The English had Young Shakespeare in Love. Now the Teutonic version has arrived. Just how did Goethe’s writings launch a thousand lovesick suicides? This semi-biographical movie attempts to give an explanation. Before the German writer became one of the most influential figures in literature he was a failed law student sent to the countryside in hopes of salvaging a career. His father was worried and disappointed by his young son’s romantic leanings towards poetry and all sorts of emotional nonsense.
This film is a period piece set in the 18th century which draws heavily from the book The Sorrows of Young Werther. Starring Alexander Fehling as the German literary giant, he brings back to life the writer who failed his exams, is rejected by a publisher and sent to Wetzlar where he parties all night long. Fate has other plans and when Goethe meets Lotte Buff his reckless days are over. Just like Shakespeare, had Goethe not been heartbroken he would not have been Goethe. This is a similar theme in the 1990 Italian film, Cinema Paradiso. Love is eventually thwarted by others and it leaves a mark that inspires Goethe to historical greatness.
Not all the storylines are accurate. Director Philipp Stoelzl added some fictional scenes for effect, like a duel. It is true though that Lotte’s father did promise her to another man which made a marriage with Goethe impossible. Fortunately, it was Lotte’s love of drama that made the young Werner very much a dramatist. Young Goethe in Love is a romantic tale which reminds us that once upon a time we were all youthful and experienced a love that defines our lives. Whether Lotte was the catalyst for Goethe or simply an early muse we will never know. We do know that love can hurt us but it can also give birth to us.
ON A SCALE OF 1 THROUGH 5, THIS FILM GETS A 4.
1=I WASTED MY TIME, THEY WASTED THERE TIME
2=I DIDN’T LIKE IT, BUT MAYBE SOMEONE ELSE MIGHT
3=IT WAS OKAY, I WOULN’T SPEND MONEY ON IT THOUGH
4=THIS WAS PRETTY GOOD
5=!EXCELLENTE!, I WANT THE WHOLE WORLD TO EXPERIENCE THIS