Mein lieber Mann und ich (1975)

The story centers on Angelika Minhoff, the wife of the very busy actor Gerd Minhoff. In his life, however, she plays more the role of an assistant than that of an accepted wife. She is a housewife and, lately, her husband’s driver, since he had to surrender his driving licence after driving under the influence of alcohol. She drives him between his appointments at the radio, in film and television, and at dubbing sessions, and he often criticizes her along the way. As she repeatedly waits for her husband in the car outside, while he is already in bed in the evenings, or on a day when he “doesn’t need her,” she thinks increasingly critically about her life and her role in the marriage. Her husband fails to notice his wife’s problems or the changes she is going through. Eventually, she resolves to find a job of her own that will give her genuine recognition and satisfaction. Above all, she wants equality in the marriage, recognition, and an end to her husband’s patronizing treatment of her. She applies for a job as a driver at a company, where the head of the driving service, Richter, initially greets her with skepticism. Although she has often driven her husband lately, she has no real experience in the profession. This becomes clear during the test drive on her first day: unsuitable clothing, uncertain driving, and a lack of knowledge about vehicles seem to confirm the prejudices against her. Her future colleagues do not take her seriously at first either, seeing her more as a “cute chick” than as a colleague. But she earns a small measure of respect when the head of the driving service stages a “test breakdown” during the test drive. She cannot manage the jack and spare tire, but, as a woman, she quickly finds a solution by stopping a truck whose driver fixes the breakdown for her. Her husband is not pleased when he learns about his wife’s new direction. What matters most to him, however, is himself: the wife of actor Gerd Minhoff working as a driver in a “job with no prospects” makes him worry above all about his reputation. He also fears losing some of the comforts that their married life has afforded him. The other drivers are initially unimpressed by their new colleague as well. They fear they will have “a millstone around their neck” rather than an additional worker in their team. At least the head of the driving service tries to make the best of the situation: he suggests to the team’s cultural affairs representative that they make use of the new colleague’s marriage in their cultural activities. Several things now change in Angelika Minhoff’s marriage: her actor husband has to take care of problems involving the child, shopping, and the household. Suddenly, he is also the one sitting alone in the apartment in the evening because his wife has already gone to bed. Gerd Minhoff cannot cope with this and seeks comfort from one of his colleagues. Meanwhile, Angelika gradually settles into her new workplace. The drivers in the team begin to accept her. Her first long-distance trip does not go entirely smoothly. The economic director, Prüfer, is supposed to attend a conference in Magdeburg, but refuses to travel with a woman. Director Bellmann insists that the trip go ahead. When the passenger keeps interfering with his driver, she puts him in his place. Prüfer complains about her in writing, but the drivers’ team stands by their colleague. Angelika’s husband, too, gradually adjusts to the new situation. Meanwhile, Director Bellmann arranges for Angelika to become his new chauffeur when the current one retires. When Angelika tells her husband that she intends to take the new position, their conflicts flare up again. The new job immediately brings a challenge as well: Angelika is to drive Director Bellmann to the trade fair in Leipzig. There she realizes that the men around her do not see her only as a driver. Eventually, Angelika considers giving up the job and tells Bellmann. She gives the problems in her marriage as the reason for her decision, so Bellmann decides to speak with Gerd Minhoff. At first, Minhoff is not at all pleased, but he eventually talks with Bellmann. The two discover that they have things in common and “become brothers” over whiskey and wine. The next morning, Minhoff tells his wife, who now seems to have finally decided to give up the job, that he has arranged everything for her with the director. They are considering qualifications for her and the possibility that she should not remain a driver forever. He does not realize that this very paternalistic interference by her husband is what she no longer wanted.