At the behest of his father, the young Karl Valentin is to complete a carpentry apprenticeship. When the father gets into a financial mess by a strict creditor, the boy works with growing success as a comedian to support his parents financiall
Corinna witnesses how three guys chase and shoot a man in front of her lonesome house. As only witness, they force her to come with them and care for the guy's wound. But she manages to flee shortly after and takes Blondi to a doctor. He tells her his story, how he used to smuggle drugs, but one day fled with a suitcase full of money. Corinna inexplicably falls in love with him and decides to accompany him on his further flight. But the villains are close behind them.
Fox, a former circus performer, wins the lottery of DM 500,000 and can now have the life and things that he has always wanted. While he wants to climb up the social ladder, it isn't without turmoil, and being torn between his old working class roots, and the shiny new facade of middle class consciousness.
Emmi Kurowski, a cleaning lady, is lonely in her old age. Her husband died years ago, and her grown children offer little companionship. One night she goes to a bar frequented by Arab immigrants and strikes up a friendship with middle-aged mechanic Ali. Their relationship soon develops into something more, and Emmi's family and neighbors criticize their spontaneous marriage. Soon Emmi and Ali are forced to confront their own insecurities about their future.
A very stylized TV version of the Fassbinder play. The set consists of a few pieces of furniture in front of a large screen on which coastal scenery is back projected. Geesche is a nineteenth century woman who wants to have a mind of her own. She defies convention and will do anything to achieve her freedom from oppression by her family and friends. (synopsis written by Will Gilbert)
Hans is a street fruit peddler and born-loser. His choice of career upsets his bourgeois family, causing him to turn to drinking and violence. After recovering from a debilitating heart attack, his business finally begins to take off. However the more he becomes a credit to his family, the more depressed he becomes.
Can a small group of people start a proletarian revolution, asks the "Black Monk" in a leather jacket. The medieval shepherd, Hans Boehm, claims to have been called by the Virgin Mary to create a revolt against the church and the landowners. The "Black Monk" suggests that he would have more success if he dressed up Johanna and had her appear as the Virgin Mary.
Therese Hübner, owner of the “Linde”, is desperately trying to protect her long-established business from being taken over by the “Palasthotel”. But the bank manager doesn't want to grant her the loan she urgently needs, as he is betting on the newly opened luxury hostel. It's now old or new for the Linden landlady, who is shocked to realize that her daughters are also in favor of “modernity”. But just as she's about to give up, the tide turns. An admirer in love with his daughter Sabine plays fate...