Vielmachglas (2018)

Marleen’s life has stalled: she finished high school some time ago, can’t quite decide which degree program would suit her, and instead works at a movie theater. All her school friends have already moved out and are enjoying their lives, while Marleen spends all her savings on an elegant leather armchair—any change in her life still seems a long way off. Things are very different for her brother Erik, who is several years older. He is a globetrotter, earns his living writing travel reports, and has already traveled extensively across six continents. Erik is visiting his family back home and tells them about his latest extended trip around the globe. Their parents are delighted to hear that a publisher is interested in publishing Erik’s stories as a book. Marleen, who hopes her brother will advise her on how to make something of her life, is instead annoyed that he seems to have nothing but stories from the other side of the world to offer, rather than useful advice. Later, Erik gives his disappointed sister a preserving jar and tells her to collect scraps of paper on which she has written down adventures she has experienced. Since she is supposed to have not just one adventure but as many as possible, he calls it a “Vielmachglas”—literally, a “do-a-lot jar.” The next morning, Erik is ready to set off again: first to Hamburg, to negotiate with the publisher about bringing out his book, and then aboard the Beluga II, bound for Antarctica—the last continent he has yet to visit. On the way to the train station, Marleen drives him there, and he tries to persuade her to simply say YES! to life and all its possibilities—then she would have plenty of experiences too. Just as she starts to come around to the idea, they turn up the radio, sing along loudly to a song, and a truck crashes into the passenger side of their car. Marleen is taken to the hospital with several head injuries and a broken forearm, while Erik dies at the scene. Marleen blames herself for the accident, and after leaving the hospital she clings tightly to her brother’s backpack. Inside, she finds the ticket for the Beluga II, which is due to leave for the South Pole in a few days and makes the trip only once every six months. On impulse, Marleen decides to make the journey in place of her dead brother and sets off with only light luggage and her Vielmachglas. At the city bus station, her trip seems to be over before it has begun, as she doesn’t have enough money to travel to Hamburg. There she meets Ben, who is waiting in vain for his travel companion. Just as Marleen is about to get into his car, the extroverted vlogger Zoë steps in and all but bulldozes her into hitchhiking to Hamburg. At a rest stop, Zoë secures them both a place in the cab of a Russian long-haul trucker who loves opera. His cargo includes a tiger in a cage, as well as a goat intended as “road provisions” for the big cat. When the driver tries to shoot the goat during a break so he can feed it to the tiger, Zoë launches a “rescue mission” and flees into the woods with the goat and Marleen. In the next town, Zoë once again takes it upon herself to arrange two places for them on a coach full of elderly women. The driver agrees to take them as passengers on the condition that they don’t let anyone use the blocked toilet. But after the goat urinates on the bus, Marleen has to get off in the middle of an open field. With no idea where she is, she finds shelter for the night at a treehouse hotel. Since she can’t afford a room, the owner puts her in one with a large wasps’ nest. She tries to remove it by hitting it through the open window with an old tennis racket hanging on the wall as decoration. After this painful mishap, Marleen is allowed to move into the dusty room of the owner’s late grandmother. There, she leafs through an old atlas and is reminded of her brother’s stories. The next morning, she sells the goat to a farmer and sits down by the roadside, unsure what to do. There she meets Ben again, and he once more invites her to come along with him. During the drive, Marleen tells her companion that her brother gave her the trip to Antarctica. Along with wondering about the unusual destination, Ben is especially puzzled that this supposed gift doesn’t include a transfer to the port, which is why Marleen is now wandering aimlessly around Germany. They talk about what they want from life, and it becomes clear that both are holding back from pursuing their dreams because they are afraid they might fail. During a stop, they walk through a meadow full of fireflies, and for a brief moment Marleen is free of her worries. But memories of the accident quickly return, and Marleen has a minor breakdown. Ben drives to a motel so they can get some rest. The motel is also a popular meeting place for bikers, who are having a karaoke party. As the biker Rosa sings a song, Marleen and Ben sit nearby and talk about their journey. Ben is sure that the “gifted” trip deliberately didn’t include transport to the ship so Marleen would learn to come out of her shell and take a chance. Grieving her brother, Marleen yells at Ben that it’s none of his business and that he should get out of her life as soon as possible. Shortly afterward, Rosa knocks her down because Marleen ruined her song. Marleen and Rosa spend the night together in jail. The next morning, Marleen covers the remaining distance to Hamburg by train. Although the police drive her the last few miles to the port, she just misses her ship. She bursts into tears and stays sitting at the dock until nightfall. Ben surprises her there again. Marleen tells him the real story, and Ben suggests writing down what she has experienced over the past few days and putting the notes in the Vielmachglas. They do just that together, continuing until the next morning, and then return home. At her brother’s funeral, Marleen opens the jar and, in tears, tips the scraps of paper with her notes into his grave, though she also seems relieved. A few days later, Marleen is ready for new adventures. She sets off from home with Ben to fill her Vielmachglas with experiences once again.