Die unglaublichen Abenteuer des Guru Jakob (1983)

Jakob Feierabend is not having an easy time finding a job. Everywhere the short, stout, young, and rather dim-witted man applies for work, he is turned down. The reason is his surname, since people often assume it reflects Jakob’s work ethic. He soon loses a job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant after wrecking the place, and he makes an equally poor showing as a sales representative for women’s underwear. The green widow Clothilde Rieker confuses him with her ample, barely concealed cleavage, and instead of selling anything, Jakob soon ends up in bed with the voluptuous blonde. When Clothilde’s husband comes home, Jakob, stark naked, grabs the nearest piece of fabric he can get his hands on. It is the orange bedsheet that he and Clothilde have been enjoying themselves under, and, barely covered by it, he flees from her jealous husband. Dressed so unusually, Jakob is making his way along the country road toward the little town of Moosbrunn when people take him for a guru, a “holy man” whose arrival was announced in a local newspaper and whom his followers are eagerly awaiting. They roll out the red carpet for him, carry him around on a palanquin-like contraption, and pay him homage. At the invitation of Mr. Wedel, the mayor’s representative, “Guru Jakob” takes up residence in Countess Falkenberg’s ostentatious castle. Jakob’s friend Tommy, who is no less strapped for cash than Jakob but is more streetwise, has an idea that could get them both out of their financial troubles: why not make a tidy sum from these devoted guru followers? No sooner said than done. The “believers” open their hearts and their wallets, and Tommy, acting as the supposed “holy man’s” shrewd manager, makes serious money for the first time. Love also comes Tommy’s way in the shape of Susi, a pretty brunette. But soon the beautiful illusion collapses. Jakob, a true “job killer” who has failed at 15 different workplaces in quick succession, becomes a topic in the national newspapers, complete with a photograph. This comes to the attention of none other than King-Fu, a karate champion whose Chinese restaurant was wrecked by the clumsy Jakob. He decides it is time to settle the score with this oaf and fake “holy man.” Jakob, meanwhile, is growing more and more fond of his new role, and unlike Tommy, who is mainly thinking about his own pocket, Jakob genuinely wants to do good in Moosbrunn. In the end, everyone who has a score to settle with Jakob arrives in the sleepy little town, leading to a turbulent, colorful finale in a paint factory, which, like the other places where he has worked his “magic,” is reduced to pieces.