Für Elise (2012)

After her father dies in an accident, Elise lives with her mother, Betty, in an apartment block in Jena. Both are traumatized and are trying to come to terms as best they can with the sudden loss of a father and husband. Elise takes refuge in music and loves playing a piano she inherited from her father. She plays classical pieces on it, but—much to the dismay of her mother, who has little musical appreciation—only rarely plays Ludwig van Beethoven’s composition “Für Elise,” which Betty loves to hear and which gave her daughter her name. Betty, now the sole breadwinner in her job as a nurse, takes refuge in alcohol and the nightlife of her city. She meets many men and has brief relationships with them. She often comes home drunk at night, and Elise has to put her to bed time and again. The next day, Betty is regularly overcome with guilt and apologizes to Elise. Elise tries to suppress her mother’s alcoholism as best she can and hopes that other people won’t notice her outbursts. For example, she denies that Betty is her mother at a parent-teacher meeting and tells her teacher that Betty has to work a lot. But even Elise cannot make up for their growing financial problems: Betty has stopped paying the bills, and the two of them are at risk of losing their apartment. Tensions between mother and daughter rise further when Betty sells the piano to pay off outstanding bills. Things seem to improve when Betty meets Ludwig during one of her late-night outings. He is divorced and lives with his two underage children in a pleasant old apartment building while custody is being settled with his ex-wife, who lives in France. Betty falls in love with the editor, but after initially showing an interest in her, Ludwig realizes that he is more interested in Elise. Elise, in turn, enjoys the attention of the man many years her senior, who appreciates her concern for Betty and everything she does for her. One day, Ludwig calls Elise. Betty has visited Ludwig on his birthday and got drunk there. Elise rushes to Ludwig’s apartment, intending to take her mother home. Ludwig, however, convinces Elise that there is no point, and Betty spends the night on Ludwig’s couch. On another day, Elise visits Ludwig at his editorial office. He shows her the recording studio and asks her to play a piece on the studio grand piano. Later, the two spend an evening at the opera. When Elise comes home late that night, Betty confronts her. Elise makes it clear that Ludwig loves the daughter, not the mother. Finally, a row erupts at Christmas: Ludwig’s ex-wife takes the children to France to spend the holidays with her. Betty had invited Ludwig and his children to Christmas dinner, much to his visible discomfort. He does not come, whereupon Betty gets drunk again and goes to his apartment. Elise secretly follows her and witnesses an argument between them. Ludwig makes it clear to Betty that he does not love her and is disgusted by her drinking problem. Betty gets home later than Elise, wakes her, and accuses her of manipulating Ludwig because she cannot stand the thought of Betty being happy again. Elise is distraught, as she cannot see that she has done anything wrong. The next day, Elise visits her two aunts, who are critical of Betty. When she returns to the apartment, Betty is lying dead drunk beside the overturned Christmas tree, with the balcony door open. Elise has to call emergency services, and her mother is taken to the emergency department. Elise goes to one of the bars where Betty had met Ludwig. Ludwig is there, as she hoped, seeking distraction after their confrontation the previous day. Elise also pretends there that nothing has happened to her mother. Only when Ludwig takes her home and sees the ransacked apartment does she tell him what happened to Betty. Ludwig invites Elise to spend the night at his apartment. But she cannot fall asleep, comes into the living room half-naked, and sits suggestively on his lap; when Ludwig begins to respond to this sexual overture, however, she abruptly breaks off and leaves the apartment. Shortly afterward, Ludwig appears at her apartment door, wanting to apologize. She ignores him. Elise befriends a boy from her class who has been courting her for some time. Betty undergoes treatment for alcohol addiction and promises to do better. As a sign of good intentions, she buys the piano back. The film ends with Elise visiting her in the clinic. Elise steps out into the clinic garden and sees her mother sitting on a park bench. Elise smiles faintly.