Frankfurt Kaiserstraße (1981)

In the early 1980s, Frankfurt am Main’s station district is run-down and synonymous with drug dealing, junkies, prostitution, crime, and human trafficking. Susanne, who is still underage, is drawn into this underworld after leaving her orderly family home and coming here. She wanted to escape the constant arguments with her parents at last and move in with her boyfriend Rolf, who is doing his military service nearby. Her relationship with Rolf was ultimately also the main reason she fell out with her parents. In Frankfurt, Susanne has found shelter with her gay uncle Ossi. Rolf’s transition to military life is also proving extremely difficult. He has serious trouble adapting; his superiors bully him, and the conformity of barracks life and its endless boredom soon wear him down. He also misses his girlfriend. One night, after going on a drinking binge with Kris, a temporary canteen worker, he wakes up in a cell. Susanne immediately assumes that something must have happened between Rolf and Kris, and breaks up with him. Through Uncle Ossi, she now finds herself in the world of prostitutes and pimps, which has been unfamiliar to her until then. Johnny, a Viennese pimp, has been waiting for just such an “innocent country girl” as Susanne. He flatters her and provides her with a luxurious apartment. Susanne is naive enough to believe that Johnny is doing all this simply because of her beautiful blue eyes. But the illusion does not last long. Johnny sees a huge business opportunity: he plans to groom Susanne into his luxury prostitute, the “best horse in the stable.” When she witnesses a murder committed by Johnny, the girl instinctively knows she must get away from the sleazy pimp as quickly as possible. Johnny is now after her too and wants to silence her. At the last moment, Susanne manages to escape his grasp and tries, far from Frankfurt, to mend her broken relationship with Rolf. It seems the two will have a future together.