Eine Hand wäscht die andere (2012)

In a small town, the residents have reached an accommodation with the tax office’s business auditors. Certain businesses are never audited and pay to keep it that way. Others give the auditors gifts as a token of friendship to keep them sweet. Chlodwig Pullmann is one of the auditors, and a steady flow of money and gifts has allowed him to raise his family’s standard of living considerably. He is hardly bothered that his wife Jenny, who knows nothing about his corruption, is leading an initiative to appoint an anti-corruption commissioner in the town. Jenny has been actively fighting corruption ever since the town’s old harbor warehouse was sold below its value to a shady company in Monaco. As a result, Jenny lost her beloved wool shop. She suspects Mayor Karsten Leimer was behind the deal. The peace in the small town is disrupted when Knut, the alcoholic head of the business audit department, dies unexpectedly. At first, the mayor tries to make Chlodwig the department head, but ultimately has to accept that the position goes to a newcomer from Hanover, Senior Government Councillor Dr. Jakob Kronibus. The young, career-minded civil servant was transferred from the state capital to the provinces because he had been “too thorough” in matters of party financing, and now hopes to make up for this career setback by substantially increasing the county’s tax revenues. Chlodwig and his colleagues try to change Jakob’s mind on a personal level, but he stands firm. Jakob immediately discovers irregularities in how auditors are assigned to particular businesses and introduces a new system of assignments. Although the auditors try to brief one another about their respective “arrangements” with the businesses, the shady dealings soon come to light: Chlodwig has audited a ticket seller, previously one of Sina’s “clients,” and, under flimsy pretexts, adjusted the figures downward “as previously agreed.” Jakob gives Chlodwig a formal warning. On Jakob’s orders, Sina in turn audits Henning Safranski’s electrical-goods store, which had always been on Chlodwig’s list and had never been seriously inspected, partly because Henning employs Chlodwig’s severely disabled brother-in-law, Johnny. Sina conducts the audit properly because she has fallen in love with Jakob, and it results in a demand for €55,000 in back taxes. With Safranski now facing bankruptcy and having to dismiss Johnny as well, Chlodwig first tampers with Sina’s final report, but Jakob catches him, and Chlodwig promptly deletes the entire file. Chlodwig is suspended. For the first time, Jenny realizes that her husband is corrupt and that she has benefited from it too, when she is suddenly charged €60 instead of €20 at the hairdresser’s, with the explanation that she had previously received an internal “auditors’ wives’ discount.” She also learns that the Monaco company set up to develop and plan the harbor warehouse belongs to Mayor Leimer, Chlodwig, and Knut’s brother Heinz. Chlodwig had hoped that selling the property would bring in enough money to buy a luxury motorhome. Jenny is outraged, but she has other family problems too: their son Torben has stolen concert tickets and hot-wired a car to drive to the concert. Jenny sees Chlodwig’s criminal dealings as a bad example for the boy and threatens to leave him. Jenny eventually succeeds with her action group, which is calling for an anti-corruption commissioner in the town. Jakob and Chlodwig put themselves forward for the election, with Chlodwig making a show of presenting himself as a repentant convert. He is elected anti-corruption commissioner with only a few votes against him. Jenny makes it clear that she wants the harbor warehouse—and thus her wool shop—back first. Chlodwig’s first appointment in his new role takes him to Karsten Leimer and Heinz. There, he rejects any further attempt to bribe him. As a final offer, Leimer offers him the motorhome Chlodwig has always dreamed of. Chlodwig grows thoughtful. The film ends before he gives his answer.