Julian is a 12-year-old boy whose family is just scraping by in the Ruhr industrial region of Germany in the early 1960s . When his mother and younger sister go away for a while, he is left mostly alone in the apartment while his father works in the coal mine. He has to confront the confusing world of adults and older boys and the older girl next door on his own. Finally events build up and threaten to tear the family apart
以上世纪60年代德国鲁尔区为背景，从12岁少年的视角观察家庭与社会。黑白与彩色之间的交替变换暗示主角的情绪，加上画幅的多次变化，在表现了时代感（黑白色与4：3画幅）的同时也保证了画面内容完整与充分。少年主线围绕着叛逆与性觉醒，穿插母亲枯燥的家庭生活与心理疾病，以及父亲的工作压力和出轨行为。房东早熟的16岁女儿折射的是女性视角的迷惘，她的未来不是像少年的母亲一样整日做家务，就是像落魄女歌手一样酗酒、与他人发生性关系。煤矿、蒸汽与火车的彩色空镜搭配摇滚乐，仿佛是赞扬发达的工业；但事实上，单调而又压抑的生活给每个人套上了一层枷锁，于是他们渴望逃离，或是寻求刺激与麻痹。