Movielogr
Lotte in Weimar (1975)
Directed by Egon Günther
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.
Length 125 minutes
Actors
Lilli Palmer | Martin Hellberg | Rolf Ludwig | Hilmar Baumann | Jutta Hoffmann | Katharina Thalbach | Monika Lennartz | Norbert Christian | Hans-Joachim Hegewald | Walter Lendrich | Dieter Mann | Angelika Ritter | Annemone Haase | Gisa Stoll | Christa Lehmann | Linde Sommer | Sonja Hörbing | Victor Deiß | Hans-Dieter Schlegel | Peter Köhncke | Wilhelm Gröhl | Fred Delmare | Wolfgang Greese | Thomas Neumann | Barbara Brecht-Schall | Axel Triebel | Martina Servatius | Hilmar Eichhorn | Thomas Thieme | Manuela Marx | Berko Acker | Klaus Manchen | Heinz-Dieter Knaup | Paul Arenkens | Hannes Stelzer | Horst Giesen | Heinz Laggies | Friedrich Teitge | Werner Kanitz | Jörg Gillner | Jochen Diestelmann | Birgit Edenharter | Ilse Voigt | Klaus Schleif