Vor der Morgenröte (2016) Reviews

• Fine effort but not engrossing enough

  guy-bellinger2016-10-09

  'Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe' is a movie which, although a good one, left me slightly unsatisfied. I was interested, at times impressed, at others amused by Maria Schrader's film, but in the end, not totally conquered. * Interested because Zweig is among my favorite writers and my being given the opportunity to revisit his life and ideas (even if in a restricted manner like here) could not possibly leave me indifferent. Moreover the cast, composed of Austrian, German and Portuguese actors, is chosen to perfection. Josef Hader embodies the great writer most convincingly and Barbara Sukowa as Friderika, his ex-wife, is her usual competent self. As for Aenne Schwarz, she reveals an engaging personality as Lotte, Stefan's second wife. * Impressed by the virtuosity of director Schrader (the dazzling opening sequence set at the Jockey Club ; the closing one leaving the vision of Zweig and Lotte's dead bodies off-camera except for a transient reflection in the mirror of a wardrobe). * Amused by the indescribable humor of the long sequence staging the botched reception of Stefan and Lotte in a remote village of Bahia State, the plump henpecked mayor delivering a clumsy address under the control of his domineering wife, followed by the harrowing performance of a local brass band striking up to play one of the worst versions of "The Blue Danube" ever to be heard. A comical episode but in no way gratuitous insofar as it reinforces the notion that Zweig is in awkward position, at once fascinated by his adopted country and lost in deep, irremediable uprooting. So what accounts for the slight feeling of insatisfaction that was mine after viewing the film: too many speeches perhaps (what is indeed less humane than these exercises in rhetoric convincing only the convinced and leaving the others listening distractedly and yawning discreetly ?); the narrative process chosen (Zweig's life from 1936 to 1942 presented in five barely related episodes and an epilogue) not allowing to know Zweig intimately enough? For example, I would have liked to know on what grounds Zweig had divorced Friderika, how he formed a new couple with Lotte, how Stefan persuaded Lotte to follow him in death... I dare say that to avoid being accused of making a merely illustrative biopic told in chronological order (the critics' latest pet aversion), some filmmakers tend to uselessly break down temporality. This is precisely what, in my case, lessened the emotional impact of this otherwise thought-provoking film. A little more continuity would have resulted in a little more adherence to the story and its characters, a must-be when one deals with such a connoisseur of the human soul as Zweig. But those are only reservations, not a rejection of the movie. Even with what I consider its shortcomings (not everybody's point of view for that matter, 'Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe' remains a respectable work, which will not make you waste your time.

  More

• An almost documentary account of the exile dilemma of Stefan Zweig and many other German artists during the difficult nazi years.

  clanciai2017-07-03

  This is a very sad film, but if the ambition was to give as correct and truthful a picture as possible of Stefan Zweig's exile dilemma, it has succeeded overwhelmingly well. The character of the film is as close to documentary as a feature film can be, it is almost overly realistic in catching every day life scenes of the author and his friends and family, and the introductory scenes in South America, especially the Pen conference in Buenos Aires in 1936 give insight enough into Stefan Zweig's public standing and views and his definite refusal to take any political standing at all. That was maybe his life's tragedy, he wanted to keep it pure of any commitment for or against any worldly state and ideology, but in the end he was forced to abandon his idealism to finally take a stand against nazism in his autobiography "The World of Yesterday" and his last work "Schachnovelle". That could be seen as a personal moral bankruptcy in giving up his idealistic view of humanity, and he committed his suicide almost directly after finishing the story. It was found after his death. Of course, a film like this can't tell the whole truth but only give glimpses of it, but the glimpses are accurate and expressive enough and give a fairly good view of the whole picture. He actually contemplated suicide already much earlier in his career, he even asked his first wife Friederike to join him in suicide, but she had her two daughters (from a previous marriage) to live for, while his second wife was free to join him. It's a beautiful picture for its infinite melancholy expressed only in suggestions but giving a very accurate interpretation of the very complex and tragic case of Stefan Zweig, who was the greatest writer of his time.

  More

• Sooo sad

  qeter2016-08-09

  Josef Hader is one of the best actors you will ever see. Believe it. If you do not know anything about Zweig and if you want to see Hader acting, because you have not seen him before than go for this one. It is entertaining enough to sit it through somehow. And Hader is - as always - a magnet to the eyes. But apart from Haders's acting this movie is a disaster. Zweig's life has so much potential, but Maria Schrader decided to show Zweig's inner struggle with his emigration from Europe to America in 5 or 6 long snapshot-dialogues. And to deliver the message with everything what happened in Zweig's life, Schrader was forced to bend the talking in the dialogues in such a way that all information was said in some sort of everyday tittle-tattle between Zweig, his wives, and other people. So the movie gets very artificial and artistically forced. And so we got tired in our seats. It would have been much better to make a mock-documentary about Zweig (with Hader). Anyway, for lovers of great acting I recommend it, but only because of Hader's unmissable acting: to be honest, Hader could play an old sneaker resting for years in a shoe box and it would still be worthwhile seeing it.

