A failed intellectual bets everything on flashing lights and silver balls—what could go wrong?
Film adaptation of the last part of Martin Walser's "Kristlein Trilogy": After the perpetually failing intellectual Anselm Kristlein had to make a living as a sales representative and advertising copywriter in "Halbzeit" and became a writer in "Das Einhorn" (filmed in 1977 by Peter Patzak), he now tries his hand as the owner of a pinball arcade in Munich, loses his wife's fortune, and returns to Lake Constance in a chaotic state of mind.
Acting
Buchrieser's sweaty desperation is physically uncomfortable to watch
Production
Munich arcades recreated with nicotine-stained authenticity
Director
Alf Brustellin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Walser's trilogy was considered unfilmable; Brustellin's solution was to make Anselm's interior monologue external through sheer performance.
Released months before Germany's 'German Autumn,' the film captures a national mood of exhausted liberalism that critics initially misread as mere character study.
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