Heimatland (1955)

Hans Bachinger saves a puppy from death. He takes it with him through the villages and soon names it after a glass of brandy. The innkeeper, to whom he has left the puppy, returns it to him the next day because Krambambuli caused damage in his house during the night. Hans and Krambambuli stay together and, a year later, are a close-knit team: Hans has found a job at Korbinian’s amusement park, where he looks after and repairs the electrical equipment. Hans is having an affair with Lisa, Korbinian’s niece. She sends him away, and he returns with Krambambuli to his home village of Grabeneck. The villagers are not pleased to see him again after the quarrel two years earlier. His father sits at the inn every day, drinking and writing; the family sawmill is in ruins. Since Bachinger is at odds with the forester, Thomas Heimberg, and no longer has a hunting license, he poaches, which makes him unpopular. But since Hans left, one thing has changed considerably: old Sonnleitner has died, and his tavern is now run by his daughters, Helga and Inge. Helga, who has studied, also teaches the children folk songs. Inge is especially popular with the local folk-dance association’s chairman, Schnabl, and the pharmacist, while Thomas Heimberg is fond of the young Helga. Hans soon realizes he is unwelcome in the village and decides to leave that same day. He saves Helga from an accident when she is unable to stop a runaway horse-drawn carriage by herself, and she recognizes him only after secretly kissing the half-conscious man. Helga and Hans meet to dance over the weekend, and their relationship becomes the talk of the village. Thomas hears about it too, and when the two men meet at the restaurant, they quarrel. In his anger, Hans goes poaching the next day and shoots a roe deer out of season, which he hides with his father. At the same time, he wants to mend his ways and start a new life with Helga. He gets the old sawmill running again. When Lisa and Korbinian arrive in Grabeneck with their amusement park, Lisa claims to be Hans’s fiancée and leaves him a letter. Hans then breaks things off with her. Hans and Helga dance together at the folk festival. Thomas, now suspecting that Hans was the poacher, challenges him to a contest. He goes to the Bachinger hut to look for the dead roe deer. Hans wins the contest. When the logger Loisl publicly exposes Hans as a poacher and threatens Krambambuli, Hans hits him. Loisl falls and dies; Hans is sentenced to three years in prison. Thomas takes Krambambuli with him and soon marries Helga. Krambambuli gets used to his new master. After some time, Hans manages to escape from prison. On his way to Italy, he goes to Grabeneck. In the mountains, Krambambuli picks up his trail and leads Thomas to Hans. Thomas shoots Hans in self-defense and kills him. After some time, Helga finds the now completely exhausted dog and takes him back to the forester’s hut, where the dog finally accepts Thomas as his master.