Sommer in Rom (2013)

Cologne journalist Michael Heinrich is transferred to Italy for a year as his newspaper’s Italy correspondent, to write about Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to England. His family comes with him only reluctantly. His wife, Susanne, is building a career as a lawyer, while their teenage daughter Caroline has to leave her boyfriend, Malte, behind. The mediocre condition of their unfinished apartment does nothing to lessen the family’s skepticism. Michael immediately begins trying to obtain accreditation at the Vatican. Since the apartment has no internet connection, he sits down to work in a hair salon. There he meets archaeology professor Angelo Neri, who wants to tell him about an archaeological sensation. While their son Tobias befriends Andrea, the boy next door, Caroline meets Andrea’s cousin Toni. Meanwhile, Susanne familiarizes herself with the neighborhood’s grocery stores. Professor Neri tells Michael that he has found the ancient Etruscan temple complex Fanum Voltumnae, which is supposed to prove that the ancient Etruscans had a matriarchal society. In the Vatican Library, Michael meets Maria, a young woman who knows about the Etruscans. She later turns out to be the single niece of Padrone Ercole, the Heinrich family’s landlord, and lives in the apartment above the Heinrichs. While Michael asks his boss, Baroness von Selbach, for the 10,000 euros Neri has requested, his Vatican accreditation proceeds slowly. Caroline and Toni gradually grow closer, and Tobias is delighted to get the guinea pigs he has long wanted for his birthday. Susanne takes the children to the beach for the weekend. There, Padrone Ercole asks her to help him with his trial on suspicion of tax evasion. Meanwhile, Michael helps Maria, who has locked herself out, call a locksmith. When Susanne’s parents arrive at the door for their announced visit, they accuse Michael of cheating on Susanne with Maria. Susanne finds it difficult to believe his assurances. Meanwhile, Michael learns that he has finally received the Vatican accreditation he had thought was no longer possible. However, after missing the plane to England, he fabricates his report on the Pope’s trip. When Professor Neri calls and Michael follows him to the supposed Etruscan temple complex, the professor and Michael are arrested by the police. In the end, Michael’s deception over the report on the Pope’s trip is exposed. He apologizes to his family for the disappointing outcome of their time in Italy and says he wants to return to Cologne, but now his family insists that they want to stay in Rome. Then he receives a call from his boss, who wants to keep him on as Italy correspondent. Soon the Heinrich family celebrates its first Christmas in Rome, while Ercole and his niece Maria celebrate alone. In the end, Michael even gets an audience with the Pope.