Harri Pinter, Drecksau (2017)

The title character, Harri Pinter, is a 47-year-old former ice hockey star. His glory days, when his fans cheered him and women adored him, are long behind him. But despite his receding hairline and a little paunch, he is still very sure of himself and his appearance. In the 1980s, he won the championship with Klagenfurt ice hockey club KAC as a feared enforcer known as “Drecksau” (“Dirty Pig”), a success that the somewhat scruffy youth coach likes to reminisce about over beers with his buddies in dimly lit bars. These days, he coasts along as a driving instructor and believes that nothing better could have happened to his longtime girlfriend, Ines Pontiller, than being in a relationship with him. But when he catches Ines in flagrante with her university professor, Herwig Pansi, a Watzlawick researcher, he falls into a midlife crisis and his worldview begins to crumble. He trains the U12 team with great passion and dedication. After one of his young players delivers a body check, Harri is accused of excessive roughness. He is then suspended as coach, banned from the stadium, and loses the last thing anchoring him. In the midst of the crisis, he also has to realize that his so-called friends, former KAC players Norbert Flasch and Ken Meyers, are not as close to him as he had always believed. The only one who remains steadfastly devoted to his idol is Dörki Potschevaunig, a long-term student and editor of the KAC fan magazine, whom Harri had previously only ever laughed at. At the decisive KAC board meeting, Flasch stabs Harri in the back to improve his own chances of becoming club president. Flasch also takes over training the U12 team himself. Harri begins to question whether he wants to go through life as “Drecksau” (“Dirty Pig”) any longer. For example, he helps Dörki win over Miriam “Miri” Meyers, with whom Dörki has secretly been in love for years. He also tries to win Ines back by serenading her and proposing to her. This leads to an argument between Pansi and Harri, and Pansi knocks Harri down. Miri persuades Pinter to go to the stadium for the final despite his ban, to support his youth team. Thanks to his strategic advice, the team wins the game. Harri and Ines also gradually begin to grow close again.