  More

• As specific as it gets, but still a good achievement

  Horst_In_Translation2016-08-21

  "Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe" or "Vor der Morgenröte" is a co-production between Austria, Germany and France and this is also the reason why this film include several languages, not only German, French and English, but also Portuguese as the majority of the film plays in Brazil. The English title already gives away that this is a movie about writer Stefan Zweig, but this is definitely not a biopic as it is about his final years, you could even say about his final two years if you ignore the very first act taking place in the 1930s. And 1930s and 1940s should already tell you that the Nazis and the War play a huge role in here, even if you never see them and the action takes place far far away from Nazi Germany and World War II. Zweig says on one occasion that he cannot comment on or judge anything that takes place so far far away and also I as an audience member had the impression of being very far away like Zweig all the time. But first things first: The title character is played by Josef Hader, one of Austria's finest actors for sure, maybe even my personal favorite. German film buffs will find more familiar faces in here, such as Hübner, who shines in his one scene, Sukowa, Brandt and Szymanski. Fittingly with the language, there are also quite a lot Portuguese actors in here. This 105-minute film is definitely a drama, even if here and there you may find a moment or scene that will put a smile on your lips, such as the Mayor of a small town providing a warm welcome and reception for Zweig, which may have been the biggest comedic sequence of the movie. Hader shines as Zweig here for sure and it baffles me to see Sukowa get the only awards recognition here. She was as much over-the-top as she frequently is and lacks convincing subtlety completely once again, something she often does and it's ridiculous how awards bodies still see her approach as something artistic. Schrader, on the other hand, I have never been a big fan of either and I still think she is not a good actress, but here she delivers in the writing and directing department in a way that I definitely think she is among Germany's best female filmmakers these days. Nice to see her get a German Film Award nomination for it. As a whole, I already wrote in the title that this is a very specific subject, the last years of Zweig, but at the same time it is a very complex one and I believe this film elaborated on this subject convincingly. It also shows how it is still possible to make good films about World War II if you find and follow the right idea. Schrader did here and she also found the perfect lead actor for the part. I would not say Hader saves this from being a bad watch, but he elevated the material considerably. But maybe that's also my personal bias speaking as I like him a lot like I said earlier. The film was maybe at its weakest when it moved away from Brazil to the United States for one sequence, but even this part was not really that bad, just not as interesting as the previous parts. I would disagree with the final part being described as an epilogue. Either leave it out or make it an act on the same level as these acts before. But I did like the scene when he gets a dog for his birthday and looking at his wife at that point on several occasions made obvious how bad things were already then. There is also one very telling quote there, namely when his pal comes to see Zweig and tell him that he moves to Brazil. Before that announcement and before they "physically" meet, we hear Zweig scream to him if he can help him, which shows his hopelessness with the overall situation and how he is lost outside his home in Germany, no matter how kind and caring Brazilians act towards him. So you could see the dog almost as something negative because it was the final thing that made him realize neither the love of people nor the love of animals can really make him happy again and give him a belonging far far away from home. I recommend this film here. Well done for the most part.

  More

• words are not enough

  dromasca2017-05-10

  I seldom give maximal rating to a movie. So far on, IMDb where I record my impressions about the films that I see, I have given 10 rating to only 34 films, and this list includes classical films and those that have impressed me a lot for decades. My appreciation includes a combination of what I perceive to be the artistic level of the film, its message and its ability to create emotion. Yesterday I was happy to add a movie to this list: the German film VOR DER MORGENRÖTE (which means 'Before tomorrow' or maybe 'Before dawn tomorrow') that received the English title 'Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe'. In fact, I have the impression that it has not been distributed yet in the US or England, and perhaps that explains the lack of echoes so far in relation to this film, exceptional in my opinion. If you search the Internet 'Stefan and Lotte Zweig' you arrive pretty quickly at the photo where the two of them lie dead, hand in hand, in their bed, in February 1942, in Petropolis, Brazil, after having committed suicide. This photo appears reconstituted for a second or two in the epilogue of the film. The prologue and the four episodes follow the path that Stefan Zweig, one of the great writers of Germany and the world, traveled between 1936 and 1942, and each of the episodes describes part of the premises of the fatal act. Having been raised and having lived in a world of words and ideas, of respect for people and culture, of the dialogue as the only acceptable solution to conflicts resolution, Stefan Zweig saw his world destroyed by the Nazi brutality and ignorance. His attempt to resist by words, using the weapons of the pacifist intellectual, was doomed to failure. We can imagine him in that winter between 1941 and 1942, desperate about the progress and temporary victories of the forces of darkness, reproaching to himself his lack of courage and ambiguous personal positions in the face of evil, the fact that he was unable or unwilling to help those in deadly danger, sharing the complex of the survivors, and lacking the resilience and power to continue to live to see the victory of Good. The director of the film is Maria Schrader whom I met as actor in one of the main roles, the Stasi spy manipulator in the excellent 'Deutschland 83' series. She manages to build on screen the personality and especially the human dimension of Stefan Zweig, with his dilemmas and weaknesses, helped by Tomas Lemarquis's master acting. I found excellent the description of Zweig's attitude towards his two countries: Germany, in whose language and culture he never ceased to live, and which he could not condemn even when the Nazis became rulers, and Brazil, which sheltered him and which he idealized and flattered in one of its last books, perhaps too much, maybe a little because of opportunism or maybe only as recognition for saving his life. Cinematography is not based on words alone. The prologue and the epilogue are two outstanding pieces of cinema. In the prologue we see Zweig taking part in a banquet given in his honor in Brazil in 1936, in which he speaks in praise of Brazil as a country of the future and exults its multiculturalism and the equality of all citizens of all colors. But all participants at the reception, and even servants, without exception, are white! The epilogue is a masterpiece, shot in a single frame, with multiple planes made with a mirror. After policemen, neighbors, friends understand the tragedy, investigate, say goodbye, someone says a Jewish prayer. Then in the deserted room, enters the maid, a black woman, and she says Pater Nostrum. And she leaves, obscuring the frame. Cut.

  More