Trennungsfieber (2000)

Munich divorce lawyers Carla Severin and Fritz Bauer have been married for 23 years and run a successful law firm together. While Fritz is becoming increasingly dissatisfied with his professional life and dreams of giving up the firm and moving with Carla to a country house by a lake, she wants to pursue her career as a lawyer without wavering. Their firm has always followed the principle of not taking on friends as clients. But when their longtime friends, plastic surgeon Toni and journalist Liane, decide to divorce, that principle is put to the test: Disappointed by Carla’s position, Fritz agrees to represent Liane in the divorce proceedings, whereupon Carla, in turn, represents Toni, a former admirer of hers. Their professional dispute further intensifies the existing tensions in their marriage. Further tension arises from their daughter Pia’s upcoming wedding to Edgar, a conservative officer. As Carla and Fritz prepare for their friends’ divorce proceedings, a photograph comes into Carla’s hands revealing that Fritz had an affair with Liane years earlier, before she married Toni. The revelation permanently shakes the spouses’ trust in each other and further deepens their conflict. Deeply hurt, Carla then allows Toni to make an uncommitted advance toward her, which Fritz interprets as an act of revenge. After a bitter argument, he leaves their shared home. Their daughter’s wedding does not bring about a reconciliation either. Instead, both increasingly contemplate separating themselves. Only in the course of Toni and Liane’s divorce proceedings do Carla and Fritz manage to overcome their conflicts. Carla’s closing argument ultimately helps resolve the impasse and pave the way for the spouses to reconcile.