Das Mambospiel (1998)

The actor Martin is not exactly successful at what he does. His film-industry colleagues consider him empathetic, but also eccentric. Martin has remained rather childlike and dreams of directing a film about rock ’n’ roll. For a long time, he has been searching with a certain obsession for a producer for his film idea, but without success. His dream seems a long way off for the aimless man wandering through central Berlin. Then there is Maria, a committed actress who does not get the roles she would like. She can barely make ends meet, either. Her boyfriend Gregor does nothing to improve their situation. No one wants to publish the novel he has written. One day, Maria spots a plastic bag full of banknotes in a trash can. Unable to resist, she takes the money. As it later turns out, it came from a bank robbery. Unsure how she should change her life now, Maria tries to tell Gregor about what she found. But, as so often, he does not listen to her at all, so she abandons the idea. Not quite sure whether she should simply keep the money, Maria accepts an invitation from an employee of the robbed bank so she can sound him out a little. During the dull dinner, he tells her that the bank is insured against robbery and will suffer no loss. In this difficult situation, Maria gets the idea of turning to Martin, her former partner. When she suddenly finds herself face-to-face with him after three years, Martin is at first stunned. After all, she had left him back then with the words: “Let me spend one day by myself.” When Maria tries to tell him about what she found, Martin keeps interrupting her, with nothing but his film idea on his mind, convinced that others will share his enthusiasm. Maria is so annoyed that she gives up trying to tell Martin what has happened to her. Even so, the former couple discover that they are still erotically attracted to each other. They start seeing each other more often, though they keep getting into arguments. But their rapprochement is not without its problems. Martin also gets more than a little frustrated by the problems of his foster daughter, Julia. She has a knack for getting herself into dangerous situations. When she is raped in the back room of a bar and comes to Martin in tears for support, he misreads the situation, believing that, because she is addicted to drugs, Julia just wants more money from him. Above all, though, Maria finds it hard to put up with his obsession with his film plans, which he doggedly and enthusiastically continues to develop with the support of a few fellow actors. Unaware that Maria has come into money, Martin tells her that women who suddenly have money change for the worse. When Maria asks whether it is different for men, he says casually that men and money go together, whereas women and money are unnatural. Now Maria decides to put this to the test and has dinner with her ex-husband at the most expensive hotel in the city. She tells him she has won the lottery. Some time later, Maria turns up at Martin’s place while he is busy with a woman named Claudia. Disappointed, she runs off, then later calls him and says she wants to say goodbye because she is going to use her winnings to travel around the world for a while. She had actually intended to take him with her, but he is busy. However, it remains just an idea, as Maria does not leave; instead, she continues seeing Martin. An endless back-and-forth begins. When Julia’s farewell letter is found, in which she writes that it would be better for everyone if she were no longer around and causing problems, not only her mother is worried. Julia’s mother leaves it to Maria to tell Martin. But Julia meant something quite different by her words. Martin discovers that she and a friend plan to go first to a wedding in Bulgaria and then on to Greece. Having become thoughtful, Martin proposes to Maria, saying that she wants a child, after all, so they could go home now and get started. Maria replies with a smile that it has already happened, leaving Martin rather stunned. By now, Maria has also used the money she found to buy a house in the country, where the couple live. What does not stop, however, is their arguing. Shortly before they are due to take a flight together, with Maria now heavily pregnant, she asks Martin if she can tell him a good story: “A woman finds a plastic bag of money in a trash can. It is said to have come from a bank robbery. The next day, she reads in the newspaper that the robber has confessed and that the money is believed to have ended up in the waste incineration plant.” Martin replies that it is a good idea, enough for the opening of a film, but asks what they could tell for the remaining hour and a half. As it turns out some time later, Martin does make exactly this film—and it is a success.