Die Liebe kommt mit dem Christkind (2010)

Christmas time in the small Austrian village of St. Gilgen: Ten months ago, the wife of top chef Martin Haller died in an explosion at the family-owned restaurant. Since then, Martin has been unable to cook and has been earning a living as a taxi driver. Because the family’s home was also destroyed in the accident, he and his daughter Katrin have moved back in with his father, Joseph. Fleeing her unfaithful boyfriend Felix, Judge Annemarie has moved from Vienna to St. Gilgen with her son Peter. On her first day, she takes Peter to school. Her car, parked in a no-stopping zone, is promptly towed, so she has no choice but to get into Martin’s taxi, even though he is off duty. The two argue, but they turn out to be headed to the same place: Martin has to go to court because he has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident—and Annemarie turns out to be the presiding judge in his case. Because of the hit-and-run—after the accident, he had only left his contact details on the car—she suspends his taxi license for two months and also fines him heavily after he becomes abusive. Martin now has to earn money by shoveling snow and working as Santa Claus at the St. Gilgen Christmas market. Joseph works with Carmen, who is single, at the village’s Christmas post office. There they process the letters children send to Santa Claus. Joseph also receives a letter from Annemarie’s son Peter, who wishes for his mother to find a boyfriend. Joseph now plans to bring Annemarie and Martin together. After a few initial difficulties, the two really do grow closer. Since the heating in Annemarie’s apartment is not working yet, she is allowed to move in with Peter at Martin’s, where Katrin and Joseph also live. She accepts the offer in part because her ex-boyfriend has turned up in the village and found out the address of her new apartment. Martin’s family now seems perfect, with a mother, a father, and two children. Mrs. Zeiler from the youth welfare office, who had already threatened to place Katrin in foster care, is now satisfied too—especially since Martin has also got his taxi license back. Out of love for Annemarie, he even finds his way back to cooking. When Felix tries to flirt with Annemarie, she rejects him. She tells him she no longer loves him. He reacts jealously and begins following Martin. When he sees Martin persuading the heating installer to wait a few days before starting work on Annemarie’s heating, he sees his chance for revenge. At the village’s big Christmas celebration, he tells Mrs. Zeiler that Martin and Annemarie are not a couple. Instead, Martin is only using her to make himself look better to the youth welfare office, and is even manipulating the villagers who are helping him. At the Christmas party, Mrs. Zeiler confronts Martin with these claims. At least he cannot deny persuading the heating installer to delay getting the heating working. Disappointed, Annemarie leaves him and returns to her apartment. A little later, Martin appears at the courthouse and, in the middle of a divorce hearing, confesses that he loves her. She, too, thinks back to the loving time they spent together and realizes that she loves him as well. She returns to Martin’s house, but he is in a hearing at the youth welfare office, where Katrin’s welfare is to be decided. Annemarie interrupts the hearing and says that she loves Martin and that Mrs. Zeiler has breached her duty of confidentiality toward outsiders, meaning she could be sued. Martin, Annemarie, Katrin, Peter, Joseph, and Carmen celebrate Christmas together. Katrin receives a star as a gift, just as her mother did the Christmas before. Annemarie, meanwhile, begins making plans for Martin to work as a chef again.