Im Innern des Wals

In the Belly of the Whale

A police officer in Hamburg beats both his daughter and then a motorist whom he felt was insolent. When daughter Carla runs away, Rick, the hapless driver, picks her up out of curiosity. A homeless guitarist, he drives her to Lübeck in his old Mercedes, where the 15-year-old girl hopes to find her mother. Unfortunately, it turns out that the mother, who left the family years ago, hasn’t lived there for some time now. Hoping to find her, Carla and Rick embark on an odyssey along the northern German coast …

Doris Dörrie uses the conventions of the road movie to tell the story of a young woman from a broken home emerging into adulthood. Not only does the protagonist process her bad home situation while on the road, she also finds herself able to express for the first time her need for love and tenderness; the tomboy-esque teenager discovers her own femininity. Casually, almost by accident, the seemingly adrift runaway passes through one turning point after the next. At the same time, the film imperceptibly but inexorably pivots from a teen drama to a family tragedy.

Source: 69. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)