Hostess (1976)

Berlin hostess Jette and auto mechanic Johannes have been a couple for two years. They live together in Johannes’ modest attic apartment. One morning, Johannes decides that they should get married, since that is what all couples eventually do and they would pay less tax. Jette refuses—not only was his proposal far too casual, but in all the time they have been together, Johannes has never once told her that he loves her. What’s more, he has gone from being an adventurous, creative person to a “husband” who spends more time in front of the television and with his cars than with her. They argue, and Jette packs her suitcase and leaves. She first goes to her friend and coworker Conny, with whom she shared a flat before moving in with Johannes. Jette would stay, but Conny’s first boyfriend, Geerd, is visiting on his annual leave, and Jette is afraid she would be in the way. So she moves in with her brother Robert. He has been married to his wife Christa for eight years, and they have a son. While working as a hostess at the Berlin TV Tower, Jette tries to get her life back on track. When she goes to collect the rest of her belongings from Johannes’ apartment, they have a fierce argument. Jette accuses her ex-boyfriend of taking bribes at work from customers who need rare spare parts for their cars. He, in turn, accuses her of being unable to cook. They part in anger. Back at Robert’s, they are celebrating his eighth wedding anniversary. Robert brings Peter home; years ago, Peter was Jette’s first boyfriend. The four of them go to a bar, where Christa notices that the waiter seems to know Robert. It becomes clear that Robert regularly visits the bar with his secret lovers. Horrified, Jette leaves with Peter. The next day at work, she turns down Conny’s boyfriend Geerd, who has a crush on her. She doesn’t want a substitute for Johannes, and she won’t betray her young friend, either. Meanwhile, Conny is increasingly making enemies at work with her unconventional antics and rebellious manner. For instance, she decorates the office noticeboard, which nobody pays attention to and which she regularly puts together, with an image of a naked backside and the words, “The truth is concrete.” A talk between them gets nowhere. A short time later, Geerd breaks up with Conny, and even Jette’s attempts to persuade him do not change his mind. Unlike Jette and Johannes, Geerd says, there was no mutual love in his relationship with Conny. But when Jette pays Johannes an impulsive visit, driven by a sudden longing, she discovers that he seems to have found a replacement for her in his coworker Milena. Johannes, however, quickly realizes that Milena will never understand him as well as Jette did. Back at Robert’s, Jette sees that a marriage can overcome crises, too: after Robert’s affairs were discovered, the couple talked things through, and harmony has been restored at home. Jette becomes tearful, especially since everyone tells her that she and Johannes had been an ideal couple. Jette goes with Peter to a Nina Hagen concert. Afterwards, she spends the night with him, but the next morning he, too, cannot say “I love you” to her. She leaves him and goes to Conny, who has moved out in the meantime. Jette finally packs her things and returns to Johannes. He is at work, and she uses the time before he gets back to completely rearrange their now-shared apartment.