The film presents the political events surrounding the Anschluss in March of 1938 through the lives of Carola Hell, a popular young actress at the prestigious Theater in der Josefstadt, and Martin Hofmann, the Jewish journalist she plans to marry. When we encounter the couple in the lovely springtime weather their future is full of promise. They are determined to stay clear of politics. Yet in the climate of the time, nobody of her prominence or his religion can remain apolitical. Although Martin's journalist friend, Drechsler, calls to inform them that the Nazis plan to take over Austria soon, they concentrate on their work and their private happiness and dismiss the warnings.
An old man is to be evicted from his home. He is the last tenant in an old house. He refuses to leave the flat in which he has passed his whole life. All appeals asking him to be 'reasonable' are of no use. And when he finally gets out his shotgun, the cops appear and use tear gas to drive him out of his flat. He is put into a straitjacket and carried out of the house as someone who's 'aggressive and always grousing'. 'The film is a bitter elegy for the unknown Vienna, seen with the eyes of an old man. A remarkable Austrian film.'
