The Tobacconist

Released Sep 20, 2019

1h 54m

Drama

List

53%

Tomatometer

32 Reviews

58%

Audience Score

Fewer than 50 Ratings

A young man develops a friendship with Sigmund Freud during the Nazi occupation of Vienna.

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Peter Rainer

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

The relationship between Franz and Freud is somewhat interesting, but not really fleshed out terribly.

Jul 22, 2020

Full Review

Claudia Puig

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

Here is a film that takes place during one of the most dramatic periods in history, but it's surprisingly dull and bland.

Jul 22, 2020

Full Review

David Ehrlich

indieWire

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.

Rated: C-

Jul 11, 2020

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

A melodrama without pain or glory, as worn as the ashes of a cigarette. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 5/10

Apr 11, 2021

Full Review

Norman Gidney

Film Threat

In lesser hands, this might have just become another story of how change is unavoidable and why Nazis are evil. Instead, cliché is mostly abandoned, and we are given a tale rich with humanity.

Rated: 7/10

Nov 1, 2020

Full Review

Gisela Savdie

Letra Urbana

The dreams are the most vivid part of the film, but unfortunately, they don't go deeper into them [Full Review in Spanish]

Sep 19, 2020

Full Review

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Audience Member

Between 2.5 and 3 stars, it would need some more punch to escape from the own conventions it follows since the beginning.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie, despite being technically good, offers no food for thought, nor at least a message to keep.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

william k

Well-made, but somewhat stale historical drama based on a popular novel is watchable for its good cast, good settings and its suspenseful tale, but somewhat misses the light tone of the book.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A coming-of-age movie with charming characters, set in Austria. The threatening world quickly closes in and completely shakes the cast's lives up and down. The 30's aesthetics and mindsets make you feel transported to that time, with all its beauty and ugliness.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

brent m

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 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.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

El vendedor de tabaco [2019]

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

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Nikolaus Leytner

Director

Simon Morzé

Franz Huchel

Bruno Ganz

Prof. Sigmund Freud

Johannes Krisch

Otto Trsnjek

Emma Drogunova

Anezka

Karoline Eichhorn

Anna Freud

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Synopsis

A young man develops a friendship with Sigmund Freud during the Nazi occupation of Vienna.

Director: Nikolaus Leytner
Screenwriter: Klaus Richter, Nikolaus Leytner
Distributor: Menemsha Entertainment
Production Co: Epo-Film Produktionsgesellschaft, Glory Film
Genre: Drama
Original Language: German
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 20, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 1, 2021
Runtime: 1h 54m

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