Welcome to Siegheilkirchen 2021

Siegheilkirchen is pure hell. Everything is narrow: hearts, minds, and trousers. Lardy bigots and desperate die-hard Nazis rule the roost, from school to the tavern. The gendarme (Armin Assinger) goes about his duties in a state of intoxication, the parish priest (Juergen Maurer) is a violent bully, and barber Kurz (Thomas Stipsits) would like to be the new Führer. We're in small-town 1960s Austria. The landlord (Gregor Seberg) might have lost an arm in the war but he has a gifted son. Yes, he can certainly draw, the Snotty Boy (Markus Freistätter) - a fact that comes to the notice of his Uncle Neidhardt (Wolfgang Böck) when he discovers his nephew's artful nudes, which are being used by the whole of the male population of Siegheilkirchen to beat the meat. A trained artist, Neidhardt is commissioned by the mayor (Karl Fischer) to freshen up the town mural, originally painted during the Nazi era. Snotty Boy gets to assist him when his mother (Susi Stach) allows this foray into the realms of high art. The main thing for her son is that he learns book-keeping on the side - and keeps his eyes and drawing pencil away from busty butcher's assistant Trude (Katharina Straßer). But the drudgery of mixing paints doesn't make life any more colorful. The only real highlights in his drab existence are the provocative looks he gets from Mariolina (Gerti Drassl), who together with her Mama (Adele Neuhauser) and family has recently set up camp at a safe distance from the town boundary. The Roma travelers are thrown out of his father's tavern as the sensibilities of the regulars take priority, but at Poldi's (Roland Düringer) Espresso Jessy everyone is served. Even Snotty Boy gets a beer (one too many in fact), and there's even a jukebox. Standing at the bar, under the benevolent eye of Old Marek (Erwin Steinhauer), he draws tender portraits of Mariolina. But soon the drawings are nicked by the enterprising Spotface (Mario Canedo) and his artless side-kick Grasberger to be sold to all and sundry as jerk-off material. Even before anything can flower between the two, Mariolina is mightily pissed off at him. And then barber Kurz and his troop start to build a bomb, intending to 'cleanse' the town, a project that ends up having completely the opposite effect. And in the end, while the good Lord can't let brains rain down from heaven to cure the general stupidity, he dispenses something else that fits Siegheilkirchen down to the ground... But this much we know: there are good times ahead for the Snotty Boy. Because one day he'll become Manfred Deix. And Mariolina looks as if she just might forgive him.

Jürgen Maurer

Pfarrer