Der Buchspazierer (2024)

Seventy-year-old Carl Kollhoff works in a bookshop in a small town, where he wraps books and delivers them on foot around town to regular customers. He addresses them by literary names such as Mrs. Langstrumpf, Effi Briest, and Mr. Darcy, and carefully chooses books that suit them. Kollhoff lives a rather solitary life and avoids contact with other people. One day, nine-year-old Schascha joins him on his delivery rounds. Carl is not at all pleased at first, but lets her tag along. The girl calls him the “Bookwalker” and soon wins the hearts of Carl’s regular customers too, choosing uplifting books for them. She also gradually succeeds in drawing Carl out of his isolated world. Schascha inherited her love of books from her mother, who had recently died. Like Carl, her mother always rubbed her fingers together before opening a book, then smelled it. After Carl’s bookshop is taken over by the Orange Books chain, where there are hardly any books left and instead numerous orange merchandise items, his services are no longer needed. Schascha’s father also tries to forbid his daughter from spending time with Carl. He, like his daughter, is suffering from the loss of his wife. Carl withdraws completely into his apartment. Schascha can no longer get close to him. After Carl has sold all his books, the long-locked bedroom door in his apartment is left exposed; behind it is the former sickroom of his late wife. He is once again able to enter it. Schascha’s father, too, comes to allow himself to grieve for his wife and to admit this to his daughter. Toward the end of the film, Carl and Schascha help several of Carl’s regular customers find their way out of the dead ends in their lives. A happier life for everyone comes into view as they continue helping one another. Schascha realizes that she wants to become a “book writer.” The final scene shows her as an adult reading her book, The Bookwalker. The film’s protagonists, including Carl, now older still, are among the audience.