Der Laden: The Plot


Figure 1.-- Here we see Esau with his bicycle. A bike was something only German families in confortable circumstances had at the time.

The film was a mini-series and was shown in three parts on German television. The part we are talking about is the First Part (Der Laden: Erster Teil). The main character is Esau, a boy of about 10 years old. He moves with his family to a remote rural village on the German-Polish border with his two younger brothers and sister and also with his parents and grandparents. The family start a bakery and general store in the new location. Esau is precocious and eventually grows up to become a writer. In order to help his family succeed in their new business, he tries to make friends in the neighborhood. But his life is fairly chaotic nevertheless. His school teacher whips the boys in his class for minor infractions and his father has a very bad temper while his mother is given to fits of fainting (sometimes feigned). Esau finds a kind of comfort for his sufferings and childhood confusion in relationship with his grandfather, who is a kind and wise man. In the later parts Esau is an adult, not a child. Esau has grown up although one shot depicts him on his 17th birthday receiving a cake from his family.






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Created: 8:44 AM 3/11/2010
Last updated: 8:44 AM 3/11/2010