Martha lives in Hamburg with her young son. She makes films. " She moves in with a Portuguese family "to be closer to the pulse of society". Teresa helps immigrants deal with administrative formalities. Meanwhile, Martha tries to find romance with Alfred, who doesn't really have a handle on things. In his late thirties, he is still studying architecture, and he won't let go of Martha either. The everyday lives of the three of them reflect the realities of West Germany, captured spontaneously and occasionally parodied to the point of absurdity. In the bureaucratic chaos of the Immigration Office, fates are reversed in administrative miscommunication. And the board of directors of a private broadcaster with a pronounced sense of broadcasting takes on the spoilsports of cultural criticism without fear of superficiality. In between, an editor from Frauen und Film repeatedly visits Martha in her old building in Hamburg and asks her interview questions as a woman who films: Women's solidarity? Feminine aesthetics? Film-theoretical justifications? Martha doesn't really want to take a clear position. And since neither she nor Pia Frankenberg likes an ending with a bang, Martha and Alfred finally meet in an open happy ending. He in search of stability, she in search of problems.
The German realities of the 80s, spontaneously captured with sarcastic wit and occasionally parodied to the point of absurdity.
Martha lives in Hamburg with her young son. She makes films. " She moves in with a Portuguese family "to be closer to the pulse of society". Teresa helps immigrants deal with administrative formalities. Meanwhile, Martha tries to find romance with Alfred, who doesn't really have a handle on things. In his late thirties, he is still studying architecture, and he won't let go of Martha either.
The everyday lives of the three of them reflect the realities of West Germany, captured spontaneously and occasionally parodied to the point of absurdity. In the bureaucratic chaos of the Immigration Office, fates are reversed in administrative miscommunication. And the board of directors of a private broadcaster with a pronounced sense of broadcasting takes on the spoilsports of cultural criticism without fear of superficiality. In between, an editor from Frauen und Film repeatedly visits Martha in her old building in Hamburg and asks her interview questions as a woman who films: Women's solidarity? Feminine aesthetics? Film-theoretical justifications?
Martha doesn't really want to take a clear position. And since neither she nor Pia Frankenberg likes an ending with a bang, Martha and Alfred finally meet in an open happy ending. He in search of stability, she in search of problems.