Frischer Wind (2009)

The death of his wife has completely thrown Hamburg glove manufacturer Kurt Tobaben off course. Her agonizing battle with cancer lasted two years. Kurt has been alone for six months and simply cannot come to terms with losing the woman who meant everything to him. One evening, he finally pulls himself together and drives to Travemünde, where he visits the bar of a hotel the couple often went to together. There he happens to meet Luzy Ditten, who works there as a barmaid and as a chambermaid at the hotel. The young woman catches his attention with her refreshing yet compassionate manner. Luzy, in turn, is deeply moved by the tenderness with which Tobaben speaks about his wife. Back home, Tobaben decides to stay at the hotel in Travemünde and seek Luzy’s company. They do a lot together, and Kurt Tobaben is infected by Luzy’s zest for life. Luzy accepts his offer to work for him as his companion. Karin Kracht, Tobaben’s married daughter, is not exactly friendly toward the “siren from Bitterfeld,” as she calls her, since she assumes Luzy is her father’s lover. The so-called upper crust also gossips about the unlikely couple. After talking with her husband, Viktor, Karin follows his advice to reach out to her father and Luzy, and invites them both to dinner at her home. During the meal, a scene erupts when Tobaben’s son Kai finally admits to his father that for some time he has no longer been studying in order to take over the company one day, but is training to be a chef instead. His dream is to run his own restaurant one day. Tobaben is outraged by this breach of trust and makes no effort to hide it, especially since he has supported Kai financially for years. When he says so, Karin merely remarks pointedly, “How much did that convertible you gave Luzy cost?” His anger drives Kurt out into the garden, where he flicks his cigarillo over a hedge. It lands, still alight, in Ruth Brede’s lap. The artist, who is friends with Karin Kracht, had until recently been living in Ibiza. Kurt apologizes and gets into a long conversation with the woman, who immediately strikes him as likable. She tells him about her work as a visual artist and how much she needs to work. She also helps Kurt break through a creative block, prompting him to visit his company again and see how things are going. Since quite a few things there are not running as he would like, he decides to take over the management himself again. Luzy feels increasingly superfluous, as Kurt’s work commitments leave him little time to spend with her. So she decides to tell him that it is time for her to leave. Luzy has also not given up on her dream of owning a small restaurant of her own one day. She has already managed to raise the start-up capital with money she won at a casino. True to her spontaneous nature, she asks Kai whether, once he has completed his training, he could imagine setting up such a venture with her. He certainly can. Before Luzy leaves, however, she manages to bring father and son closer again, and Kurt even praises his son’s cooking. He also reaches out to his daughter and gives her the attention she has so painfully missed all these years. He asks her whether she could imagine joining the company. Karin certainly can, because unlike her brother, that has always been what she wanted. After Kurt also clears up a misunderstanding Ruth had about his relationship with Luzy, his relationship with the artist begins to look promising too. Since they no longer have as much time, they decide to spend together the rest of the lives they have left.