Inga Lindström: Der Tag am See (2012)

Clara Stellingbosch and Stellan Mansfeld meet by chance at Helmer’s fish stall when Stellan’s dog, Pelle, snatches the fish sandwich from her hand. There is no time to talk, because Clara, a lawyer, gets the news that her younger sister Natalie has been arrested. Natalie had freed mink from their cages. Stellan has returned from Canada because he wanted to see his grandmother after a long time away, and he has also been offered a job as a gardener by Gustaf Hagen. Clara plans to move to Stockholm to be with her boyfriend, Jens, and become a partner at the law firm Hagen and Hagen—something she has to tell her sister Natalie. Stellan has an appointment with Gustaf Hagen, who isn’t there. Clara is surprised to see Stellan again so soon. Jens Hagen takes the meeting and explains the job to Stellan. On her way to work, Clara stops by home and runs into Natalie. They argue again about Natalie not wanting to leave town, but Clara tells her she has no choice. When Stellan gets home, his grandmother Maria is looking through old photographs. In one of them, he notices a painting in the background that he has just seen in Gustaf Hagen’s house. Maria is quite shaken by it. During another visit, Stellan takes a photo of the painting and shows it to Maria. She tells him it once belonged to her and was stolen while being transported to an exhibition. When Maria comes into the living room the next morning, she is startled to find the painting hanging there. Stellan has taken it from Gustaf Hagen’s house. Natalie comes by to bring Maria some rolls. She likes the painting too, but wonders who the woman in it is, since she is only seen from behind. Before she leaves, she invites Stellan to dinner. Clara picks Gustaf up from the ferry; he wants to spend a few days there. As soon as he enters the house, he notices that the painting is missing. When Clara also realizes that the painting, “A Day at the Lake,” has disappeared, Gustaf tells her that he sent it to a restorer because it had been exposed to too much sunlight. Maria asks Clara for help, telling her a false story to find out whether she has the right to get the painting back. When Maria invites Clara to stay for coffee, Clara sees the painting and understands what Maria was getting at. Maria then tells her the whole truth. Clara advises her to return the painting and then claim it back through legal means. But that is not so simple, because it was stolen from her daughter. Stellan gets the job with Gustaf. When he gets home, Maria asks when Gustaf will be leaving again so they can return the painting then. Natalie, who is there too, thinks that isn’t right and takes the painting to hide it in the attic of her own home. Clara finds her there, but Natalie doesn’t tell her about the painting. At dinner, Stellan asks Natalie if she knows where the painting is. She denies it. When Mikael also shows up—the person Natalie plans and carries out her forbidden actions with—Clara has a bad feeling, because she thinks he is a bad influence on her sister. Stellan helps Clara in the kitchen and asks her out on a date, just the two of them. They grow closer and kiss. When Jens calls, Natalie answers and tells him Clara is busy. Afterwards, Natalie makes Clara feel guilty because she noticed the two of them getting close. Natalie herself has a crush on Stellan. The phone call leaves Clara confused, and she asks Stellan to keep his distance. He is disappointed and leaves. Stellan asks Natalie where the painting is, but she doesn’t respond. Even the threat that he will tell Clara doesn’t work. Maria tells Clara that she stole the painting from Gustaf, but has since returned it. When Clara plans to stop by Gustaf’s, she runs into Stellan. At first she is still unsure, but then she kisses him again. When the school calls to say Natalie isn’t in class, Clara says she is sick. She and Stellan go looking for Natalie and her gang, suspecting they are planning something illegal again, but they don’t find them. That evening, Clara finds Natalie at home and asks what she has been up to, but they only end up arguing. When Clara is about to stop by Gustaf’s, she runs into Stellan. Shortly afterwards, Jens unexpectedly turns up too. Stellan then goes home. Natalie shows up at Stellan’s, claiming she has a flat tire on her bicycle and asking him to drive her home. Clara meets Gustaf and Jens to sign the contract. Afterwards, she questions Gustaf about the painting, because a lot is unclear. He admits that it wasn’t with a restorer but had been stolen, though he acts strangely when he has to explain why he didn’t report it to the police. Clara goes home and notices that Natalie still hasn’t come back. She goes up to the attic and finds the painting. Natalie has persuaded Stellan to go to the factory, where they are planning their next action. They are arrested there. Natalie calls Clara and asks for help. At the police station, Clara is surprised to find Stellan there too. Since he has no ID with him, she confirms both his identity and their story that they were only looking for a place to make out. They are released and avoid being charged. Once home, Clara confronts Natalie about finding the painting and tries to explain that stealing it could have much more serious consequences than their actions to free animals. Stellan accompanies Clara to Gustaf’s to return the painting. On the way, they argue about lies, right and wrong. They also wonder why Gustaf didn’t file a police report. Since it is already three in the morning, Clara decides to return the painting to Gustaf the next day. Back home, Natalie is still awake. She apologizes to her sister and promises to do better. The next morning, Natalie wants to ask Maria if she can live with her when Clara moves to Stockholm. But Stellan tells her Maria isn’t there. Pelle jumps around on the table and knocks an old box onto the floor. Inside is a floral ornament that looks just like the one in the painting. To make sure, they compare it with the photo Stellan took. Now it is clear why Maria is so attached to the painting: the painter painted her. They suspect Maria is on her way to Gustaf’s and set out to stop her. On the way, they meet Clara, who is on her way to return the painting. Clara wants to speak to Gustaf alone when she gives it back to him. Gustaf tells her the truth about how he came to own it. Stellan’s mother was broke at the time, and Gustaf bought the painting from her so she could build a new life for herself. Maria arrives and explains that she had guessed what had happened back then. Gustaf gives Maria the painting and admits that he only owned it because of her. Clara then tells Jens she cannot sign the contract because she does not want to go to Stockholm. Her life is here in town, and she breaks up with him. Natalie is astonished when Clara tells her she isn’t leaving. She is happy about it, but insists that Clara tell Stellan the truth too. Stellan talks with his grandmother, who is no longer sure whether she had been in love with the painter back then. She also suspects that this may be why her daughter sold the painting. When Stellan goes to the house before leaving for Stockholm to talk to Clara, he is surprised to find her standing in front of the painting. He confesses his love and asks why she is still there. Her answer: because of him.