AllMovie

First-time Swiss director Marcus Fischer also wrote and edited this story about a relatively poor family -- parents and one older son, Franz (Alexander Duda) -- living together without much communication or openness, and with no show of affection. The parents (Rosemarie Fendel and Hans Heinz Moser are inflexible in their viewpoints, and the father in particular is dictatorial in his treatment of his wife and son. He himself may lose his income if his shop closes down, and that preys on his mind constantly. As a result of this inhumane environment, the wife's stability slips and she has a breakdown, while Franz loses touch with his own feelings (which are basically to get out of there as fast as he can). Into this scenario walks the boy's grandmother (Grete Heger) who blackens the pot by siding with her son against his wife and Franz. Although Franz has spent a long time at an impasse, he goes to his room and destroys the model planes that he had patiently constructed, thinking long and hard about whether to leave or to stay.