Tabu: The Soul Is a Stranger on Earth (2011)
"Tabu - Es ist die Seele ein Fremdes auf Erden" (original title)

Director:

Christoph Stark

Writer:

Ursula Mauder (screenplay)

Stars:

Lars Eidinger, Peri Baumeister, Rainer Bock

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lars Eidinger	...	Georg Trakl
Peri Baumeister	...	Grete Trakl
Rainer Bock	...	Prof. Albert Brückner
Petra Morzé	...	Mutter Trakl
Jules Werner	...	Oskar Kokoschka
Rafael Stachowiak	...	Ludwig Schubeck
Anne Metzler	...	Alma Mahler (as Victoire Metzler)
Katharina Straßer	...	Fanny (as Katharina Strasser)
Patrick Hastert	...	Apotheker
Susi Stach	...	Agnes
Christiane Rausch	...	Frau Gassner
Nickel Bösenberg	...	Conferencier
Germain Wagner	...	Buchhändler
Fabienne Elaine Hollwege	...	Dunkelhaarige (as Fabienne Hollwege)
Silvia Meisterle	...	Franziska Lichtenau

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

male frontal nudity | male nudity

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Austria Germany Luxembourg France

Language:

German

Release Date:

31 May 2012 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Für immer und ewig - Grete und Georg Trakl

Filming Locations:

Luxembourg

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eclypse Film- und Fernsehproduktions GmbH, Iris Productions, Film-Line Productions GmbH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Im wunderschönen Monat Mai"
Music by Robert Schumann
Lyrics by Heinrich Heine
Sung and Piano Accompanied by Rainer Bock

User Reviews

Romantic, but uncompelling

Fictionalized account of Georg and Margarete Trakl, with some marked deviations from the historical record which, while serving the romantic tenor of the film, diminish any claims it has on authenticity.

The acting by Lars Eidinger and Peri Baumeister is fine, and the feel of the film is very romantic, dark, as passionate as Trakl's poetry, but the story yields surprisingly little drama, and the conflict that exists is all of one note: Georg cannot live without his affair with Margarete - he *must* have her! But he *cannot* have her - their incest is a sin. Margarete meanwhile seems unfailingly devoted to Georg. There was so little development in this dynamic that by the end of the film I ceased to care about either character.

The Trakls' story takes place at an interesting juncture in Austria's history. We could have been treated to Wittgenstein, shown Georg's experiences with the military, had Margarete's drug use explained by her compromising her music for marriage, but alas the film chooses a very narrow focus and we're given the "Bruckner" character instead of Langen. Bruckner? As in Anton Bruckner? Do the filmmakers mean their work as a sort of poetic re-imagining of historical fact analogous to Georg's poetry? We are told Georg kills himself, not that he OD'd on cocaine, and that Gretl shoots herself after a party, not that she went through a fortune and died drug-addicted and destitute. And what were they thinking in closing with King Crimson's "Court of the Crimson King"??? Dramatic, sure, but English prog rock to interpret Austro-Hungarian expressionists? Huh? I think in this case sticking closer to reality would have been more interesting than the results of such lavish application of artistic license.