Verschwende deine Jugend (2003)

At the beginning of the 1980s, Harry lives in Munich. He has moved from the countryside to the city to train as a bank clerk. After work, he tries his hand at managing the band Apollo Schwabing, which, along with many other synth-pop bands, leads a shadowy existence in dreary Munich. To change that, Harry organizes a concert at Circus Krone, hoping to book the popular New German Wave group DAF. Apollo Schwabing and several other local bands are supposed to play as the opening acts and draw attention to themselves. Harry has posters printed in advance and puts them up all over the city. But the project runs into trouble because the planned headliner, DAF, still has not agreed to perform, even shortly before the date. Harry manages to get DAF’s agreement with a small trick: he pretends to be a reporter for a well-known magazine. At last, his dream concert can go ahead. But Harry’s enthusiasm soon turns to panic when, despite all the tickets having been sold, he realizes that he cannot pay DAF’s fee at all. He sells all his valuables—his beloved records and his car—but the money is not enough. DAF’s performance is in danger of falling through at the very last moment. Harry sees only one way out: he robs his own savings bank branch. Unfortunately, he seems to be dogged by bad luck, as there is only a small amount of cash there. Back at Circus Krone, he offers the money to DAF’s manager as a first payment and says he will pay the rest later. The manager firmly refuses. Harry has to overcome his shyness in front of an audience, go onstage, and announce that DAF’s performance is canceled. Before that, he has reported the break-in to the police; now he heads for the exit to turn himself in. Just before he reaches it, he hears that DAF are going to start playing after all. Despite all the difficulties, his dream has come true after all. He turns himself in to the police and is sentenced to one year in prison, suspended.