Synopsis

Germany, just after the Second World War. Siggi Jepsen, a young man in juvenile detention, has to write an essay on “The Joys of Duty”. Only when he is locked up in a cell for punishment, his blockade is released and he writes like a man possessed. Memories of his father Jens Ole Jepsen, who was a police officer in a small, north German village and dedicated himself totally to the duties of office. Under the National Socialist regime he had to issue a ban on painting to the Expressionist artist Max Ludwig Nansen. He oversees it meticulously and Siggi, 11-years-old at the time, is told to help him. But Nansen resists – and likewise builds on Siggi's help, who is like a son for him. The two men's conflict continually escalates – and Siggi stands between them. Fitting in or resistance? This becomes the decisive question for Siggi... The film is based on one of the most famous novels of German post-war literature.