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Too Early/Too Late

Original title: Trop tôt/Trop tard
  • 1981
  • G
  • 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
5.5/10
625
YOUR RATING
Too Early/Too Late (1981)
Documentary

A sequence of shots of rural landscapes accompanied by readings of texts about the struggles of poor farmers.A sequence of shots of rural landscapes accompanied by readings of texts about the struggles of poor farmers.A sequence of shots of rural landscapes accompanied by readings of texts about the struggles of poor farmers.

  • Directors
    • Danièle Huillet
    • Jean-Marie Straub
  • Writers
    • Friedrich Engels
    • Mahmoud Hussein
  • Stars
    • Danièle Huillet
    • Bahgat Elnadi
    • Gérard Samaan
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    5.5/10
    625
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Danièle Huillet
      • Jean-Marie Straub
    • Writers
      • Friedrich Engels
      • Mahmoud Hussein
    • Stars
      • Danièle Huillet
      • Bahgat Elnadi
      • Gérard Samaan
    • 8User reviews
    • 5Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos11

    Too Early/Too Late (1981)
    William Lubtchansky, Danièle Huillet, and Jean-Marie Straub in Too Early/Too Late (1981)
    Too Early/Too Late (1981)
    Too Early/Too Late (1981)
    Too Early/Too Late (1981)
    Too Early/Too Late (1981)
    Too Early/Too Late (1981)
    Too Early/Too Late (1981)
    Too Early/Too Late (1981)
    Too Early/Too Late (1981)

    Top cast

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    Danièle Huillet
    Danièle Huillet
    • Narrator (segment A)
    • (voice)
    Bahgat Elnadi
    • Narrator (segment B)
    • (voice)
    • (as Bahgat el Nadi)
    Gérard Samaan
    • Narrator (segment B)
    • (voice)
    Gamal Abdel Nasser
    Gamal Abdel Nasser
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    • Directors
      • Danièle Huillet
      • Jean-Marie Straub
    • Writers
      • Friedrich Engels
      • Mahmoud Hussein
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      The basis for the film consists of two texts: a letter sent by Friedrich Engels to his disciple Karl Kautsky, and Egyptian intellectual Mahmoud Hussein's "Class Struggles in Egypt". At the center of each text is a discussion of the people's relationship to the land. What Straub and Huillet have done is to film the specific places mentioned in each text: for the Engels section we see shots of Paris, Mottreff, Lyon, and Harville; for the Hussein section we see the area around Cairo; and these shots are synced with a voice-over reading of the texts.
    • Connections
      Edited into Communists (2014)

    User reviews8

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    Patience, conscience, and beauty
    Featuring a justly infamous, even startling opening sequence with a tilted camera pointed out the window of a moving car that keeps driving and driving around a famous traffic circle (forget the name) in Paris for 10 odd minute - a continual 360 that never catches a glimpse of its axis, too perfect - TOO EARLY, TOO LATE is a singular meditation and extended visual metaphor on the theme of revolution (get it??) shot in a variety of locations and cities with a Marxist voice-over reading from famous selections on the subject. Quite unlike anything else you'll see and while obviously not what you'd call entertainment, some of the shooting once you get outside the city is breathtakingly beautiful. Are they trying to implicate us in this collective indifference to social ills by growing absorbed in the natural beauty of the surroundings? I'm not sure, but certainly Straub/Huillet's subtle avant-garde combo filmwork is among the most underappreciated in German and, indeed, international cinema.
    helpful•15
    11
    • CommaPolice
    • Mar 15, 2004

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • February 17, 1982 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • France
      • Egypt
    • Languages
      • French
      • German
      • Arabic
    • Also known as
      • Zu früh/Zu spät
    • Filming locations
      • Paris, Île-de-France, France
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 40 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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