Liebe mit 16 (1974)

Sixteen-year-old Ina takes dance lessons at her mother’s insistence. Eighteen-year-old Matti attends the lessons too. He falls in love with Ina, who initially turns him down. At the dance teacher’s urging, they become partners for the exercises and soon grow closer outside the lessons as well. Their parents have mixed feelings about their children’s relationship. Ina’s mother is firmly opposed, since in her eyes Ina is too young for a relationship. She fears Ina might get pregnant, in which case the responsibility for childcare would fall to her, the mother. She forbids Ina to bring Matti home. Ina’s father does not want to dictate what his daughter should do; he goes for a walk with Ina and Matti and realizes that their relationship is still “innocent.” Matti’s mother has no reservations and is happy for him, but finds it difficult to talk to her son about sex. Matti promises to ask her for advice if he has any questions. Matti’s father, on the other hand, opposes the relationship because he believes his son would neglect his social obligations, since he has already missed GST sessions several times. Ina and Matti feel misunderstood and carry on their relationship in secret. They go swimming at a lake, where Matti teaches Ina to swim. At first, they do no more than kiss. Ina wants to spend the holidays secretly with Matti, and they plan to earn part of their holiday money working at an LPG. But her parents forbid the trip, so Matti goes with friends and promptly flirts with a girl from the LPG. When he gets home, he arranges a secluded boathouse for himself and Ina, so they will have somewhere to stay in the autumn. They sleep together for the first time in the boathouse. Ina is disillusioned, especially when she soon thinks she might be pregnant, though it turns out she is mistaken. Ina and Matti have arguments, but they also make up. At the end, the graduation ball takes place. Ina and Matti attend as dance partners, and their parents meet one another too. While Ina and Matti remain rather reserved, each set of parents takes a liking to the other’s child and is already making plans for the couple’s future together—what kind of daughter-in-law Ina would make, how they could later find the pair a flat, and whether they will have children. Matti realizes he could easily live without all of that, and without the ball too.