Krieg (2017)

It is winter, and Arnold Stein heads to his mountain cabin with his dog. He bought it only recently. It belonged to the sculptor Peter Reinhardt, who was found dead in his bed one day. Arnold seeks refuge in solitude because his son was killed on a deployment in Afghanistan. He and his wife, Karen, were shocked when Chris told them he had enlisted in the German armed forces, and left Germany for an overseas deployment two days later. They were both opposed to war, and Arnold himself had refused military service as a pacifist. Arnold received emails from his son in Afghanistan in which Chris reported not only his first kill. Arnold increasingly noticed his son’s bitterness and his grief over a fellow soldier who had stepped on a mine, lost both legs to amputation, and killed himself after returning to Germany. Worry about their son slowly drove Karen to alcoholism. The parents learned through the media that there had been an incident during the deployment. They received confirmation when an officer from the German armed forces and a pastor appeared at their door and told them that Chris had died. Arnold clears out the rubbish left in the cabin by a burglar. He introduces himself to the village police as the new owner, but does not file a report. When he returns, Arnold discovers that someone has broken into the cabin again. At night, he hears noises upstairs in the house but cannot find anyone. From a hunting stand, Arnold looks out over the snow-covered mountain landscape. Once, his son’s ex-girlfriend visits him to ask for his blessing because she has a new partner. In a cupboard in the old woodcarving workshop, the committed pacifist finds a rifle, and he buys himself a knife. A little later, he finds his dog badly wounded outside the house, struck by a bolt. He finds his car rolled down a slope, and at night someone smashes the cabin’s windows. Arnold finally takes up the rifle himself and aims it at the intruder. But the stranger shoots Arnold, who fires back. Arnold drives the wounded stranger into town and leaves him at the veterinarian’s door. He leaves his cabin unlocked and returns to civilization.