Hass im Kopf (1994)

Seventeen-year-old Fredy lives with his family in Wolfsburg. Because his father is violent and an alcoholic, Fredy seeks support and recognition in a local neo-Nazi gang, led by the violent Wolf. When Fredy sees his father beating his mother again, he secretly calls the police. Fredy’s mother is admitted to hospital, and Fredy tells the doctor that she fell down the stairs. As Fredy leaves the hospital, three Turkish men follow him, knowing that he is a neo-Nazi. Fredy manages to escape to his neo-Nazi group, who then start chasing the Turkish men themselves; however, the men manage to get away. That same evening, the neo-Nazis go to a nightclub and look for the Turkish men, but they are not there. Marina, a skinhead girl who stands apart from the neo-Nazis and is not xenophobic, is also at the club. Fredy is interested in Marina. At the hospital, Fredy’s mother confides in him that she wants to leave his father and go to stay with relatives. Fredy goes home and packs his mother’s clothes into a sports bag. There, he sees that his father has Gisela, who is also an alcoholic, living with him. When his father realizes that Fredy has packed the clothes, he throws him out. Fredy and his gang are sitting in a pub, drinking heavily. Marina shows up and talks with Wolf. Jealous, Fredy gets into a scuffle with another gang member and leaves the pub angrily. He goes to the nightclub and sees the three Turkish men. He starts a fight and loses. The bouncer then throws him out and bans him from the club. Fredy returns to the pub, where Wolf and the others prepare for a revenge attack. They gather outside the nightclub and wait for the Turkish men. When the men reach their car, the Nazis attack all three with baseball bats. The bouncer intervenes and manages to drive the neo-Nazis away. Marina has arrived by now and watches the scene in shock. That same night, the Nazis take Fredy to a meeting of the local neo-Nazi scene. Everyone there watches the antisemitic film The Eternal Jew. Afterwards, while drunk, the group goes to the local Jewish cemetery and desecrates graves. The next day, Fredy’s gang visits him. His father initially tries to throw them out, but then gets on with Wolf straight away, so the guests stay longer than expected. Fredy’s father talks about his own father’s experiences and the Second World War. The neo-Nazis admire and respect Fredy’s father, and their gatherings at Fredy’s family home become more frequent. When Fredy is about to go to the hospital again, the police take him in for questioning. He and the gang are suspected of desecrating graves in the cemetery. Since there is no evidence and the gang has a good lawyer, Fredy and his friends are allowed to leave the police station after a day. That same evening, the group, Marina, and Fredy’s father play the banned board game Blitzkrieg at his home. Gisela later joins them and, while drunk, hints that she will tell the police the group desecrated the graves. Fredy’s father then hits her, and Marina leaves the house. Fredy runs after her, and they have a conversation in which it becomes clear that Marina despises the Nazi scene. Fredy and Marina make up and spend the night together. The next day, they both leave Fredy’s family home and go to an event where politicians also give xenophobic speeches. After a while, Marina leaves the event in disgust, leaving Fredy behind. That same night, the neo-Nazis carry out arson attacks on the nightclub and Turkish businesses. Marina recognizes two of Fredy’s friends and calls the fire brigade and the police. The next day, Marina reads in the newspaper that the nightclub owner died in the fire. Fredy and his friends find out as well and hide at Fredy’s father’s home, where his father knows about their actions but protects the gang. During a conversation among the group, Marina is accused without evidence. Fredy is afraid for Marina and accuses Gisela without evidence. When the police enter Fredy’s family home, all the neo-Nazis hide in a secret room in the basement. One of the two police officers notices that the group is hiding, but says nothing because he himself has ties to the far right. As the group drinks with Fredy and his father, Gisela appears at the home, and an argument breaks out. First Fredy’s father, and then Wolf as well, beat Gisela. Terrified, Fredy leaves the house and flees to Marina. That night he has a nightmare in which Gisela is kneeling on the floor, screaming. The next morning, Fredy wakes up frightened, and he and Marina hurry to his family home. There they find some of the group and Fredy’s father sleeping off their drunkenness. Upstairs, they discover the rest of the group and Gisela, who has been beaten to death. At first, the group members accuse one another; then Wolf loses control and attacks Marina as she tries to leave the house. Fredy grabs a baseball bat and attacks Wolf and another member of the group. The police arrive, break down the door, and storm the house.