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Two world-worn men from Munich, the mailman Heinz and the lifeguard Herbert, look for an escape from their day-to-day lives and participate in a swimming contest across the Atlantic Ocean in the hopes of winning a 100,000 mark award.

Achternbusch's tragic comedy begins with the figure of the Comanche (Achternbusch) lying comatose in a large country sanatorium, where he is the last surviving patient. Refusing to wake up to a loveless world, the Comanche prefers his own dreams-filled with images of tropical Sri Lankan landscapes, elephants roaming the jungles, and smiling native girls-to life's sad realities. His doctor manages to extract these dream images from his patient with a video unit, which the Comanche's wife records and sells to television. After awakening, Achternbusch's obstinate protagonist shifts (in a punning transformation) from comatose to Comanche and wanders Munich in full Indian regalia until, at last, the real world beckons him back onto the soccer field of the Olympic Stadium.

This satirical story of a minister president is reportedly based on the conservative Bavarian minister Franz Josef Strauss.

Ansgars Death.

Jealousy and pride.

The end of the future.

The eternal daughter.

Kennedy's children.

Art or life.

The game with freedom.

Christmas wolves.

Hermann leaves his home town and comes to Munich to study music. On his first day there, he makes friends, falls in love and starts to fight against this love.

The time of many words.

The time of silence.

Two strange eyes.