Wild At Heart
Even as an ex-English major I never really got into Goethe with the exception of "Faust". However, he was a really fascinating person who was not only a writer but an pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist and polymath. He was a large figure in German literature who was not only a big celebrity but was also a huge influence on future generations of writers, composers and philosophers. The movie "Young Goethe In Love" by Philipp Stolzl however doesn't really cover too much of his more famous works but rather sets its focus on a young Goethe at the start of his literary career.
The film starts showing a young Johann Goethe (Alexander "Inglorious Basterds" Fehling) failing his exams in legal studies at Strassburg and then getting a rejection letter for one of his plays. His father, upset at supporting Johann's failed hope of writing and his failure to take his studies seriously, sends him to a small town in Wetzlar to become the assistant to the district attorney. Here he befriends the outcast Jerusalem who introduces him to the night life of the town. This brings him into contact with the lovely Lotte (who inspires his poetry which inspires the story "The Suffering of Young Werther", which is the book which makes him famous and gets his career rolling).
Lotte is a poor girl who watches over her family since her mother passed, but has a lovely smile, independent air and a beautiful voice which attracts the attention of Albert (Moritz "Run Lola Run" Bleibtreu) Kestner who is Goethe's superior. As Goethe is wooing young Lotte, Kestner is working with Lotte's father to secure a marriage which will stabilize the family. Lotte is then forced to choose between her heart (Goethe) and what is best financially for her family (Kestner). Despite the heartbreak, Goethe finds his story published and goes back to Frankfurt with his father to find he is now a famous writer when his story about his love of Lotte gets published.
While the film takes a lot of freedom with historical accuracy, the character are engaging and the locations work wonderfully to create a truly realized atmosphere for the characters to move around in. If you want to truly learn about Goethe, go to the library and do some research. If you want a movie that captures part of the spirit of his works and life, this movie just might be what you are looking for. The ending might be a bit too neat, but the trip is well worth it as everyone involved did a great job bringing this light-hearted pseudo-biopic to the screen. "Young Goethe In Love" opens today at the Main Art Theatre.
I give the movie a B+
