Young Goethe in Love

Philipp Stölzl's film covers the young Goethe failing his law examinations, being sent to the provinces, meeting Charlotte Buff there, and the birth of The Sorrows of Young Werther. Alexander Fehling plays Goethe, Miriam Stein plays Lotte and Moritz Bleibtreu plays Kestner. The film deliberately mixes historical fact with the novel's fiction, and that is what drew the most criticism. Goethe did not fail at law; he took his degree and was entitled to practise. His relationship with Lotte never went beyond the platonic. He did not fight a duel with Kestner and was therefore never imprisoned for it. The duel in the film is entirely invented. Jerusalem's suicide, on the other hand, is real, and it is where the novel came from. What this amounts to is not Goethe's life but Werther's fiction projected back onto it. Knowing that going in makes the film more interesting. Who it is for: viewers who enjoy costumed period romance and films that brush against literary history. Who it is not for: anyone seeking biographical accuracy, with which this takes considerable liberties.