Germany Year Zero

Berlin, summer 1945: Twelve-year-old Edmund desperately tries to keep his family afloat with odd jobs and black market deals. His father is seriously ill, his older brother-until recently an ardent Nazi-is in hiding for fear of reprisals. His sister prostitutes herself at night in soldiers' bars. On his wanderings through the bombed-out city, Edmund meets his former teacher Henning, who earns his living by selling Nazi memorabilia. He persuades Edmund to sell a gramophone and a record of a speech by Hitler to an American. Henning ruthlessly infiltrates the authority-obeying boy with National Socialist ideas. According to these ideas, it is the law of nature that everything weak must perish and only the strong may survive. Edmund puts his teacher's ideas into practice. He secretly poisons his sick father and proudly reports his deed to his teacher. The teacher is horrified and rejects him, calling him a monster. Edmund wanders aimlessly through the streets. From a pile of rubble, he watches his father's funeral and hears his sister desperately calling for him, Edmund.