The Molander Case
Genre: Drama/War
Director: Christian Petzold
Writer: Wyatt Allen
Based on the novel Lichtspiel by Daniel Kehlmann
Producer: Christoph Waltz
Cast: Daniel Bruhl, Jonas Dassler, Christian Friedel, Sandra Huller, Lazar Simaifar, Burghart Klaussner, Christoph Waltz
Plot: An old man (Burghart Klaussner) sits backstage getting prepared to be on TV, he is telling the staff around him that the people in his retirement home will be very jealous about his appearance on the show. Heinz Conrads (Christoph Waltz) is moderating the show back on just after the end of a commercial break, Conrads is introducing the viewer to Franz Wilzek, a director and a frequent collaborator of one of the biggest directors of German cinema G. W. Pabst. Wilzek (Burghart Klaußner) insecurely walks into the studio. He seems irritated and blinded by the bright studio lights. Conrads is welcoming him to the show, asking him some basic questions to lose his nervousness. Then Conrads asks Wilzek about his work with Pabst, he asks why Pabst returned to the Third Reich. Wilzek doesn’t remember. The next question is about a lost movie called „The Molander Case“ and if he can confirm that prisoners from the concentration camps where used for it and if he knows where it could be. Wilzek gets a little bit angry and tells him that they never started filming it. Conrads reads his moderation cards and tells him, that he has the information that it was indeed finished. Wilzek gets furious, he tells him the should check his facts better, they are going into commercial break.
Wilzek is quickly brought off from the show and to the back. He asks the people in the back how his appearance was and once again tells them how jealous everybody in his retirement home will be when they see this. While Wilzek is brought out of the studio we can see Heinz Conrads in the back screaming at people to never put someone like Wilzek again on the show.
1935 in Hollywood. Georg Wilhelm Pabst (Daniel Brühl) is sitting at a pool talking to another man about his newest idea for a movie in very bad English. Pabst is explaining to him that it’s a movie about passengers on a boat at the moment a war is declared. The man is not impressed, he tells Pabst that his first movie made in the states „A Modern Hero“ was a flop and he may have to start a little bit further down the pecking order for now. He does compliment Pabst for the movie Metropolis. Pabst thanks him, but mentions that Fritz Lang did Metropolis and not him. Pabst explains that they told him to do the same type of movies that he did in Germany but he was only allowed to do A Modern Hero. A screenplay he never liked and was forced to direct.
1938. A restaurant in France. G.W. and Trude Pabst (Sandra Hüller) are drinking wine together with friends. They are talking about the political situation but G.W. seems absent, lost in his thoughts. He gets asked what’s next for him, he tells him that he wants to go back to the states to make movies. After doing some decent movies in France, he thinks he is ready for it. Passion starts to be seen through his eyes as he starts talking about his movie idea with the passengers on the boat getting the announcement that a war has been declared. But first he wants to visit his mother in Austria. Their friends are shocked and calling him crazy for thinking of going back in to the Nazi-Reich. Trude backs her husband telling them that G.W.‘s mother got sick and they have to look after her.
A train drives past forests, mountains and castles. Inside the train, Jakob Pabst (Lazar Simaifar) just finished using the restroom and is now making his way back to his parents. He stops just before reaching the corridor, as he can hear his parents having a loud discussion. Trude is saying that they shouldn’t be here and that this is all a pretty bad idea. G.W. tells her that he has no choice and he would have expected a little bit more understanding from her side. Jakob enters the corridor and they of course stop the talking. G.W. is asking Jakob if he remembers the castle that they will stay in. Jakob doesn’t, it was too long ago since they have been there. The train stops they are in Switzerland, it’s said that this is the last stop before reaching Nazi Germany. Most of the passengers leave the train, the Pabst’s stay seated. A lady passing by politely warns them and asks them if they really want to enter the Third Reich – yes they want to. The train leaves the station. Jakob asks how long it will be until they arrive in Austria. G.W. tells him not to use this name when they are here as this country doesn’t exist anymore, they get interrupted by an officer in Nazi uniform. He wants to see their passports. USA and France as last destinations is what the officer notices and he asks about Pabst’s political opinion. Pabst tells him that him returning to Germany should be enough proof of his political opinion. The officer nods, he gives them their passports back.
They enter their estate consisting of an old castle and big forest, while Pabst explains the story on how he got it for cheap. A janitor and his family are living here keeping the castle clean while living from the yield of the castles surroundings. His mother is living on the first floor, she is happy to see her son G.W. but she doesn’t recognize Jakob and ignores Trude. The janitor and his family are in a very weird way overwhelmingly friendly with the Pabsts and in awe when talking about the Nazi regime. At night Trude begs G.W. that they should take his mother with them and leave, G.W. agrees. They want to leave in the morning, but only with very light baggage so that they think they wil return soon. In the morning G.W. tells the janitor to get the car ready as the Pabsts will leave for a short trip to Vienna. Then Pabst enters the castle’s library going through his old screenplays and movie requisites, the janitor watches him closely. When Pabst tries to get something from the top of a very large shelf he steps on a very high ladder, the janitor helps to stabilize it. He grabs the things he saw from the shelf, just before he can sense the ladder moving. The ladder gets pushed away and Pabst falls to the ground.
