Männer und andere Katastrophen (1999)

The life of young student Judith Kern is an absolute mess. She is overwhelmed by the demands of her business studies, her relationship with her boyfriend Holger, and her friends’ constant requests. One mishap after another happens, each followed by a small catastrophe. For example, she is supposed to look after her sister Rebecca’s children, but because she has to attend a class at university, she delegates the task to her neighbor, Mrs. Kiebig. When she gets home, she is horrified to discover that the little ones have not only flooded the living room but also set her father’s paintings on fire. A fight with Rebecca is, of course, inevitable. Judith seeks comfort from Holger, but all he has on his mind is go-karting and playing soccer with his friends. Since he pays no attention to her, she breaks up with him after five years together. Shortly afterward, she also loses her job as a waitress. When her neighbor Leo Palewski changes her light bulbs, she feels personally attacked by something he says. After all, her life is going great, and she knows exactly what she wants. But the pain of the breakup is still there. In the time that follows, she withdraws completely from her life and spends her time eating loads of food in front of the TV. Meanwhile, all her friends keep calling, urgently asking for her help. She only snaps out of it when her father, Julius Kern, gets in touch from Spain. He has an exhibition coming up in Berlin, where all his paintings are to be displayed—including the ones that were destroyed while they were in Judith’s care. She quickly hides them in the attic. When two gallery owners come to collect the paintings, however, they unknowingly take some of Judith’s early works with them. Meanwhile, the set designer Leo Palewski still cannot bring himself to confess his secret love for Judith. Instead, he has to watch as she tries to plunge into another relationship. Her childhood friend, actor Kai-Uwe Martens, is in town and wants Judith to paint his portrait. She is delighted and soon starts painting again for the first time in years. But her infatuation is interrupted when she discovers that Kai-Uwe is involved with Christin, who is heavily pregnant. Then an unexpected opportunity arises for Judith to put her artistic side to use at Mrs. Hardenberg’s. She is only supposed to help audit the books, but after Rebecca’s children cause chaos again and destroy Hardenberg’s entire exhibition, Judith steps in with the help of Leo and his men. He supports her in bringing her vision to fruition, and together they manage to put together a better exhibition in a single night. In high spirits, Judith believes she is finally getting her life back under control. Instead, she has to realize that her old problems are still exactly the same. Holger simply has not changed. Now she even thinks he is having an affair with her sister Rebecca. Heartbroken, she runs off. Leo follows her to the lake, where he not only comforts her but also confesses his love for her. That evening, he takes her home, where all her problems dissolve. Her father is not angry with her for his paintings having been destroyed and replaced by hers. Mrs. Hardenberg praises her highly, and Rebecca has found a new love—but not Holger, because he remains the same old unreliable, drunken fool.