SummarySeventeen-year-old Franz journeys to Vienna to apprentice at a tobacco shop. There he meets Sigmund Freud (Bruno Ganz), a regular customer, and over time the two very different men form a singular friendship. When Franz falls desperately in love with the music-hall dancer Anezka, he seeks advice from the renowned psychoanalyst, who admits that th... Read More
Directed By:Nikolaus Leytner
Written By:Klaus Richter, Nikolaus Leytner, Robert Seethaler
The Tobacconist
Metascore
Mixed or Average
55
User score
Generally Unfavorable
3.8
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
55
25% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
75% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Jul 9, 2020
80
The film expertly captures the tensions in the Austrian capital on the eve of Hitler’s takeover, and it also manages to be a vibrant coming-of-age story and an intriguing portrayal of Sigmund Freud, expertly portrayed by Bruno Ganz.
Jul 9, 2020
70
In the end, what makes The Tobacconist effective despite its limitations is the way it focuses on the experience of a “typical” Austrian — that is, a citizen without political convictions.
Jul 9, 2020
60
Freud aside, this is a fairly straightforward boy-to-man narrative, but that it plays out during such a turbulent time in Austrian history brings additional texture.
Jul 9, 2020
50
Ganz has a wonderful twinkle about him that makes him perfect for Freud. If only he’d had a little something to chew on. If only the character felt like more than a Big Name afterthought.
Jul 9, 2020
50
This is a pretty movie to be sure, with attractive cinematography, period costume and production design. But the film has no political or philosophical weight, and it is ultimately a movie that is as hard to take seriously as its somewhat dunderheaded protagonist.
Jul 9, 2020
50
Nikolaus Leytner’s competent, watchable but uninspired adaptation of the best-selling novel by Robert Seethaler does have a few attractions, chiefly a heartwarming farewell performance as Freud, the famed psychoanalyst, by the great Bruno Ganz, who died last year not long after filming.
Jul 13, 2020
42
While The Tobacconist is always watchable, its inability to find meaning in a mess of uncooked symbolism prevents the movie from being worthy of Freud, and from doing justice to his parting words.
User score
Generally Unfavorable
3.8
0% Positive
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
67% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
33% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Jul 13, 2020
4
What should have been a touching and moving coming of age tale set against a turbulent time in history amidst figures who were giants in their own right struggles desperately to find its rhythm and tone. This story of a tobacconist's apprentice who befriends Sigmund Freud and seeks advice about young love at the time of **** Germany's occupation of Austria is a jumble of images and story threads mixed in with dream and fantasy sequences that never gel into a cohesive whole. The changes in mood, from light romantic fluff to serious historical drama, further confound this offering, never letting viewers know if this is something to be taken as an adolescent romp or gripping pathos. Sadly, in the end, director Nikolaus Leytner's latest feature, now available for online streaming, winds up being more confused than any of the patients on Freud's couch.
Mar 8, 2021
3
(Mauro Lanari)
During the Anschluss a 17 year old kid discovers Eros and Thanatos as he attends Freud who, already with the mouth cancer, is well predisposed towards a youthful friendship while awaiting for his own exile in London: is a more literary plot conceivable? In fact, the film is the adaptation of an international bestseller with 3 narrative lines that strive in vain to reinforce each other. Then the director follows the book not making audiovisual contributions worthy of the name, and even the transcribed dreams reveal their origin on a page and the subsequent clumsy cinematic rendering.
Production Company:
- Epo-Film Produktionsgesellschaft
- Glory Film
- TOBIS Film
- ARD Degeto Film
- Perathon Film-und Fernsehproduktions GmbH
- FilmVergnuegen
Release Date:Jul 10, 2020
Duration:1 h 57 m
Awards
Austrian Film Award, AT
• 4 Nominations
CineLibri International Book and Movie Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
CIVIS Media Prize
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
