Neue Vahr Süd (2010)

Twenty-year-old Frank Lehmann has trained as a freight forwarding clerk and lives with his parents in Neue Vahr Süd, a district of Bremen. His friends call him “Franky” and think of him as a hippie. So it comes as a surprise to everyone when, in 1980, he is drafted into the Bundeswehr to complete his compulsory military service at Niedersachsen Barracks: he had forgotten to apply for conscientious-objector status. At the barracks, he is elected soldiers’ representative against his will, even though he wants to keep his head down and get through his service with as little trouble as possible. When he travels home to his parents from the barracks for his first weekend off, he discovers that his father has turned his childhood bedroom into a hobby room for electrical work. Although his parents agree that they do not want their son to move out, Frank decides to leave and goes to live with his school friend Martin Klapp. Martin has set up a shared flat with two friends from Bremen’s left-wing alternative scene in the Ostertor district, right beside the Cinema im Ostertor on Ostertorsteinweg. On his weekends off, Frank joins the flat’s parties and goes out around town with his friends. There he meets Sibille, a German studies student, whom his friend Martin is also interested in. Sibille’s flatmate Birgit is interested in Lehmann. His first attempt to sleep with Birgit fails, however, because of excessive drinking. Some time later, she takes him to her room in the shared flat, where Birgit’s boyfriend Horst is waiting for her in bed. He sees Birgit and Lehmann, who have already taken off most of their clothes, and a scuffle breaks out between him and Lehmann. Because of the noise, Sibille, Birgit’s flatmate, comes out into the hallway and finds out about the relationship. After the pioneer Reinboth fails to return to the barracks voluntarily after a weekend off, the military police come to get him. Before the company commander can impose a disciplinary punishment, however, he needs a statement from the soldiers’ representative. Lehmann then talks to his comrade Reinboth, but Reinboth is unwilling to say anything, so Lehmann can only write down his guesses about Reinboth’s state of mind. While the investigation is still ongoing, Reinboth attempts suicide with sleeping pills. He is treated at the base infirmary, however, and survives. After these experiences and a conversation with Sibille, in which she tells Lehmann that he can still apply for conscientious-objector status, he decides to submit an application. After an oral hearing before a three-member panel, Lehmann is sent back to his platoon because his application has been rejected, partly on account of the black eye he got in the scuffle with Horst. Lehmann decides to exercise his right to refuse to take the military pledge. Lehmann and Sibille grow closer and spend a night together. The following weekend, Sibille tells Lehmann, who is in love with her, that she is seeing her former boyfriend again. Martin then throws Lehmann out of the flat, consumed with jealousy. In retaliation, Lehmann moves his biker buddy Harry, who has a criminal record, into the shared flat. On November 5, 1980, he sets off with his platoon for the public pledge ceremony at Weserstadion. Before the recruits even reach the stadium, clashes break out with militant demonstrators, and Sergeant Tietz is injured on the forehead by a paving stone. While a medic tends to him, Lehmann steals a packet of pills from the medic’s case. On the steps of Weserstadion, inspired by his comrade Reinboth’s suicide attempt, he swallows four pills to fake a suicide attempt and get discharged from the Bundeswehr early. The company commander seems to see through Lehmann’s deception, but agrees to the unit doctor’s request to release Lehmann from his compulsory military service early. Lehmann then leaves the barracks and sets off in his car for Berlin, where his brother lives.