FC Venus (2006)

Anna and Paul live together in Berlin, where Anna works as a civil engineer. Suddenly, Paul gets a call from his childhood friend Steffen, who reminds him of his promise to return to his home village if the football club they founded together, Eintracht Imma 95, ever got into trouble. That time has now come, because their star player, Udo, is in a coma. But Anna hates football, so Paul moves with her to Imma on the pretext that they will have a house in the countryside. Anna quickly realizes that all the village men live for the local football club, and when she learns the real reason for the move, she proposes a bet to Paul. The players’ wives will take on Eintracht Imma 95. If the women win, Paul must move back to Berlin with Anna, and the other men must also fulfill various promises. But if the men win, the women may never again complain about their husbands’ passion for football. First, more women must be recruited, since not all eleven Eintracht Imma 95 players have partners. It turns out that one of the players is gay, and his boyfriend, Marc Ritter, proves to be an asset to FC Venus. Anna, who used to play on the U16 national team under pressure from her father, the famous Bundesliga coach Laurenz Schmidt, also recruits current national goalkeeper Kim Wagner. Kim becomes eligible to play by seducing Jurij, a notorious womanizer who never passes up an adventure, into a quickie as part of an elaborate plan. The women set up their own football pitch, but training gets off to a sluggish start. Things only improve when, at Kim’s urging, Anna gets her father, with whom she has a troubled relationship and whom she has not seen for years, to coach them. The women make the men increasingly lose confidence, and eventually take over their regular pub. Since Laurenz Schmidt also watches the men’s training, they already feel destined for greater things. Paul is convinced that Schmidt is there solely to recruit him for the Bundesliga. When the situation is cleared up, and Paul also learns about Anna’s true past, their relationship faces a major crisis. At last, match day arrives. The overwhelmingly dominant men, who win every challenge, take a 2–0 lead with Udo, who has returned unexpectedly. But without the outstanding goalkeeper Kim Wagner, the score at halftime could already have been in double figures. During the break, the shrewd coach Laurenz Schmidt manages to lift his despondent team’s spirits, and, spurred on by Anna and Marc, they even equalize in the second half. Emotions run high, and as the game becomes increasingly physical, play turns correspondingly rough. Anna is furious with the biased referee. Still, in the final minute, with the score at 2–2, he awards the women a somewhat dubious penalty after Paul fouls Anna and is shown a red card. Paul proves to be a sore loser and storms off the field in anger. Anna scores from the penalty spot, and the women win 3–2. Anna then goes back to Berlin alone, but eventually Paul realizes his mistake and goes looking for her—without success. By now, the women have caught football fever so badly that they secretly watch Bundesliga matches on Paul’s television. Anna, too, now on good terms with her father again, realizes that they shouldn’t break up over football and returns to Imma. The football-mad women start playing again and allow their men to play again, too.