- Friedemann von Sarau, an old "honorable" hunter, is near death after a stroke. His last will is to shoot his final deer, but there are no more deer in his hunting district and he can't travel anymore.
- The story starts in medias res: A couple of campers make a rest in the forest and let their pet dog run freely. The dog's bark wakes the attention of a portly hunter who immediately and without obvious reason shoots him with his hunting rifle. The couple hear the shot and the woman tries to summon her dog in vain. The opening credits roll and we are shown the main characters in silent previews. First, there is Friedemann von Sarau, an elderly nobleman and an old hunting warlord. His daughter, Corinna (Constanze Engelbrecht) is also among the hunters. The other characters are: Hunters Brahms (Jürgen Watzke), Bettge (Achim Grubel), Prosch (Hans-Peter Korff), Dittmers (Walter Giller), Stapenhorst (Hans-Jürgen Schatz) and the antagonist Brüderle (Gerd Haucke), a man who likes to take his dog for walks inside the hunting district. In the first scene after the opening credits, Brüderle is taking his mutt called Nero for a walk. When he lets a Jeep pass him, he gets splattered with mud. The driver is Brahms, the hunter who shot the dog in the first scene. He gets into an argument with Brüderle because the dog is walking around unleashed. Brüderle gently, but sarcastically teases Brahms who drives away in a huff. He visits his doctor, who happens to be Dittmers, a fellow hunter. Both share a drink together. (Dr. Dittmers drinks heavily throughout the movie.) Next we are introduced to a boar hunt, which results in a fatal accident: A hunting guest looks down the barrels of his hunting rifle, loaded and cocked, while still holding his snack, a sandwich, between his teeth. He shoots himself through the sandwich (hence the title) and his death causes a local scandal. The hunters also have their own problems. Bettge, who is a sensible hunter, does most of the work in the hunting district, while the other hunters only visit the district when they feel like it. Dr. Dittmers' biggest problem is obviously alcohol, and Stapenhorst, a young and nervous hunter, feels compelled by his nagging wife to shoot a red deer. She claims that they could throw out all his minor hunting trophies for a single pair of red deer antlers that are hanging in Brahms' living room. Brahms, however, has his own problems. His wife is openly cheating on him with a younger beau, and she's not above of humiliating him in both his and her lover's presence. He compensates for that by excessive shooting and playing bizarre role-plays in a brothel which include him playing a male deer, wearing an antler helmet. Prosch comes over as a gentle and intelligent person, but his dark secret is only gradually revealed: He collects animal droppings as a hobby, which he keeps in giant refrigerators in his basement. And the big huntsman, the baron of Sarau, is eager to shoot a red deer, and he is too senile or stubborn (or both) to accept that there aren't any left in his district. After a stroke, he gets even more adamant, so Corinna tries to buy one from abroad and have it transported into the district. They find a zoo owner who is willing to have his alpha male deer shot for money, but he is not willing to have the animal transported, because it would have to be drugged first, and he objects to that because he's a member of the society against animal cruelty. All the hunters are having problems with unknown activists who sabotage tree-stands and vandalize the hunters cars and garages. The plot is interwoven with scenes of dialogue between Brahms, and his nemesis, the non-hunter Brüderle. When Stapenhorst manages to shoot a small roe deer, the hunters celebrate adequately, with cheap non-French champagne. Meanwhile, a mother with two young children is wheeling a stroller though the forest. They are accompanied by a white dog. Brahms and Dr. Dittmers are still inebriated from a night of partying in a brothel, and they believe the white dog to be Nero and shoot, more or less randomly, since their vision is still impaired. Luckily, nobody got hurt (except the doghe was shot dead by Brahms) and what looks like blood smeared all over the stroller is revealed to be the remains of a mason jar of preserved red fruits the toddler was holding. The hunters talk the mother into believing the jar exploded by itself. However, when the (divorced) father finds shot pellets inside the stroller, he reports the incident to the police. The baron has his second stroke, which permanently impairs his eyesight. The inner circle consisting of Corinna, Dr. Dittmers and Bettge devise a new plan. After dark, a horse trailer pulls into the forest, and the hunters discharge a creature that is difficult to recognize in the dark. A pair of large red deer antlers is strapped on the head of the ominous creature that is breathing in a truly equine fashion. The ailing baron is driven into the forest in an ambulance, and his daughter helps him hold his rifle. The baron is about to pull the trigger when he is startled by a shot. The creature topples over, and the old man dies of a shock. Aradiant Stapenhorst announces on top of his lungs he finally shot a red deer. Corinna angrily shows him what he actually did shoot: A pony wearing antlers. The next day, an elderly couple find Stapenhorst hanging from a tree. They wonder why he bothered to hang himself since he had a gun. It is then revealed that they are in fact the vandalizers. After her father's funeral, Corinna seeks refuge in Prosch's domicile. They are about to kiss when Corinna notices the obvious lack of trophies in Prosch's home. He suggestively asks Corinna if she trusts him. He then reveals that he is not into collecting antlers, deer's heads "and other bones" because they are symbols of death. He then leads her into the cellar and introduces her to his large collection of animal feces. All kinds of game, from many continents, individually poly-bagged, labeled and cool-stored. When he tries to kiss her again, Corinna is visibly repelled. In his next to last scene, Brüderle is walking his dog, Nero, again, and the mutt is not on a leash. When Bettge drives by in a Kübelwagen, he confidently declares that nobody is bound by law to keep his dog on a leash as long as the dog is obedient to his master. But Bettge is interested in something else. A fragment of a red deer's shed antler Nero is carrying. He explains that the collecting of shed antlers is reserved to licensed hunters, and that, if he refuses to hand over the fragment (which might actually be a remnant of the set of antlers the pony wore) he is guilty of poaching. Brüderle believes the issue to be ridiculous and announces that he is ready to face trialwhich he does. He is fined 1200 marks for "a lesser case of poaching" we recognize the judge as one of the sandwich hunt's guests. While the final credits roll, we get to see Nero again, carrying the antler.
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By what name was Halali oder Der Schuß ins Brötchen (1995) officially released in Canada in English?
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