Directed by:
Hans SteinbichlerScreenplay:
Martin RauhausCinematography:
Bella HalbenComposer:
Antoni Komasa-LazarkiewiczCast:
Josef Bierbichler, Sibel Kekilli, Hanna Schygulla, Martin Goeres, Anna Schudt, Johann von Bülow, André Hennicke, Klaus Manchen, Brigitte Hobmeier (more)Plots(1)
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)
(more)Cast
Josef Bierbichler
West Germany
Best movies:
The White Ribbon (2009)
Winter Sleepers (1997)
Heart of Glass (1976)
Sibel Kekilli
West Germany
Best movies:
When We Leave (2010)
Head-On (2004)
Auschwitz: The Last Journey (2006)
Hanna Schygulla
German Empire
Best movies:
Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) (series)
Hunting Scenes from Bavaria (1969)
Martin Goeres
West Germany
Best movies:
Napola (2004)
Victoria (2015)
Winter Journey (2006)
Anna Schudt
West Germany
Best movies:
Ghosts (2005)
Ein offener Käfig (2014) (TV movie)
Winter Journey (2006)
Johann von Bülow
West Germany
Best movies:
Labyrinth of Lies (2014)
Frantz (2016)
Das Adlon. Eine Familiensaga (2013) (series)
André Hennicke
East Germany
Best movies:
Downfall (2004)
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)
As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me (2001)
Klaus Manchen
German Empire
Best movies:
The White Ribbon (2009)
Aimee & Jaguar (1999)
Line of Separation (2015) (series)
Brigitte Hobmeier
West Germany
Best movies:
My Life in Orange (2011)
Winter Journey (2006)
Trenker And Riefenstahl - A Fine Line Between Truth And Guilt (2015) (TV movie)
Michael A. Grimm
West Germany
Best movies:
Merry Christmas (2005)
Das Wunder von Wörgl (2018) (TV movie)
Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank (2016)
Philipp Hochmair
Austria
Best movies:
The Experiment (2001)
The Peppercorns and the Curse of the Black King (2017)
Clara Immerwahr (2014) (TV movie)
Stephan Bissmeier
West Germany
Best movies:
Stadtgespräch (1995)
Winter Journey (2006)
Tatort (1970) (series)
Aloysius Itoka
Liberia
Best movies:
Winter Journey (2006)
Polizeiruf 110 (1971) (series)
Tatort (1970) (series)
Frederike Schinzler
West Germany
Best movies:
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)
The Beloved Sisters (2014)
Winter Journey (2006)
Andreas Lechner
West Germany
Best movies:
Winter Journey (2006)