THE PHILOSOPHER
A film review by Thomas E. Billings
Copyright 1990 Thomas E. Billings
Synopsis: A shy, clumsy, naive and reclusive intellectual, a philosopher, meets three gorgeous, worldly women. He falls in love with one of them, and moves into an apartment with them. Very funny and witty at times, corny at other times. An amusing film, but nothing special.
West Germany (English subtitles), color, 1988, 84 minutes. Director/Writer: Rudolf Thome.
The plot of this film is rather simple. Georg Hermes is a reclusive intellectual who lives in a small, shabby apartment. His first book, a philosophical analysis of some short remnant by Heraclitus, has just been published. He is to give a reading from the book, and he needs a new suit. Off he goes to a fancy men's store, which happens to be owned by three gorgeous, worldly, and very sexy women.
The women like this clumsy, innocent intellectual. Georg falls in love with one of the women, Franziska. Soon he moves into the large, beautiful apartment shared by the women, where they wait on him and spend their time in sex. The story continues with the philosophical difficulties Georg faces; he loves all three women, but feels that he should be faithful to Franziska.
The humor in this film is very witty, something that is rather rare. It is often charming, but is also corny at times. The film is sort of a sophisticated version of those teenage "hormone movies", where a shy teenager struggles to lose his virginity. The difference here is the age and maturity level of the main characters; here it is a shy 30-year old intellectual who loses his virginity, to a beautiful and worldly woman.
This has the appearance of being a (relatively) low-budget film. There is virtually no background music. The acting is adequate, although special mention should be made of the superb performance given by Johannes Herrschmann as Georg Hermes. Georg is truly the clumsiest, most naive nerd imaginable.
The plot is rather thin, and the story really drags at times (there are sections of the film that contain little humor). This, plus the low production values, reduces the overall quality of the film. Overall, rate it as good, but not a very good.
Distribution. Part of "New Cinema from West Germany", a collection of recent German films, being presented in conjunction with The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Export Union des Deutschen Films, Munich [print source].
Reviewer contact: teb@stat.Berkeley.EDU
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