Overview

25-year-old electrician Thomas Tänzer is happily escaping the provincial confines of everyday life in the GDR – to the desert, to work in Algeria. Behind him lie a failed marriage and abandoned studies. But he can't cope in Algeria either. The rules have traveled with him – in the form of his superiors. Unordered solidarity, his relationship with the married Doris, and similar issues cause him difficulties. His father falls seriously ill, and he cuts short his stay abroad. At home, he realizes that his wife and child have become complete strangers to him. Doris, his "Algerian affair," now has a child by him, but treats him coldly. He makes a half-hearted suicide attempt by car, which he survives. When he hears about a disaster in Algeria, he volunteers for service, but is not accepted because of his poor personnel file.

Top Cast

G

Gerd Gallrein

Thomas Vater

André Hennicke

Thomas

Barbara Schnitzler

Doris

Deborah Kaufmann

Angela

B

Bernd-Uwe Reppenhagen

Napoleon

Justus Carrière

Falk

T

Thomas Gumpert

Rolf

R

Ruth Friemel

Thomas Mutter

Chafia Boudraa

Mohameds Mutter