Youth Without Youth (2007)

A love story wrapped in a mystery. Set in World War II Europe, a professor is changed by a cataclysmic event and explores the mysteries of life.

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers:

Mircea Eliade (novel), Francis Ford Coppola (screenplay)

Stars:

Tim Roth, Alexandra Maria Lara, Bruno Ganz

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Tim Roth	...	Dominic Matei
Alexandra Maria Lara	...	Veronica / Laura / Rupini
Bruno Ganz	...	Prof. Roman Stanciulescu
André Hennicke	...	Dr. Josef Rudolf
Marcel Iures	...	Prof. Giuseppe Tucci
Alexandra Pirici	...	Woman in Room 6
Adrian Pintea	...	Pandit
Florin Piersic Jr.	...	Dr. Gavrila
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mircea Albulescu	...	Davidoglu
Dan Astileanu	...	Professor (as Dan Astilean)
Cristian Balint	...	Grenzschutz
Dragos Bucur	...	Bartender
Zoltan Butuc	...	Dr. Chirila
Theodor Danetti	...	Dr. Neculache
Andrei Gheorghe	...	Taxi Driver

Storyline

Christmas Eve, 1937, Piatra Neamt, Romania: Dominic Matei, a 70-year-old professor, contemplates suicide. The love of his life is dead, and he remains unable to complete his life's work on the origins of language. On April 24th 1938, Easter Sunday, he takes a train to Bucharest to kill himself, but suddenly he's struck by lightning. After a slow recovery, he miraculously grows younger and gains superhuman powers. WWII breaks out and Romania's fascist dictator Ion Antonescu cooperates with Adolf Hitler. Matei must escape to Switzerland, because Nazi scientists want to use his powers...Some years later, he meets a woman who has her own passage through a lightning storm. Not only does Dominic find love again, but her new abilities hold the key to his research...Coppola's adaptation of Mircea Eliade's surreal novella is a mysterious, romantic, melancholic and humorous journey to the outer limits of space, time and identity. Dreams become reality and reality feels like a dream...

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Plot Keywords:

dream | surrealism | sheer white nightgown | wellesian | romania | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures Classics [United States]

Country:

USA Romania France Italy Germany

Language:

English Sanskrit German French Italian Russian Romanian Mandarin Latin Armenian

Release Date:

26 October 2007 (Italy)

Also Known As:

L'homme sans âge

Filming Locations:

Romania

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$28,550, 16 December 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$244,397, 28 February 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Zoetrope,SRG Atelier,Pricel

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White (some shots)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first assembly put up by associate editor Corina Stavila and her assistant Andrei Dascalescu came in at about 3 hours and 30 minutes. The next cut brought that down to 2 hours and 50 minutes. This version was trimmed a further 30 minutes, including restoring 10 minutes of scenes that had been cut; resulting in a length of 140 minutes. However, the target was to bring in the film at two hours, therefore In September 2006, editor Walter Murch worked closely with director Francis Ford Coppola to get the cut down to two hours. An early version contained for example a sub-plot, also included in the novella, featuring the 1938 student radicals and the secret police associating Dominic with them. This sub-plot and other scenes were ultimately dropped upon suggestion by Murch in order to keep the story more personal and reaching the intended two hour goal.

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Goofs

The panoramic x ray shown when the teeth of the main character start to change is obviously from a 12 years old person as are clearly visible temporal molars (that are not present in adults) and their adult successors.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dominic: [voice over] Sometimes... I admit to myself that it's possible... I will never be able to finish my life's work. My one and only book. And that in the end... without her... I will be nothing. And I will die alone.
[cries]

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: I Am Legend/Alvin and the Chipmunks/The Perfect Holiday/Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street/Youth Without Youth/The Kite Runner (2007)

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Soundtracks

Yo Sin Ti (Me without You)
Composers: Osvaldo Golijov, Arturo Castro
Artists: Bucharest Metropolitan Orchestra, Radu Popa
Kalman Balogh, Cimbalom
Kayhan Kalhor, Kamancheh
Michael Ward-Bergemann, Accordion

User Reviews

A heavy and complex movie with deep philosophical implications

I was flabbergasted to see that a lot of the comments for this film were negative. The fact that the movie is not of a commercial nature doesn't make it bad, it just makes it less accessible. In this manner, it is just as bad for movies as a science paper is for publications.

Anyway, the film is based on a book of Romanian Mircea Eliade, one that I didn't read. Actually, I didn't read most of Eliade's work for the very reasons people bad mouthed this film. Then I entered adolescence :-P.

The film, though, is a resounding success to me. Not only that it is well done, but at the end of it, it let me wanting to understand more and to read the book. Maybe I will one of these days. As the film is impossible to summarize here, I will get to a quick conclusion.

Bottom line: a heavy feeling film, with a complex script and a lot of philosophical ideas of Eliade's scattered through the story; also some of his personal obsessions: orientalism and the loss of the love of his life. I personally think it was a great movie, but it became a bit confused at the end.