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Heimat 3 - Part 2 - World Champions (15)

  • Consumer Advice: Contains strong sex
  • Run time: 1 hour 40 mins
  • Language: German
  • Genre: Drama
  • Release date: 1st January 2005

Plot Synopsis

8 June 1990. It is ready: Hermann and Clarissa’s newly restored Günderrode-House has been turned into an absolute jewel. Even Hermann’s brother, Ernst, is able to make out the beauty of the house as he flies over the Rhine in his Cessna and in a daring dive over the house almost sweeps Gunnar off the roof. Gunnar is installing a satellite dish on the roof, an important undertaking as today is not only the day of the housewarming, but is also the day of the opening game in the Soccer World Cup, which everyone wants to watch on TV.

The guests include Hermann’s oldest brother with his extended family, the Saxon labourers Udo with his wife and sons, Tillmann and Moni, his new love from the Rhine, and friends from the village. An unexpected visitor also appears: Petra with her two children and Reinhold. Returning from holiday in Brittany, the new and provocatively happy family makes Günderrode-House their base. Gunnar, the abandoned husband, struggles to retain his composure, seeks refuge in alcohol and the television. Wearing his T-shirt inscribed Brehme, which is both his surname and the name of the German soccer hero, however, he makes a rather laughable figure. Gunnar is the loser among all the happy couples that evening. Even the confidences of his little daughter are not enough to console him.

After a house warming toast to Hermann and Clarissa and a tour of the new house for the guests, everybody gathers in front of the television to watch the game between Argentina and Cameroon. The personal discord appears to have been averted but late in the night a heated argument breaks out between Gunnar and Petra. She wants a divorce and to keep the children. Gunnar roars off in his old VW in the direction of Berlin and the party comes to an abrupt end. Early the next morning, as everyone in the Günderrode-House is still asleep, Ernst sets off for the East in the Cessna. He is accompanied by Tobi with whom he has become friends and who he is taking with him because he can speak Russian. Ernst is off on an adventure again: this time it is the low priced art treasures in the archives of the collapsing Soviet Union. Not far from Berlin he stops for fuel in Marxwalde, one of the DDR air force bases which are currently being disbanded. Tobi, the non-conformist and latter-day hippie among the young Saxons, wants to settle an old score: as a conscientious objector he was beaten up here in front of a statue of Lenin. He manages to confront his old tormentor, an NVA captain. What Tobi doesn’t realise is that the military’s old insider network is still in force. As a result, the Russian air raid defences are informed of Ernst’s flight plans. Ernst dismisses Tobi’s warnings and flies on towards Russia. A worried Tobi stays behind.

Gunnar has found his dream job in Berlin. As a woodpecker he is tasked by a manager of the Warner Brothers company to supply a million pieces of the Wall as typical Berlin Christmas presents for their clients. Gunnar sees himself as a young entrepreneur. He thinks that with all this money he will be able to win Petra back again, but, with the children, she moves to Munich with Reinhold for good.

Hermann and Clarissa plan to take a year out to finally be able to spend time together in their house. The final of the Soccer World Cup unites all of Germany, including the protagonists, in the victory celebrations. In Berlin the woodpecker Gunnar is hoisted up into the air by jubilant fans taking him to be Brehme. Tobi, who doesn’t have much time for soccer, drives to the Hunsrück with the Lenin statue. He wants to store the discarded monument with Ernst. When he discovers that his friend has not yet returned from Russia after three weeks, he fears for his life.