Der Rest, der bleibt (1991)

In the late 1980s in East Germany, 23-year-old printer Robert Bertram lives with his grandmother Gerda in an industrial town in central Germany, not far from a main railway line. The town is gray, and the old buildings, demolition, and neglect are impossible to miss. The noise of the trains and industrial facilities reaches into the apartments. Robert has never known his father and has met his mentally ill mother only once, at his youth consecration ceremony. His grandmother looks after him as if he were a small child, jealous of every relationship Robert has with a woman. Her constant disparagement helped cause his last relationship, with Karla, to fall apart. Gerda clings to Robert by every means available, blackmailing him with her poor health and even staging a suicide attempt. On the evening he and Karla break up, Robert meets 47-year-old chanson singer Marianne at a dance hall managed by his gay acquaintance Harald. Filling in for Harald, he pays Marianne and her pianist Felix their fees for the evening. He finds her in the same sad, dejected state he is in himself. Felix has just ended their ten-year collaboration, saying he no longer wants to settle for mediocrity. Robert praises her performance. When he brings her a tax document she still needs for the performance, at her home, she invites him in for tea and learns about his life. She encourages his desire to make a new start and finds him an apartment that has stood empty for three years. It belongs to an acquaintance of a friend who is away working abroad on assignment. With Harald’s help, Robert manages the move, but has to make it clear to Harald that he does not share his interest in a partnership between them. Robert’s move shocks his grandmother, and she has to be taken to hospital. Marianne has been married to Michael for over twenty years. Michael holds a senior position at an industrial company. He has pursued his career ambitiously and, in the process, saw to it that Marianne aborted their child, who had come at an “inopportune time.” After that, Marianne was unable to have children. When Marianne returns home dejected after her performance, Michael is also downcast. A respected colleague, who like Michael had reached a senior position through great dedication to his work, has suffered a heart attack. Michael now questions the point of all his hard work. As often happens, he has no ear for Marianne’s problems. Their marriage has become a loose coexistence rather than a real partnership. Marianne visits Robert in his new apartment and brings him a houseplant as a housewarming gift. Robert serves a loving candlelit dinner. They end up becoming intimate. Alarmed, Marianne tries to end the relationship. She is a married woman, and she sends Robert away. But this wonderful experience—including the physical acceptance and a tenderness she has never known—makes her break free and return to Robert. She flees a stiff company party hosted by her husband and runs straight into Robert’s arms. She tells her husband about the affair. He tries to save his marriage by talking to Robert “man to man,” but the conversation escalates and leads to Marianne moving in with Robert. They spend a happy time together, which makes Marianne seem younger and fills Robert with a sense of embarking on a new life. They defy the provincial community’s public disapproval of their relationship because of the age difference, including the disapproval of Robert’s friends. Marianne even manages to talk to Robert’s grandmother, who, after returning from hospital, refuses all contact with him. But everyday life catches up with them both. When the alarm clock rings one morning, Robert asks, “What’s that?” Marianne replies, “Everyday life.” Robert says, “I don’t want everyday life.” Marianne has furnished the apartment with her own things, which are not to Robert’s taste. She has taken a job as a librarian. Robert had wanted to provide for them both entirely on his own income. He is studying for his school-leaving certificate at evening school alongside his job, which overwhelms him and pushes him to the limits of his strength. He takes pills to keep himself going. He does not want Marianne to look after him. On the contrary, he urges her to turn her attention back to her singing career. They argue, then reconcile physically. But Marianne realizes that her relationship with Robert has no lasting future. Robert is constantly pushing himself too hard for her, and he still has his whole life ahead of him. So she decides to leave him—not on impulse, but after telling him in advance and sharing an intimate farewell. She returns to her husband. They both suffer. Robert suffers terribly. It is especially affecting when, on Christmas Eve, he stands outside her apartment shouting “Marianne,” like a child calling for his mother. But that is not where the film ends. There is an epilogue seven months later. Marianne and Robert recite their letters. Marianne has left her husband and moved to another city. She is performing a new program with a guitarist. Robert has passed his school-leaving exams and is going to Leipzig to study. He hopes to hear Marianne perform her new program.