A formerly successful poet facing a severe creative and financial crisis. He exploits friends, lovers, admirers, and his parents for money, plagiarizes another poet, manipulates his followers, and repeatedly treats people cruelly. After finally completing a successful book, he returns to find his wife dead, stages a dramatic collapse, and is ultimately shot with blanks before laughing at the absurd situation.
Mr. R. is the central figure, an employee at a small architectural firm and a husband who initially appears loyal, stable, and future-oriented. After mounting pressures at work and home, he silently kills his neighbor and family, then returns to work before taking his own life.
Fahrstuhlmonteur is the elevator engineer whose mistake leaves the alarm system inoperative on Friday evening. Because nobody can hear the trapped passengers calling for help, the malfunction greatly prolongs the crisis and forces the rescue effort to proceed through the elevator shaft.
The Chef is Sie’s superior in the workplace episode. He accuses her of stealing company wine and appearing drunk, berates her for putting the company at risk, and dismisses her. His response contrasts with the later polished sales pitch for alcohol, highlighting the different ways drinking is condemned and commercially exploited.
A figure who intercepts Frederick during a secret nighttime plan involving Deborah and an aunt. His intervention prevents Frederick from reaching the expected meeting, and Deborah returns disappointed when the encounter does not take place.
Xaver Ferdinand Maria Bolwieser is the railway station master at the center of the story, set in the fictional Bavarian town of Werburg in the 1920s. He is unwittingly cuckolded by the town butcher and a hairdresser, making his private life and marriage the focus of the plot.
Kurt Raab has 124 screen credits in a career dating back to 1969. Signature works include Satan’s Brew, Tenderness of the Wolves, Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?. Explore the interactive character relationship maps on each title page to trace how their roles connect across franchises.