Pabst wakes up in bed, calling for his wife. Trude notices him finally being awake and has to tell him something. But G.W. tells her to call the police as the janitor pushed him off the ladder. Trude tells him there is no police anymore and him falling down the ladder was an accident. G.W. replies that he was indeed pushed. Trude tells him that there is a war, Germany just invaded Poland, the borders are closed. They can not leave anymore.
A huge office in Berlin. A big golden framed picture of Hitler on the wall. Kuno Krämer (Christian Friedel) sits behind the desk, talking on the phone giving instructions to subordinates. Pabst is brought to the office and signaled by Krämer to sit down across from him, who is just about to end his call. Krämer hangs up and greets Pabst as the „Red Pabst“, a communist, hero of the left-wing. He asked him what made him want to talk to him. Pabst replies that he was ordered to come here today. Krämer says that that’s the wrong answer. Krämer says that Pabst is a known enemy of the regime, someone who has worked with Jews and is a known communist and he should apologize for that and ask for forgiveness. He lets him know that they can offer him many things, the concentration camp for example. But they can also offer him a big budget, any actor he wants, any screenplay he wants to make, the best medical care for him and his family, he just has to say the right things. Pabst has no other choice other than to apologize for his past. Krämer is happy that Pabst decided to ask to meet him just to ask for forgiveness. He tells him they have a screenplay for him and then says goodbye to him by doing the Hitler salute. Pabst hesitates but after seeing Krämer’s skeptical look he does the Hitler salute too. „Heil Hitler“ he mumbles dejectedly.
Jakob and two friends of his are sitting in the train. They all wear their school uniform. One of his friends his mentioning that he loves the Nosferatu movie his father did, Jakob tells him his father didn’t make that. Arriving at the Dreiturm castle, Trude and Wilhelm greet their son happily and ask him about his time in the boarding school. Jakob tells them he is having a great time and proudly announces that his whole class joined the Nazi party and he can’t wait to be drafted and fight for his country. His two friends agree, Trude and G.W. are speechless. Later Pabst has a quiet moment just with his son Jakob alone to tell him that he doesn’t want him to fight for the Nazis. Jakob calls him a traitor and accuses him of only returning because he couldn’t live with the thought of being a nobody in America.
With Jakob gone again, Trude and G.W. talk about the latest project „The Molander Case“ pitched to Pabst. It’s based on a book by Alfred Karrasch, a writer who is known to support the Nazi ideology in his works. Trude is worried, G.W. tells her he doesn’t know if he can say no to them any longer. He says you can’t say no to them too often and he has been putting them off for years now. It’s not a good story but G.W. says he will try to rewrite it to fit his standard.
Franz Wilzek (Jonas Dassler) is visiting the Dreiturm castle and is introducing himself as the new assistant to Pabst. Kuno Krämer send him, as Pabst asked for help. Together they write the screenplay, the book is about young violinist Fritz Molander who inherits a Stradivari that he sells until they figure out that it’s fake and he gets accused of fraud. Pabst hates it and is thinking hard to find the core of the play, meanwhile he opens a letter from Jakob who announces that the was „finally“ drafted. In this times it’s hard for Pabst to find inspiration and Wilzek, while being a good writer, doesn’t offer much help. They meet up with a couple actors in an inn in Vienna to talk to them about the project, but their plan gets interrupted by a bombing in the city. It was already over until they noticed what’s happening, but we can see the aftermath. People screaming on the streets, burning buildings, warn signals going off.
They head off to Prague, one of the last places that was not bombed and is presentable on film. Pabst is worried about the concert hall scene, which he calls the most important scene. He wants to have the hall look really big and filled with people, they need to hire many extras. Kuno Krämer is on set to overlook the project, he is happy he finally got Pabst to do movies again. A day before shooting the concert hall scene it’s brought up to Pabst that a big part of the extras was drafted and they are now unavailable. Pabst has an idea that he discusses with Krämer, he talks very vague but Krämer seems to get it, somehow Krämer asked Pabst a couple of times if he is really sure if he wants to do it. Wilzek stands next to them but doesn’t seem to get it.
