Verfehlung

Summary

The Mistake

Shortly before the German reunification: The 50-year-old cleaning lady Elisabeth Bosch lives in a small GDR village, where she is responsible for cleaning the municipal office. Mayor Reimelt has his eye on her, but Elisabeth falls in love with Jacob, a West German dock worker who is visiting the village. They can only meet secretly in Berlin. When, in the exuberance of New Year's Eve 1988/89, they announce their engagement, the jealous Reimelt has Jacob picked up by the police and expelled from the country. Elisabeth's son, who is active in the opposition movement, also faces reprisals and ends up in a psychiatric hospital. At the 750th anniversary celebration of the village, Elisabeth shoots Reimelt in the municipal office with his service weapon. As a broken woman she ends up in prison, Jacob only finds her neglected house after the fall of the Berlin Wall.