the trip to the Eastern bloc. When Bernhard finds out that he owes his chance to develop new technology, which led to his career advancement, to his girlfriend’s father, he is upset …

A theatrical group prepare Voltaire’s play “Alzire”. From this the ideas of Voltaire are examined as they relate to the present day political situation.