Ironies abound in this extremely sad melodrama about Elif, a Turkish immigrant in Germany who has been sent to prison for murdering her abusive husband. At the time of her imprisonment, she has never ventured outside the Turkish community, and even there has had no friends because of the demands her husband placed on her. She speaks no German. Now, in a place which most people find to be hell on earth, she gains a never-before known taste of freedom among these strangers, who don't even speak her own language. Unfortunately, as a "guest worker," she is horrified to discover that she is soon to be transferred to the horrific prisons of Turkey and will stand trial there for her crime, which will be much less understandingly dealt with in her home country than it would have been in Germany. The false paradise she must say goodbye to is her German prison.

1992 film by Uwe Schrader

2010 television film

Viktor and Angelika are a straight couple. He is a professor of veterinary science and she has studied art history. Both are more interested in their hobbies and professions than in each other; also, Viktor isn't terribly interested in satisfying his wife anymore. Their upright relationship changes dramatically when Viktor gets to know Lotte, a former school friend of Angelika's. Back in school, Lotte would have done anything for Angelika.