The Tobacconist

Name: The Tobacconist
Genre: Drama, History, War
Released: July 10, 2020
Duration: 117 min
Rating: 55
Cast: Bruno Ganz, Christoph Bittenauer, David Altman, Emma Drogunova, Gerti Drassl

2020

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Mixed or average reviews based on 8 Critic Reviews

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The Tobacconist (US Trailer 1)

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Movie Details & Credits

Kino Lorber | Release Date (Streaming): July 10, 2020 | Not Rated

Starring: Bruno Ganz, Christoph Bittenauer, David Altman, Emma Drogunova, Gerti Drassl, Haymon Maria Buttinger, Johannes Krisch, Karoline Eichhorn, Michael Fitz, Regina Fritsch, Simon Morzé

Summary: Seventeen-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 admitsSeventeen-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 the female sex is as big a mystery to him as it is to Franz. As political and social conditions in Austria dramatically worsen with the Nazis’ arrival in Vienna, Franz, Freud, and Anezka are swept into the maelstrom of events. Each has a big decision to make: to stay or to flee?… Expand

Director: Nikolaus Leytner

Genre(s): Drama, History, War

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 117 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

Stephen Farber

Jul 9, 2020

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. Read full review

Peter Debruge

Jul 9, 2020

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. Read full review

Nikki Baughan

Jul 9, 2020

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. Read full review

G. Allen Johnson

Jul 9, 2020

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. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Jul 9, 2020

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. Read full review

Teo Bugbee

Jul 9, 2020

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. Read full review

IndieWire David Ehrlich

Jul 13, 2020

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. Read full review

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Brent_Marchant

Jul 13, 2020

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 adviceWhat 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 Nazi 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.… Expand

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