Der Vogel (1988)

Bernd Vogel works as a driver for a laundry and is a cheerful, helpful, somewhat childish fellow. He is a widower, has a casual relationship with his neighbor Berta, a supermarket cashier, and looks after his teenage daughter, Antje. He plans cycling trips and other outings with the two of them for the weekends and refuses to accept that Antje is slowly growing up and wants to spend less time with her father. On one of his laundry deliveries, he meets Renate, a young dancer and single mother to little Julia. He helps them with minor repairs around the house, makes them laugh, and keeps them a secret from Berta. Meanwhile, Antje starts a relationship with Jan, a young construction worker, but doesn’t dare introduce him to her father. He even follows her to the disco, so she makes up an excuse to avoid joining him on their Sunday bike ride. Berta urges Bernd to finally accept that Antje is growing up. She suggests moving in with him and letting Jan and Antje have her apartment. Bernd is firmly against it. One day, when Bernd sees Jan on the street with a young pregnant woman, he thinks Jan is leading a double life. He rushes home, catches Jan and Antje in bed, and throws Jan, who is wearing only his underwear, out of the apartment. Only then can Antje clear up the misunderstanding: the young pregnant woman is Jan’s sister. Bernd now realizes that he has to let Antje go, and already feels almost like a grandfather. The more time Bernd spends with Renate, the more Berta senses that he is growing distant from her and does not want to commit to her. So she lets an older gentleman, master baker Rudolf, invite her first to a concert and then on a boat trip. But then Bernd learns that Renate is not actually a single mother: Julia has a father, who had simply been away for a long time and is now coming home. Bernd returns to Berta, remorseful, and boards the excursion boat at the last second, where he proposes to her.