Wilzek walks on set the day they shoot the concert hall scene, it is one the last scenes they have to do. He takes a look at the extras and is in shock. The extras can barely sit straight, their clothes are way too big for their thin bodies, they look tired, lifeless. It is evident that they are prisoners brought in from the concentration camps. Wilzek feels terrible and wants to talk to Pabst, but Pabst doesn’t listen to him he is too obsessed with making the best scene possible for the circumstances. He tells Wilzek to help out with a scene. Wilzek stands on the side looking at the extras until he notices familiar face. A small flashback to the times shortly before the war, Wilzek is at the dentist, getting his teeth checked by a dentist with a friendly warm smile. Back to the present, it is the same friendly warm smile looking at Wilzek. Wilzek feels sick he has to leave. Wilzek sits down in front of the building, Pabst noticed him leaving and went outside too to talk to him. Wilzek tells him, that they should have never started working on this movie. Pabst tells him that this is what art is about, making the best out of the circumstances. The people wouldn’t be better without them doing the movie, he justifies himself.
Pabst and Wilzek are on a walk. Pabst explains to him that they have something good going on but they now have to finish it, this is where a lot of people fail. After they release this they will have all the opportunities, especially when the war is over. Wilzek asks Pabst about his son and wife. Pabst seems surprised, almost shocked by the question as if it is something he completely repressed. He answers that Trude is staying safe in their castle in Austria and he doesn’t know about Jakob. The letters don’t seem to reach him anymore. Pabst quickly changes the topic back to the movie. He tells him that this will be his masterpiece, his magnum opus, the thing the world will remember him for.
Still in Prague, Pabst and Franz Wilzek are sitting together in a room with rolls of film. Pabst informs Wilzek that this is the most important part of making a movie – the editing. They are locking themselves in the room, working hard to make the best out of it. Wilzek doses off, Pabst wakes him up after a while. Soon after Pabst doses off getting woken up by Wilzek. They struggle with power failure and a slight panic starts when they can hear an explosion going off not too far away followed by gunshots. Wilzek wants them to leave but Pabst wouldn’t let that happen, he wants them to finish his masterpiece, he will not leave without it. It takes them two days to finish up the movie. The explosions and gunshots get more frequent. They pack the film rolls into a knapsack and run to the nearest train station to leave the bombarded Prague.
They just make it into the crowded train, lay down the knapsack and sit down on the ground. Wilzek bonds with a farrier over him also carrying a big and heavy knapsack with him. They talk about the tough times and play cards. Pabst dozes off.
While sleeping Pabst is dreaming of the premiere of The Molander Case. A red carpet, all the lights on them. Everybody is dressed nice, the actors are there, Wilzek is there, Trude is next to him wearing a beautiful dress. The press can’t get enough of him, asking him if he is taking the call from Hollywood again or if he will stay in Germany. But suddenly a young man in a Nazi uniform is slowly stumbling torwards him. The sound of explosions are starting to appear and the young man comes closer. He is crippled and has a huge scar over his face, but Pabst recognizes him. It’s his son Jakob. Jakob stops shortly before reaching Pabst and asks why he took him to the Nazis.
After a very long ride they arrive in Vienna. Most of the passengers already left the train stations before. Pabst gets woken up by Wilzek, they have to get up and leave. Pabst reminds them that they have to get copies of the film as soon as possible. Pabst grabs the knapsack but he notices something is wrong. He opens it up and instead of his film there is just a bunch of horseshoes in the knapsack. Pabst is panicking, he throws the horseshoes out of the knapsack in search of his film, a label, a clue. Wilzek tries to calm Pabst down, he tells him they will find the one who grabbed their knapsack. Pabst nods. They leave the train. On the train station we can see a lot of happy people, hugging friends and family members they thought they might never see again, thankful that they made it out of there. Pabst is between them, eyes unfocused, staring into nothing.
After the war:
Franz Wilzek is visiting his friend G.W Pabst on set. He carefully watches the actors perform and Trude Pabst is directing them. Wilzek is asking someone on set where G.W. is at. Wilzek gets the answer that Pabst is only a shadow of what he once was and only giving his name for his wife directing the movie. Wilzek now sees Pabst sitting a little bit on the side, not really involved in the process. He approaches him, Pabst is happy to see him. He congratulates Wilzek on finally directing his own movies and than he can’t help but ask if Wilzek has heard anything about their movie. Wilzek says he hasn’t but there is a small nervousness in his demeanor.
Pabst was a different man after losing the movie that he called his masterpiece. At first he could remember the film scene for scene, but with the years passing by it got more and more blurry, until there weren’t many memories left off it. Pabst died in 1967 without ever seeing The Molander Case ever again.
In the retirement home. An old Franz Wilzek (Burghart Klaußner) wants to show his appearance at the famous talk show with Heinz Conrads but the TV doesn’t work. He is furious, now no one will see him on TV. He stomps away angrily. In his room he sits on the bed, deep in his thoughts. He reminisces about the time he was in his fathers gardener shop about a year after his return from Prague. A giant of a man with a big knapsack on his bag enters the shop, it is the farrier from the train ride. He lets the knapsack down and shows Wilzek the film rolls. Wilzek replies that Pabst will be really happy.
The old Wilzek in his room in the retirement home gets up and over to a closet. He opens it and we can see an old knapsack with film rolls inside of it. “I should have told him” Wilzek says to himself.
