Seventeen-year-old Franz journeys to Vienna to apprentice at a tobacco shop. There he meets Sigmund Freud, 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.
“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.” — Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter
directed by
Nikolaus Leytner
Nikolaus Leytner
written by
Klaus Richter (screenplay), Nikolaus Leytner (screenplay), Robert Seethaler (novel)
Klaus Richter (screenplay), Nikolaus Leytner (screenplay), Robert Seethaler (novel)
with
Simon Morzé, Bruno Ganz, Johannes Krisch, Emma Drogunova
Simon Morzé, Bruno Ganz, Johannes Krisch, Emma Drogunova
language
German, Czech
German, Czech
country
Austria, Germany
Austria, Germany