Black Gravel

In the years after World War II, Germans face severe shortages in housing, water, food, and clothing. A growing American military presence on the base near Sohnen injects money into the village but also unsettles locals as land, customs, and daily life clash with foreign soldiers. Prostitution and the black market flourish as people hustle to survive.

The base's expansion requires infrastructure work, drawing thousands of American soldiers into the area. Truck operator Robert Neidhardt profits by moving gravel and becomes entangled in a ring diverting gravel to a private profiteer. This illicit activity ties him to the underworld economy of postwar Germany.

Robert runs into his former girlfriend, a woman who left him years earlier. She is now married to an American major and attempting to put her past behind her. Their encounter rekindles an intense, dangerous pull between them.

Inge leads a wary life, trying to secure stability for herself and her marriage. She is drawn back toward Robert despite her efforts to resist. The tension between old feelings and new realities drives the story forward.

Authorities investigate theft of gravel connected to base construction. The case widens as more evidence points to an inside ring. Inge attempts to warn Robert, entering his truck at a crucial moment.

During a late-night tryst, Robert accidentally kills a couple. The murder drastically changes the dynamic between him and Inge and marks a turning point in both of their lives. He sends Inge away, then buries the bodies beneath his gravel load along a runway ramp under construction.

Robert buries the victims beneath the gravel load aboard his truck, using a runway ramp under construction as a concealment. The 'disappearance' triggers a second inquest that overlaps with the first investigation. His violent act marks the start of a downward spiral.

The two investigations converge as authorities close in from different directions. The overlap complicates the case and keeps the pressure on Robert. Inge grows more anxious as the web of lies tightens around them.

Inge reveals the truth to her husband, who wants to keep the matter quiet. U.S. intelligence theorizes the couple were defectors or spies for East Germany. The revelation deepens her sense of entrapment, while giving Robert a possible way out of the trouble.

With the key figure in the gravel scheme remaining silent, authorities stop actively searching for the missing couple. Robert believes the danger has passed and that he can preserve his and Inge's future without discovery. A fragile calm settles over the situation.

Inge confronts Robert with the confession's consequences and pleads to run away together. She longs to escape the trap and rebuild a life with him away from danger. Robert refuses, clinging to the chance of stability she once valued.

As Inge clings to the truck's door, Robert speeds away, and she is thrown off to her death on the pavement. The moment crystallizes their doomed passion and the consequences of their actions. The dash to freedom proves fatal for both.

Robert procures the body and returns to the runway ramp, laying Inge out as the truck's load shifts over her body with gravel. Overcome by guilt and despair, he crawls atop the pile and dies beneath the crushed stones. The two lovers are literally buried by the consequences of their choices.