Und der Regen verwischt jede Spur (1972)

Christine, a high-school graduate, is madly in love with Alain, a Frenchman studying German language and literature in Lübeck. Christine’s embittered father, the industrial magnate Luba, opposes their relationship. He lies and schemes to prevent them from meeting. Nevertheless, Christine and Alain spend a lot of time together. They go to the Baltic Sea, explore the city, or visit old Jens Brodersen, who is said to have clairvoyant powers. He predicts a long journey for the couple. Christine is increasingly impressed by her father’s domineering manner. To learn more about him and her parents’ divorce, she visits her mother in Hamburg. But her mother wants nothing more to do with her former husband. Since Alain will soon have to return to France, the two agree that Christine will visit him during the holidays. Unexpectedly, Christine’s aunt Karin arrives with her son Theo. After her relationship with an Italian man has failed, Karin asks her brother if she can stay with him for a while. Luba agrees, but reproaches her harshly. Christine finds an understanding ally in her aunt, who suffers just as much as she does from her hard-hearted brother’s tirades. Meanwhile, problems with the accounts of Luba’s company are mounting. An evening meal with Luba, Christine, Alain, and Karin ends in an argument when Christine’s father forbids her to go to France. After Alain has already left, Christine makes plans for a secret meeting with her aunt’s help. Alain is to pick her up in Lübeck without her father finding out. On a stormy, rainy day, Christine, weakened by a cold, waits at the agreed place. Before Alain arrives, she collapses. At the hospital, her father and Karin tell her that a young man she did not know rescued her, and that Alain has since withdrawn his invitation. When Karin tries to reach Alain by phone, his mother asks her not to call again. After being discharged from the hospital, Christine personally thanks her rescuer, the pilot Martin Täumer. When a letter she sent to Alain is returned unopened, Christine finally realizes that her hopes for a future together with the Frenchman are in vain. Instead, she finds herself increasingly drawn to Martin. When Christine’s father learns that Martin is the only son of a wealthy factory owner, Luba, whose business is in trouble, sees personal advantages in the connection. Unlike with Alain, he now encourages his daughter’s relationship. He even travels to Martin’s father to discuss the possibility of the two getting married. At a party, Luba shows Martin a photo album of his daughter. When Martin spots photos of Alain in it, he is visibly shaken. Karin thinks Martin is jealous. She tells him about Alain and the secretly planned meeting that led to her meeting Martin. Martin remembers that day: he forced a car off the rain-slick road, and it then burst into flames. The young driver, Alain, died. While looking for help, Martin eventually came across Christine, who had collapsed. Martin and Luba have a conversation. Luba has persuaded his sister to conceal Alain’s death in the accident from Christine. Fearing that his daughter’s relationship—and, with it, his business plans involving Täumer—are in jeopardy, Luba demands that Martin forget the accident. Martin is fully aware of his guilt, but cannot bring himself to turn himself in or talk things through with Christine. Luba is convinced that eventually the whole thing will blow over. He also forces Karin to keep quiet. He tells his daughter that Martin has asked for her hand in marriage. When Luba tells a bank director that the two are going to marry, he receives the urgently needed loan. Meanwhile, Martin, tormented by guilt, phones the unsuspecting Christine one last time. He gets on a plane and commits suicide. When the authorities assume that it was an accident, Luba remains determined to prevent his daughter from ever learning the truth.