The Tobacconist Movie Storyline. The focus of “The Tobacconist” is on Franz and his coming-of-age during this period, and a whimsical enlightenment hat comes with him appreciating his dreams thanks to his new friend Sigmund, and the pleasure of a cigar, thanks to his boss Otto (Johannes Krisch) and his shop.
But along with its drab color palette, too much so even for the cloudy plot developments ahead, the story is frustratingly surface-level. The spare moments that have Otto speaking philosophically of a great cigar’s power—matched with an impressively detailed shop—don’t inspire much wonder, as if the crew didn’t get the memo that a love of cigars is meant to suck us into the story, as if it were an art form.
There’s a little more imagination to the movie’s reoccurring blue-and-gray dream sequences, where overt Freudian concepts are thrown in like codes. Franz has a dream of waking up naked, or of being on a ship moving backwards that’s about to hit an iceberg. These dreams, and their significances are a glaring example of “The Tobacconist” hitting its drama right on the nose, leaving Morzé not have much to work with aside from playing up just how green he is to the rest of the world.
The Tobacconist (2020)
Directed by: Nikolaus Leytner
Starring: Simon Morzé, Bruno Ganz, Johannes Krisch, Emma Drogunova, David Altman, Christoph Bittenauer, Haymon Maria Buttinger, Karoline Eichhorn, Regina Fritsch, Erni Mangold
Screenplay by: Klaus Richter, Nikolaus Leytner
Production Design by: Bertram Reiter
Cinematography by: Hermann Dunzendorfer
Film Editing by: Bettina Mazakarini
Costume Design by:
Set Decoration by: Sarah Gerg
Art Direction by: Nicole Schmied
Music by: Matthias Weber
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Menemsha Films
Release Date: July 10, 2020
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