Pingpong

One summer's day 16-year-old Paul suddenly turns up uninvited at the door of his relatives. The last family reunion a few months before was a sad occasion: Paul's father had committed suicide, and now Paul seeks refuge in the seemingly intact world of this middle-class family, which he enjoyed visiting as a child. At first his Aunt Anna is less than enthusiastic about his visit, since she is throwing her entire ambition into training her likewise 16year-old son Robert, a highly talented pianist, for the entrance examination at a music school. When Anna's husband Stefan unexpectedly has to leave on a business trip, Paul makes himself useful by repairing the weatherworn swimming pool. Her initial reserve soon turns into affection, and Paul also feels attracted to her. The nearer the date of Robert's audition approaches, the greater the tension between mother and son grows. Anna pulls Paul over to her side of this conflict and soon has him at her mercy, exploiting his emotional weakness with no thought to the consequences. When the situation gets out of control, Paul is driven to an act of desperation. (Berlinale)