Nach all den Jahren (2013)

Sofie Becker, a former nurse and now a successful writer of women’s novels, lives with her two children, Phillip (15) and Jenny (11), and their dog Klitschko in a large, spacious house in Leipzig. Phillip and Jenny do not know who their fathers are. Jenny, however, longs for a father. Sofie told the children that Phillip’s father was dead and that Jenny’s father was said to have gone missing in Alaska. Sofie is currently working on her new book, titled Faithful Hearts, but she has a severe case of writer’s block and is making no progress. Her suave publisher, Konrad Schneider, a perennial bachelor with whom Sofie has a no-strings-attached relationship, is pressing her to hand it in. Also living in the household is Rosa, Sofie’s former colleague and supervisor, the ward’s head nurse. Rosa, Sofie’s motherly friend and a substitute grandmother to Phillip and Jenny, is about to turn 70, but has no desire to celebrate her birthday in a big way. Sofie made Rosa promise not to tell the children anything about their fathers, and Rosa has always kept that promise. One day, Vincent (45), Rosa’s son, appears at the door. He and Sofie were a couple 15 years ago. In his early thirties, Vincent felt confined and wanted to break free and fulfill a dream of his. Fifteen years ago, he left Sofie overnight and went to Australia, where he built a successful diving school. Rosa, who had been back in email contact with her son for several years, pretended to be ill in order to persuade him to come to Leipzig. In her old age, she wants to have her son close by. During an examination at the hospital, where Rosa runs into Dr. Ludwig Oberländer, who still occasionally fills in there, it turns out that Rosa is perfectly healthy. Sofie discovers this too when she calls her old ward. Sofie, who now sees her family idyll beginning to crumble, demands that Vincent leave as soon as Rosa’s birthday is over. She also wants to take over his share of the house, which they both inherited from its previous owner, and pay him off. Rosa, however, asks Sofie to give Vincent a chance. Vincent wants to know whether Phillip is his son. Sofie admits that he is, but demands that Vincent keep silent about it to Phillip. Vincent wants to get to know his son better. He moves into the old motorhome still sitting in the equipment shed and becomes part of the family household. Phillip initially regards Vincent as an intruder and a troublemaker, and gives him the cold shoulder. But little by little, Phillip and Vincent become friends. Phillip also indirectly asks Vincent whether he is his father; but Vincent, keeping the promise he made to Sofie, says nothing. The situation finally comes to a head when Phillip tells his parents to their faces that they have both been lying to him all these years. In anger, Sofie now tells Rosa to leave too, just like Vincent. She has achieved her goal, after all; the family is destroyed. Vincent and Rosa move into a hotel; to Sofie’s surprise, Jenny and Phillip spontaneously go with them. At the hotel, while checking in at reception, Vincent explains that Jenny and Phillip are his children and takes Jenny’s hand. Jenny, too, has now found a father. Sofie is left alone in the house. She takes stock and looks back on her life. She now writes her own story as a novel and gives it the title After All These Years. Her writer’s block is gone. Her publisher is delighted with her new writing style. For Rosa’s 70th birthday, Vincent, Dr. Oberländer, Jenny, Phillip, Phillip’s new girlfriend Doro, and Rosa’s friends and former colleagues have prepared a surprise. They have built her a little sailboat, which she had always wanted. Now she can go sailing with Dr. Oberländer in Leipzig’s New Lakes District. Sofie arrives at Rosa’s birthday as a surprise guest. Her speech about Rosa becomes a declaration of love for her family. Sofie and Vincent plan to rekindle their relationship.