Narziss und Goldmund

Spiritual insight can rarely be brought to the screen. Dreyer, Bresson and sometimes Rohmer achieved it, but good though this director is and visually exciting though the film is it is a banal rendering of Hermann Hesse. I do not think any of his books can be brought to the screen because all our visual pictures of his books are different to each person's inner screen: the imagination. The opening music tried to establish a ' religious ' feel and so did the scenery behind it. A brave attempt to attract an audience to Hesse, but sadly in our current era ( certainly in the UK ) this very great author has lost his appeal. Even in the 1970's when he was distorted by ' hippie ' culture and very popular he was distorted. A 4 for the director for trying.

A very nice try to adapt the novel of Hermann Hesse . The only small problem remains the novel itself.The work of Hesse remains only for its readers. The cinematography is contained by the pages , lines, phrases and words. Because the film is a decent one, with not small potential to be perceived as good , only if you ignore the book. The music has the desire to propose a sort of aura , the story itself becomes one of too many about forbitten feelings and new forms of comradery. But it is beautiful and a real nice try to give the essence of a splendid novel.

Just watched this movie and need to express my admiration for the costumes, the set design, the casting and the cinematography. The world the the story is set in feels very real while having a very distinguished look and poetic feel to it. Unfortunately everything else is falling a bit flat and tends to get a bit boring and stiff.

I probably would have switched it off half way if the role of Goldmund would not have been cast with such a beautiful (and fortunately mostly lightly dressed) handsome young actor. *sigh* Actually a 5 star movie but adding one for the beauty of the film and one for the sex appeal of the leading role.

I read the Hesse novel fifty years ago and can no longer remember it. However, whether this beautifully photographed film adheres closely to the original text is not important. The director and his brilliant cinematographer have created a series of scenes that engage the viewer and move effortlessly to the ultimate denouement. Actors, costumes, sets, and music are perfectly combined, and the film's editor never dwells too long on a take. The religious and personal feelings expressed are relevant to different viewers of our time. This little-known film deserves a much larger international audience.

I have not read the novel - although some who have seen the movie and have read the novel couldn't remember it - so I don't think there is a majority of those in the know. Still I can imagine that you have some more insights if you have read where this is going. And especially how the short stories really fit into each other.

That being said, the acting is good, the costumes are good and certain elements or stories work better than others. The friendship and some sexual adventures keep things interesting too - but it is sometimes hard to keep ones focus high or entirely interested in what is going to happen next. That would or could be a good thing I reckon: you never know where this is going to go entirely ... decent movie for someone like me and maybe you, who is not aware of the source matieral.