Directed by: Jan Schutte On one of the last days of an exceptionally hot summer in 1956, Bertolt Brecht prepares to leave his tranquil lakeside house in Brandenburg for Berlin and the upcoming theatre season. Most of the many women in his life are there: his wife, old lovers and latest flames, including a beautiful young actress and a woman whose affections and body he shares with her political activist husband. The serenity of the country stands in stark contrast to the deep, volatile emotions of the characters: love and hatred, jealousy and egomania, betrayal and dashed hopes. In Jan Schutte's fascinating and absorbing film, Brecht (superbly played by Josef Bierbichler) struggles to make plans for a future that fate is about to cut short. a viewer's comments: Portrait of the artist as a flawed man An intimate portrait of Brecht's final days, set around tranquil surroundings which stand in contrast with the passionate emotions of the assorted characters (jealousy, betrayal, petty spite). It is an absorbing study, examining in subtle detail Brecht's relationships, the deep love (and hate) he seemed to inspire from the women in his life, as well as portraying the often casual cruelty with which he treated them, i.e. he suddenly talks to his loyal 'helper' Elisabeth Hauptmann about his work after having studiously ignored her for a week. I found it interesting how the various women in his life were often irresistibly drawn to each other (unspoken) despite their open hostilities, i.e the alcoholic Ruth and the self-effacing Elisabeth. The writer and director cleverly toyed with the relationship between the ageing Brecht, a man who fled the US before he could be indicted by MacCarthy , and Wolfgang Harich, the young dissident for whom the Stasi lie in wait in the woods. The film is the story of a great writer and flawed individual. It is about the smallness of greatness. Brecht, who wrote about the difficulty of being a good man in a bad world, is non-committal, the showcase man of letters in Communist GDR, as opposed to Harich's political idealist. As Brecht warns Harich at the end (with almost prophetic hindsight), the younger man's arrest would symbolise 'his bad conscience'. Sadly, it is a prophecy that does noawed man An intimate portrait of Brecht's final days, set around tranquil surroundings which stand in contrast with the passionate emotions of the assorted characters (jealousy, betrayal, petty spite). It is an absorbing study, examining in subtle detail Brecht's relationships, the deep love (and hate) he seemed to inspire from the women in his life, as well as portraying the often casual cruelty with which he treated them, i.e. he suddenly talks to his loyal 'helper' Elisabeth Hauptmann about his work after having studiously ignored her for a week. I found it interesting how the various women in his life were often irresistibly drawn to each other (unspoken) despite their open hostilities, i.e the alcoholic Ruth and the self-effacing Elisabeth. The writer and director cleverly toyed with the relationship between the ageing Brecht, a man who fled the US before he could be indicted by MacCarthy , and Wolfgang Harich, the young dissident for whom the Stasi lie in wait in the woods. The film is the story of a great writer and flawed individual. It is about the smallness of greatness. Brecht, who wrote about the difficulty of being a good man in a bad world, is non-committal, the showcase man of letters in Communist GDR, as opposed to Harich's political idealist. As Brecht warns Harich at the end (with almost prophetic hindsight), the younger man's arrest would symbolise 'his bad conscience'. Sadly, it is a prophecy that does noawed man An intimate portrait of Brecht's final days, set around tranquil surroundings which stand in contrast with the passionate emotions of the assorted characters (jealousy, betrayal, petty spite). It is an absorbing study, examining in subtle detail Brecht's relationships, the deep love (and hate) he seemed to inspire from the women in his life, as well as portraying the often casual cruelty with which he treated them, i.e. he suddenly talks to his loyal 'helper' Elisabeth Hauptmann about his work after having studiously ignored her for a week. I found it interesting how the various women in his life were often irresistibly drawn to each other (unspoken) despite their open hostilities, i.e the alcoholic Ruth and the self-effacing Elisabeth. The writer and director cleverly toyed with the relationship between the ageing Brecht, a man who fled the US before he could be indicted by MacCarthy , and Wolfgang Harich, the young dissident for whom the Stasi lie in wait in the woods. The film is the story of a great writer and flawed individual. It is about the smallness of greatness. Brecht, who wrote about the difficulty of being a good man in a bad world, is non-committal, the showcase man of letters in Communist GDR, as opposed to Harich's political idealist. As Brecht warns Harich at the end (with almost prophetic hindsight), the younger man's arrest would symbolise 'his bad conscience'. Sadly, it is a prophecy that does not take long to be fulfilled Josef Bierbichler .... Bertolt Brecht Monika Bleibtreu .... Helene Weigel Jeanette Hain .... Kathe Reichel Elfriede Irrall .... Elisabeth Hauptmann Margit Rogall .... Ruth Berlau Samuel Fintzi .... Woolfgang Harich Rena Zednikova .... Isot Kilian Birgit Minichmayr .... Barbara Brecht Tilman Gnther .... Stasi officer Paul Herwig .... Manfred Weckerth Claudius Freyer .... Peter Palitsch Emanuel Spitzy .... Pioneer Slawomir Holland .... work after having studiously ignored her for a week. I found it interesting how the various women in his life were often irresistibly drawn to each other (unspoken) despite their open hostilities, i.e the alcoholic Ruth and the self-effacing Elisabeth. The writer and director cleverly toyed with the relationship between the ageing Brecht, a man who fled the US before he could be indicted by MacCarthy , and Wolfgang Harich, the young dissident for whom the Stasi lie in wait in the woods. The film is the story of a great writer and flawed individual. It is about the smallness of greatness. Brecht, who wrote about the difficulty of being a good man in a bad world, is non-committal, the showcase man of letters in Communist GDR, as opposed to Harich's political idealist. As Brecht warns Harich at the end (with almost prophetic hindsight), the younger man's arrest would symbolise 'his bad conscience'. Sadly, it is a prophecy that does not take long to be fulfilled Josef Bierbichler .... Bertolt Brecht Monika Bleibtreu .... Helene Weigel Jeanette Hain .... Kathe Reichel Elfriede Irrall .... Elisabeth Hauptmann Margit Rogall .... Ruth Berlau Samuel Fintzi .... Woolfgang Harich Rena Zednikova .... Isot Kilian Birgit Minichmayr .... Barbara Brecht Tilman Gnther .... Stasi officer Paul Herwig .... Manfred Weckerth Claudius Freyer .... Peter Palitsch Emanuel Spitzy .... Pioneer Slawomir Holland .... Stasi officer Piotr Kryska (II) .... Stasi driver Also Known As: Abschied (1999) (Germany: working title) Buckower Elegien (2000) (Germany: working title) Farewell, The (2000) (Canada: festival title English title) Country: Germany / Poland Language: German with English subtitles Color: Color Duration: 93 mins
