Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Goethe!" is a 100-minute movie from Germany directed by Philipp Stölzl and he also came up with the script with 2 other writers. Moritz Bleibtreu may be the biggest star in the cast, but the lead is played by Alexander Fehling, a breakthrough performance for him. Other than these two, there are more actors in here that are known in Germany, such as Klaußner, Hübchen, Bruch and Milberg. My favorite performance, however, comes from Miriam Stein I think, the only major female character and given she has not played in a film of that dimension before, it was delightful to see how good she was, especially in the emotional parts.This 5-year-old film can certainly be classified as a period piece and there is the usual story of love vs. reason for Stein's character. Love would be Goethe, reason is Kestner. This film is as wild as Goethe himself and he and his buddy occasionally reminded me of the two hobbits from "Lord of the Rings". It was great fun to watch them. The film becomes more serious as it goes on, but I never felt it was a tragic watch, even with Goethe not getting the girl he wants. Stölzl also solved this with creativity as the film to me somehow had to end on a high note. And he used Goethe's success as a writer for this. So, everybody was somehow happy. Still, it's always difficult to watch for me and see how love was not the crucial factor in relationships back then. Totally unimaginable today.This was the second time I watched this movie and was at least as good as the first time. Stölzl is slowly moving into Germany's filmmaking elite for me. I did no like "Nordwand", but that had mostly to do with the subject of the film. I loved "The Physician" and now I also like "Goethe!". A pretty talented director and I am certainly curious about his next works. Until then, I recommend "Goethe!". Good performances, a nice story and also real characters (obviously) definitely make this one worth the watch.

Charlot47 Good-humoured and not too serious fiction about the young Goethe, tall and sometimes gawky Alexander Fehling, during his stint at a law court in the modest Hessian town of Wetzlar.There he falls for the charming, gifted and sexy Lotte Buff (Miriam Stein), but sees her marry for family reasons his rich and influential boss Kestner (Moritz Bleibtreu). He also suffers the loss of his best friend Wilhelm Jerusalem (Volker Bruch), who blows his brains out. Out of these traumas comes a passionate semi-autobiographical novel, "The Sorrows of Young Werther", which overnight makes the still unsure young man a national hero. What Lotte says of the book, that it is not objectively true "Wahrheit" but creatively poetic "Dichtung", applies also to the film. The consummation of their love in a ruined abbey, ending up entwined naked in the mud, with subsequent colds that confine them to their separate beds, is filmed realistically but remains fantasy. More than a nod to Richardson's "Tom Jones" and, in the portrayal of the immortal artist as a young dog, to Shaffer's "Amadeus".

kates4289 The premise of this movie is intriguing at best. Set in Eighteenth Century Germany, the costumes and scenery are succulent eye candy for the visual epicureans and history buffs alike. Impressively shot and beautifully acted, this movie has the potential to become a staple in any avid period piece fanatics movie library. Some historical inaccuracies aside, this German drama has the potential to be an impressive foreign film. "Goethe" could have easily become one of my favorite "feel good, need a good cry, want to escape from modern life" movie. Sadly, it will not be. The explicit and repetitive use of profanity and nudity (male and female) is unnecessary and spread throughout the movie. Listed as "Unrated", it should be given an "R" rating. A movie that could have been a real film gem was marred by the unnecessary filth added in. If you are somehow able to watch an edited version of this movie without all the junk thrown in, I would recommend it. Otherwise, it is a waste.

gregking4 Playwright, poet and author, Johann Goethe is one of the most famous German writers. This lavish production is part biopic, part colourful historical drama and part romance, but it makes for an entertaining and bawdy romp along the same vein as Tom Jones, Shakespeare In Love, etc. The film mainly concentrates on the youthful Goethe's life before he successfully published his first novel, at the age of 22, which made him the toast of Europe. When we first meet Goethe (Alexander Fehling), he is an aspiring poet. But after several rejections from publishers, who feel that his work is uninspiring, Goethe follows his disapproving father's advice and heads to the small town of Wetzlar, where he gains employment as a law clerk working for the officious Ketsner (Moritz Bleibtreu). He shares a room with a fellow law student, the boisterous and socially uncouth Wilhelm (Volker Bruch). He also falls in love with the beautiful Charlotte (Miriam Stein). But Charlotte's father is struggling financially, and arranges for Charlotte to marry Kestner. Goethe and Kestner become rivals, which eventually leads to Goethe being imprisoned. His misadventures and the doomed romance provides the material for Goethe's first novel The Sorrows Of Young Werther. Fehling (who had a small role in Inglorious Basterds) brings a rakish charm, with, energy and charisma to his performance as the irreverent, hard drinking, 17th century slacker Goethe. Bleibtreu is suitably cold as the rather dull Kestner. Stein is feisty and sassy as Charlotte. Director Phillip Stozl (the grueling mountaineering drama North Face, etc) directs the material with a light touch. He makes great use of locations to enhance the film's atmosphere. The production design is excellent, and the film's setting reek of authenticity.