Thursday, August 30, 2012

Young Goethe in Love

Young Goethe in Love (2010) starring Alexander Fehling, Miriam Stein. Young Goethe (Fehling) is a failure at literature, and at law school, so his father sends him away to the boondocks to serve an apprenticeship as a lawyer. While there, Goethe falls in love with Charlotte (Stein) and has an ardent romance with her. But her father promises her to another man, because the family needs the money the other can provide. In the end, Goethe produces his first, immensely popular novel but loses the girl. The movie, as it turns out, is largely fictional -- not a true biopic at all. It takes it till the halfway point to get interesting, and even then it is only marginally involving for American tastes. It's a German film, after all, and it is in Germany that Goethe has a literary reputation second only to Shakespeare. To me, the movie seemed rather stiff and Germanic. It's in German, with English subtitles. Grade: B-

No comments: