Blöde Mütze! (2007)

Twelve-year-old Martin is shy and usually wears a blue baseball cap with “Champion” written on it as his “trademark.” He moves with his parents to the fictional town of Bellbach. During his first shopping trip, he unintentionally gives away the older Oliver when Oliver tries to steal cigarettes, prompting Oliver to threaten revenge. At his new school, Martin meets the nice Silke, whom he develops a bit of a crush on. As it happens, she is friends with Oliver, and all three are in the same class. Although Oliver bullies Martin and Silke does not stand up for him, Martin makes a few more tentative attempts to get closer to her. At his insistence, she bikes with him to the “Riverpool,” an abandoned, now run-down riverside swimming spot where she usually meets Oliver. When Oliver turns up after spying on her and gets physical with Silke, Martin impulsively goes for him, and the two fight. The next day, the boys happen to meet in the school bathroom, realize they have both behaved badly, and call a truce—Martin’s attack seems to have impressed Oliver. Soon afterward, when a teacher catches Oliver smoking and he faces expulsion, Martin chivalrously takes the blame, and a kind of friendship develops between them. Martin has told his parents little about these events. His father is pragmatic and emotionally distant, while his mother is overprotective, and they are mostly preoccupied with their own concerns. They are therefore shocked when a written warning about smoking arrives. What they learn about Oliver frightens them, and they forbid Martin from seeing him again. Later, when they find a pack of cigarettes Martin bought for Oliver, they ground him for a week. What frustrates Martin most is that his parents demand that he trust them, but do not trust him in return. As the junior member of the trio’s friendship with Oliver and Silke, Martin gets a glimpse into their family lives. Oliver’s mother is having an affair because she can no longer put up with his father, an unemployed, frustrated alcoholic. Silke is growing up without a father, and she misses him terribly. When her father fails to show up for a performance with her cheerleading squad, despite having promised to come, she is devastated. To cheer her up, Martin kisses her without giving it much thought. He is very surprised when she takes it as a tremendous insult. She ignores him for a long time, even after he sincerely apologizes and gives her a peace offering. Oliver’s situation gets worse and worse after his parents fall out and he sees that his mother is having an affair. He confronts his father, and their argument escalates. Oliver leaves him and first tries to stay at Martin’s house for the night, but when Martin’s parents see him in this state for the first time, they throw him out. The next day, Oliver has disappeared. Martin persuades Silke to swallow her pride and join him in looking for Oliver. They find him depressed at the “Riverpool” and persuade him to accept his friends’ help, though he finds it difficult. When they go to Oliver’s apartment to get him some clean clothes, they find Oliver’s father unconscious on the floor and call emergency services. He has had a heart attack, but they found him in time. Martin persuades his parents to let Oliver stay with them for a few days. At last, they realize that their son has not fallen in with a bad crowd, but has only ever wanted to help others, and that they need to trust him to make decisions about his own life. At the hospital, Oliver has one final encounter with his mother, who wants him to come live with her. But he cannot stand her lover and would rather stay with his father, who now promises to turn his life around. At the “Riverpool,” Silke makes up with the two boys. The title is the mocking nickname Oliver gives Martin on his first day.