Lilly Schönauer - Liebe mit Familienanschluss (2013)

Johanna Gruber, a successful interior designer in her late forties, is divorced and lives in Austria’s Salzkammergut region, on Lake Mondsee. She is the mother of two grown children: her 25-year-old son Max studies in Vienna, and her 20-year-old daughter Marie studies tourism in Salzburg. Marie also works part-time as a tour guide and waitress in Salzburg. After many years of being alone, Johanna has embarked on a new relationship. Her new partner is Klaus Richter, a specialist employment lawyer who runs a thriving law firm in Salzburg. Johanna and Klaus now plan to move in together and set up a home. But Klaus’s joking remark, “Two hundred file folders are moving in with me!” unconsciously raises doubts in Johanna about whether moving in with him is the right decision for her life. During the semester break, Max and Marie come home and meet Klaus. Their first meeting goes well. The children are happy that their mother has found love later in life, and they take a positive view of the thoroughly decent, likable lawyer. Max tells his mother he has broken up with his girlfriend, “Nicola,” but behaves rather strangely. One day, in the middle of Johanna and Klaus’s preparations to move, Walter Kern suddenly appears on Johanna’s terrace. More than twenty years earlier, Johanna had a passionate affair with Walter in Salzburg. At the time, Walter worked as a lecturer in literature at the University of Salzburg; Johanna even attended his classes out of love for him and learned English. He was the great love of her life. Johanna, then the mother of about five-year-old Max and pregnant with her daughter Marie, chose reason and decided to try to save her marriage. But she was never able to forget Walter completely. Walter Kern, now a professor of literature at Boston University in the United States, is visiting Austria only briefly. He wants to clear out his parents’ home on Lake Mondsee and hand it over to a real-estate agent for sale. Several years earlier, during a visit to the United States with her son Max, Johanna had even seen Walter again on the university campus, but had not had the courage to speak to him. On a romantic boat ride on Lake Mondsee, Johanna and Walter grow close again; they spend the night together and sleep together. Their old feelings are rekindled. She tries to conceal the details of her relationship with Walter from Klaus because she does not want to put her relationship with Klaus at risk—once again, for reasons of practicality. Her daughter Marie tells her that, while waitressing in Salzburg, she met Tom, a young man from the United States who is visiting Austria with his father. As soon becomes clear, Tom is Walter’s son. Johanna must now confront her past: could Walter possibly be Marie’s father after all? If so, the half-siblings have fallen in love with each other. Marie is horrified and cannot understand the situation when Johanna has to confess to her affair; a fierce argument breaks out between mother and daughter. Johanna takes action and arranges a paternity test. The result brings Johanna relief: Walter is not Marie’s father. Max finally finds the courage and the right moment to tell his mother that he is gay. “Nicola” is not a woman but his Italian boyfriend. Johanna takes the news calmly, especially since she immediately liked Nicola, who had also come to visit after being introduced as merely a friend and fellow student from Vienna. Tom persuades Marie to go with him to the United States; with his father’s connections, she can surely complete her bachelor’s degree in Boston. Marie, Tom, and Walter Kern leave. Johanna and Klaus then plan to go on vacation too. Contrary to his usually rather matter-of-fact nature, Klaus has bought plane tickets for a romantic getaway. On the drive to the airport, Johanna tells Klaus the whole truth about her relationship with Walter Kern. Klaus responds nobly, and the two of them part ways. Johanna now drives to the train station, hoping she can still catch Walter there. By the time she arrives, the train has already left; but when she turns around, Walter is still standing on the platform, waiting for her.