Der Letzte macht das Licht aus (2007)

“Good day, everyone. What is your name?” Twenty Berlin construction workers are learning Norwegian and going back to school. They want to emigrate to the land of the fjords because they can no longer find work in Germany. German tradesmen are in demand in Norway, so the men have decided to go there. For eight weeks, they study the unfamiliar language every day. The employment office pays for their language course, and a job agency places them with a Norwegian employer. That is how they plan to leave their homeland—perhaps for a few years, perhaps forever. Every day they meet for class, and in the evenings they usually have a beer together. Some complain about the migrant workers who, in their view, are taking their jobs. One of the men is Silvio, 38, a carpenter. His girlfriend thinks his decision to leave is the right one. But Silvio cannot come to terms with it: does she want to get rid of him? Norbert, the oldest in the class and formerly a self-employed master craftsman, is a desperate optimist whose house is already being forcibly cleared. He would rather keep this from the others than admit that he cannot keep things under control. His wife Karin does not want to emigrate with him, but he refuses to accept that, too. Micha, an introverted bricklayer, takes care of everything that needs doing; there is nothing keeping him in Germany anymore. Then, of all people, he runs into Ella, the great love of his life. When the language course ends and departure for Norway is imminent, Silvio, Norbert, and Micha want to get drunk one more time, but they are completely broke. In their ultimately successful nighttime search for a bottle of Korn that Micha had bricked into the wall of a high-rise building years earlier, the three of them damage walls on several floors, but are not held accountable for it. On the day of departure, Silvio decides to stay in Berlin and takes a job as a helper at a fast-food restaurant. Micha and Norbert set off for Norway; Ella joins them at the last minute.