Beckenrand Sheriff (2021)

In the fictional Upper Bavarian village of Grubberg, the unpopular, grumpy pool manager Karl Kruse has to save the ageing outdoor pool from imminent closure. The mayor is clear: it is too old, too expensive, and no longer viable. Building contractor Albert Dengler also wants to tear it down and build expensive apartments instead. Things look anything but good for Karl, who has worked at “his” pool for more than 30 years and lives in an apartment on the premises. To make matters worse, Nigerian refugee Sali, who cannot swim at all, is assigned to him as an assistant. As an outsider, Karl has neither friends nor allies in the village. Quite the opposite: over the years, his behaviour has made him deeply unpopular. As pool manager, his top priority is to maintain “discipline and order” at the outdoor pool. The visitors do not make things easy for him, either. An older woman always swims the crawl in lane 6, even though it is not allowed there. Other visitors jump into the pool from the side, move the neatly arranged sun loungers, or call him a lifeguard even though he is a pool manager. A pair of ducks living on the grounds also dirty the pool with their droppings. The ducks prove to be persistent opponents that nothing can drive away. They even survive a bomb attack by Karl. Worst of all is Dr. Rieger, who is too afraid to jump from the five-metre platform and holds up pool operations. The pool’s closure would also affect the village’s eccentric water-polo team, so they decide to help the pool manager after all. Together, they plan to turn the outdoor pool into a cooperative. To do so, they have to sell 1,000 shares at 50 euros each. Sales are very slow, and they are still 46,350 euros short of the 50,000 euros they need. Dengler offers to cover the 46,350 euros, but in return Karl has to fire Sali, since Dengler views the friendship between Sali and his daughter with great suspicion. But Sali has grown dear to Karl, so he rejects Dengler’s offer, knowing that this will cost him the pool and, with it, his livelihood. During a water-polo match, a scandal erupts and Karl ends up in the hospital. There he meets his archenemy, Dr. Rieger, an ornithologist who is also a patient there. Rieger tells him that the hated pair of ducks are very rare animals, threatened with extinction. At the last minute, Dr. Rieger and Karl manage to prevent the pool from being demolished, partly because the older woman who always swims the crawl in lane 6 despite the ban agrees to cover the 46,350 euros. In return, she demands the right to swim the crawl in lane 6 for the rest of her life. Although this goes against his principles, Karl accepts the money after a brief pause for thought, and the pool is saved. Sali can therefore continue working at the pool, and Dr. Rieger finally manages to jump from the five-metre platform, with unintended help from Mr. Dengler.