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Lotte in Weimar (1975)

Lotte in Weimar (1975)

Drama Comedy
Release Date: 1975, May 15
Directors: Egon Günther
Countries: East Germany
Production: DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme
Cast: Hilmar Eichhorn, Thomas Neumann, Katharina Thalbach, Thomas Thieme, Dieter Mann, Monika Lennartz, Lilli Palmer, Jutta Hoffmann, Barbara Brecht-Schall, Victor Deiß, Fred Delmare, Annemone Haase

Overview:

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was the author of Werther, the romantic novel that was transformed into a play during Goethe's lifetime and which initiated the whole German romantic movement. The book's story tells of young love and suicide. In this East German film, based on a book by Thomas Mann, Lotte (Lilli Palmer) was the woman who served as the model for the heroine in the novel Werther. She comes to Goethe's hometown for a visit, and her experiences there eerily re-create episodes from the book. Goethe comes across as a pompous old bore, and his friends as pandering sycophants, in this very proper communist party-sponsored, anti-heroic movie.