FILM REVIEW : THE TOBACCONIST
{Promoted in Russia as 'My Friend Sigmund Freud or Мой Друг Зигмунд
Фрейд}
Austria/Germany 2018 Directed by Nicholas Leytmer
Based on the bestselling novel 'The Tobacconist' by
Robert Seethaler
By Stephen Wilson
"If I were you would go home young man. Here you will have nothing but
troubles" warns an old beggar when the naive young hero arrives at
the railway station in Vienna to take up work in a tobacco shop in the
late 1930's. How right the wise woman is ! The impressionable ,innocent
and inept young Franz, stumbles from one fiasco to another as he becomes
infatuated by a charismatic dancer Aneshka, played by Emma Drugunova
and asks advice from one of the tobacconist's customers who happens
to be the famous father of Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, played by
Bruno Ganz. But since Franz's boss happens to be an Austrian Jew,
against the background of the rise of the Nazis, the shop comes under
constant harassment and assault from Nazis thugs. Poor Franz has
just found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. We witness
a dramatic confrontation between the tobacconist ,{played by Johannes
Krish} , his assistant, and the Nazis. The tobacconist, a war veteran who
has lost his leg , fights to maintain his dignity against neighbors who envy
his success as a businessman.
The film 'The Tobacconist ' has a brilliant cast, the acting is superb, and
the shooting of pre-war Vienna is convincing and at times stunning.
The film poignantly captures the tense atmosphere of prewar Vienna
where people are so desperate they'll do anything to get by. The dialogue
can also be very witty and thought provoking. Austria at this time was
witnessing daily terrorist bombings of at times 40 a day, as well as
attempted political coups against a background of 37% unemployment
in 1938. Few felt safe in such volatile times.
The basic plot of the film is that Franz is sent by his mother to work for
the tobacconist after her lover is struck dead by lightning while swimming
in a lake. The tobacconist is an old ex-lover. The tobacconist is a friendly,
generous and kind man who takes Franz under his wing and shows him
the tricks of the trade. He tells Franz "We don't just sell cigars but desires
and wishes ".In other words, for many people a cigar is not simply a cigar
but a symbol of status, prestige or a means to think better. When one frail
and vulnerable customer enters the shop then leaves the tobacconist informs
Franz "That is one of our most famous customers Sigmund Freud. You have
no doubt heard of him. He fixes people's minds. " Since Freud has forgotten
to take his cigars Franz runs out to hand them to him. At that moment a
friendship is struck up . From then on Franz is constantly asking for advice
on how to woo and win the love of a girl he adores. Freud's first piece of
advice is " Go out and get a girl friend " to which Franz wisely answers " That
is easier said than done". For Franz runs out of money on his first date and
is alarmed to see his girl do a disappearing date. Franz manages to find the
work location of the girl only to be shocked into discovering she is performing
in some semi-pornographic cabaret. When he scolds her for this she retorts
"We all have to make a living somehow". To make matters worse, the Nazis
are breaking the windows of the shop, dubbing racist slogans and throwing
dead animals into the shop. Tension amounts as to 'Will the Tobacconist and
his assistant survive and can Franz win the girl of his dreams?'
Freud advises Franz to keep a dream diary where he is to write down his
dreams. The film depicts many of those dream scenes . In one scene a
naked Freud and Franz is in a rowing boat which is sinking. Franz is trying
to save Freud by getting rid of the water. Freud says "Don't worry about
me. Think about Love " .
It is worth noting that Freud is played by the late Bruno Ganz. This must
have been one of his last roles. He recently died of cancer this year. It is
interesting to observe that he was playing the role of a person , Freud, who
was also dying of cancer. Ganz was a legendary actor. He played the part
in Wim Wender's film "Angels over Berlin" {1987} as well as Hitler in the
film 'Downfall'. Ganz makes a great job in portraying the frail , vulnerable
and humane side of Freud. Freud tells Franz that "Women are like cigars.
Pull at them too hard and you lose the pleasure of them ".
Freud did not just adore cigars but was hopelessly addicted to them. At
times he could smoke a maximum of twenty a day. He never completely
gave them up even after being diagnosed with cancer. He would squeeze
a cigar into his frozen jaw by using a coat peg. Freud argued that smoking
cigars gave him the peace of mind and concentration to write his works
more effectively. Smoking them helped him to be more creative. A story
goes that when his nephew refused his offer of a cigarette Freud scolded
him with the words " My boy, smoking is one of the greatest and cheapest
enjoyments in life , and if you decide in advance not to smoke, I can only
feel sorry for you . "
Whether Ganz could ever equal Freud by emulating the frightening stare
he shot at people is debatable. Although Freud at 81 looked very brittle
weak and old, his eyes still remained potent. When he looked at you he
could look through you in a terrifying way. The Nazis once plundered his
house while he was away. They stole his money and some possessions.
But when Freud came home and saw them he shot them an angry awesome
look. It terrified them. They ran off in panic ! As Mark Edmundson writes
'His eyes, as almost everyone who knew him during those days attested,
remained potent: at times, Freud did not stare at things , so much as
through them to the other side. Overall , his presence was unnerving :
by 1938, deep into old age , Freud looked like a dark fairy tale version
of Death himself '{ page 10,The Death of Sigmund Freud, Fascism,
psychoanalysis and the Rise of Fundamentalism, Mark Edmundson,
Bloomsbury, London, 2007} . We don't see this side of Freud in the
film but his more caring and compassionate side. Perhaps this is just
as well because Freud has recently received enough hostility from
Critics.
The film shows a scene where Freud leaves Vienna for London at the
train station. But most Jews in the late 1930's could not escape. Around
the time of the Anschluss many Jews were being attacked , assaulted
and hounded by racists. They were being forced out on to the streets
to clean pavements with toothbrushes while people humiliated ,jeered
and beat them. Escaping from Austria was very complex. You faced
endless red tape. Not only did an Austrian Jew need stamped documents
from Austrian officials but proper visas from Foreign embassies. All this
cost much money which was way beyond the meager income of most of
them. When thousands of Austrian Jews boarded a train for Prague they
were turned away from the border. Many returned to face concentration
camps and detention. The wiser ones crossed the border illegally.
Freud only managed to obtain refuge in England because he had many
influential contacts such as a Princess , as well as the American government.
But Freud's friends could not save all his sisters.
The film reminds us that the attitude to fleeing refugees in the 1930's was
not any better than at this current period of time. Many Jews perished in the
Holocaust partly because of harsh immigration officials who refused to allow
refugees asylum in their countries. Britain and the Republic of Ireland refused
many applications for asylum. Not seeing any way out, many Austrian Jews
committed suicide. In some disturbing scenes we see people throwing themselves
off the roof.
The Tobacconist is worth watching although it is at times a harrowing film. When
i watched this film in a Russian cinema I noticed that the censors had dubbed out
the swastikas on the German flags hanging out of the Austrian state buildings. The
measure must have been taken to avoid being punished for inadvertently breaking
strict anti-Nazis propaganda laws in Russia. Yet the film The Tobacconist is an
explicit anti-Fascist film as well as artistic work.
