According to the Plan

Colour, 35 mm
Germany, 2007, 90 min
Section: Variety Critics’ Choice

Synopsis

Three sisters find that not much goes According to the Plan as they assemble to celebrate their alkie mom’s birthday in their native Saxony village. Bittersweet comedy by helmer Franziska Meletzky boasts simpatico playing from a name distaff cast, led by the feisty Dagmar Manzel, and dry dialogue that keeps the tone light. It’s summertime in the small burg of Wettin, where divorced Silvia (Ch. Schorn), who runs the local amateur theatrical troupe when she’s not hitting the bottle, lives with her long-suffering eldest daughter, Iris (C. Harfouch). Unmarried Iris, who has a job in a stable, is literally the workhorse of the family, putting up with her mom’s tipsy turns and having no personal life of her own. Into this picturesque but strained environment arrives Silvia’s long-lost middle daughter, Anne (Manzel), an energetic rebel who left home years ago to be a rock singer.