Youth Without Youth (2007)

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers:

Mircea Eliade (novel)
Francis Ford Coppola (written by)

Release Date:

26 October 2007 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

A love story wrapped in a mystery. Set in Europe before WWII, a timid professor is changed by a cataclysmic event and explores the mysteries of life.

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Lightning | Language | Struck By Lightning | Nazi

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Tim Roth	...	Dominic
Alexandra Maria Lara	...	Veronica / Laura
Bruno Ganz	...	Professor Stanciulescu
André Hennicke	...	Josef Rudolf
Marcel Iures	...	Prof. Giuseppe Tucci
Adrian Pintea	...	Pandit
Alexandra Pirici	...	Woman in Room 6
Florin Piersic Jr.	...	Dr. Gavrila
Zoltan Butuc	...	Dr. Chirila
Adriana Titieni	...	Anetta
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mircea Albulescu	...	Davidoglu
Dan Astileanu	...	Professor (as Dan Astilean)
Cristian Balint	...	Grenzschutz
Dragos Bucur	...	Bartender
Theodor Danetti	...	Dr. Neculache
Andrei Gheorghe	...	Taxi Driver
Roxana Guttman	...	Gertrude
Dorina Lazar	...	Cook
Rodica Lazar	...	Teller
Anamaria Marinca	...	Hotel Receptionist
Hodorog Anton Mihail	...	Doru, The Guard
Mihai Niculescu	...	Vaian
Gelu Nitu	...	Policeman
Mirela Oprisor	...	Craita
Alexandru Repan	...	Dr. Chavannes
Dan Sandulescu	...	Nicodim
Andi Vasluianu	...	Intern

Also Known As:

Jugend ohne Jugend (Germany)
L'homme sans âge (France)
Un'altra giovinezza (Italy)

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality, nudity and a brief disturbing image.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA | Germany | Italy | France | Romania

Language:

English | Sanskrit | German | French | Italian | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Ireland:15A | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Ana Aslan International Academy of Aging, Bucharest, Romania

Company:

American Zoetrope

Trivia:

The first cut was close to three hours. It contains a sub-plot shot (also included in the novella) featuring the 1938 student radicals and Secret Police associating Dominic with them. The sub-plot was ultimately dropped upon suggestion by co-editor Walter Murch in order to keep the story more personal and reaching the intended two hour movie goal.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2007-12-15)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Middle Village

Exceptional, But not for everybody

First of all, i want to express my disgust for people who bash the movie because they didn't enjoy it, or didn't "get it". I accept other people's opinions, it is a free world (most of it anyway), but please stick to just stating your opinion, don't try to change how other people feel about it.

So, in my opinion, first and foremost, if you expect a movie that has drama or action that keeps you glued to your seat, this isn't for you. The plot of the movie has nothing to do with sci-fi, war time action or drama. It is a deeply philosophical movie that appeals to the reality matrix of people, trying to immerse you into some kind of a trance, where you begin to think like the author of the book, and the main character. If you are open minded enough, or a more than average philosophical person, this movie will be quite an experience for you. I know that for me, it was.

I liked it a lot mainly because of the dream/monologue scenes, because they somehow capture the essence of human thought. The doubt, the inner contradictions, the good and the bad sides of the same person. Things that most or all of us do, maybe not in a such out-of-body experience, but it does happen.

I don't want to give to much away, because half of the movie's effect on you has to do with the fact that it catches you off-guard.