''Youth Without Youth'' is a 2007

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novella of the same name by

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n author

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religiou ...

. The film is a co-production between the United States, Romania, France, Italy and Germany. It was the first film that Coppola had directed in ten years, since 1997's '' The Rainmaker''. The film opens in 1938, with an elderly Romanian professor contemplating suicide. He is struck by

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

, and consequently finds himself rejuvenated. He subsequently develops

psychic powers This is a list of alleged psychic abilities that have been attributed to real-world people. Many of these abilities pertain to variations of extrasensory perception or the ''sixth sense''. Superhuman abilities from fiction are not included. Psyc ...

, which attract the attention of Nazi agents. He flees to Switzerland, where he meets a

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is ...

of his past lover. He discovers information both about her various past incarnations, and about the evolutionary potential of humanity. The film premiered at the 2007

Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'O ...

. It was distributed through

Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom. It distributes, produce ...

in the United States (where it was released on December 14, 2007) and by

Pathé Distribution Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest film equipment ...

in France. The music was composed by Argentinian classical composer

Osvaldo Golijov Osvaldo Noé Golijov (; born December 5, 1960) is an Argentine composer of classical music and music professor, known for his vocal and orchestral work. Biography Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family ...

. In an interview, Coppola said that he made the film as a meditation on time and on consciousness, which he considers a "changing tapestry of illusion", but he stated that the film may also be appreciated as a beautiful love story, or as a mystery.

Plot

In 1938, Dominic Matei is a 70-year-old professor of linguistics. He is pining after the love of his youth, Laura. He subsequently travels to Bucharest, the city where he and she met at university. Feeling that his fruitless search for the origin of human language has condemned him to a solitary, wasted life, Dominic is intent on committing suicide after this one last journey. However, he is abruptly yet non-lethally struck by lightning while crossing the street. In hospital, Professor Stanciulescu informs Dominic that, much to both their surprises, the lightning appears to have regenerated him into a much younger man. Soon after, while residing at the Professor's home, Dominic also discovers that he possesses strange, psychic capacities. As Romania is invaded by Nazi Germany, Doktor Josef Rudolf begins to show an interest in Stanciulescu's miracle patient. Since Dominic's budding powers have blurred his perception of reality, he is bamboozled into mistaking a Nazi spy known only as the Woman in Room Six for an erotic fantasy. They spend their nights together, and she discovers that he has developed a talent for speaking in tongues. Meanwhile, invisible to human eyes, an alternate persona presents itself to Dominic as his "Other" from outside space and time. When Dominic asks for proof, the "Other" obliges by bringing him two roses out of nowhere. Unbeknownst to Dominic, Stanciulescu has witnessed the event and overhears his friend ask himself, "Where do you want me to put the third rose?" Understanding the Nazis' designs, Stanciulescu persuades Dominic to escape from Romania. Living like a spy, Dominic eventually winds up in Switzerland towards the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. There he is confronted by Doktor Rudolf at gunpoint in an alleyway. Rudolf argues that Dominic's existence supports the Nazis' ideal of the superman, and that the coming nuclear conflicts can only be survived by a superior species of man. In the background, the "Other" confirms this to be the case. However, in refusing to cooperate, Dominic manifests telekinetic powers which manipulate Rudolf into shooting himself. Subsequently, Dominic returns to a normal existence and resumes his linguistic research. Having realised that the lightning strike has partially lent him the capacities and knowledge of future humanity, he develops a secret language for his audio diary, to be deciphered long after the nuclear apocalypse. Many years later, Dominic encounters a woman named Veronica while hiking in the Alps. The "Other" reveals her to be the reincarnation of Laura. When the mountains are hit by a violent thunderstorm, Dominic rushes to her rescue and finds her chanting in Sanskrit, which he greets her with to gain her trust. During her stay in hospital, Veronica now identifies herself as "Rupini", one of the first disciples of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

. Suspecting she may now be afflicted with a condition similar to his own, Dominic calls the Roman College of Oriental Studies for aid. Its representatives inform him that Rupini's last act in life was to retire into a cave for meditation on enlightenment. Since the cave's location is unknown, the scholars, led by Professor Giuseppe Tucci, agree to fund an expedition to find it in India. They hope that Veronica's past self will guide them. The venture proves a success when a local Boddhisatva recognises "Rupini" and directs her to the place of meditation. Following this discovery, Veronica becomes herself again and falls for Dominic. The couple elope to Malta, where for a time, they live happily together. Dominic eventually tells Veronica in her sleep that he has always loved her. This causes Veronica to writhe in bed as if possessed. She begins chanting in a language which he does not understand. The "Other" explains that she is speaking in the ancient

Egyptian language The Egyptian language or Ancient Egyptian ( ) is a dead Afro-Asiatic language that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large corpus of surviving texts which were made accessible to the modern world following the decipher ...

, having travelled further back along the path of her past selves. For the next two weeks, Dominic learns how to control this state in Veronica. He leads her to regress ever further in time and to speak previously unknown tongues. However, Veronica's health begins to decline from exhaustion. Dominic declares that he cannot continue these sessions, or even remain close to Veronica. His proximity to her is accelerating her age. Over the objections of both Veronica and the "Other", he leaves. Despairing, Dominic returns to the town where he taught as a professor. His alter ego appears to him in a mirror and reveals the future of mankind. Nuclear warfare will unleash an electromagnetic pulse, giving birth to a new, and powerful human species. Dominic is this species' first member. Veronica symbolised the dawn of man, and he stood for the dusk. Outraged at the idea of sacrificing millions of lives in the name of evolution, Dominic shatters the mirror. Without the mirror, the "Other" vanishes. In its final moments, it yells incoherently in an unfamiliar language. In the morning, townsfolk find Dominic's body, lying dead at the bottom of a staircase. As Veronica's voice is heard echoing "Where do you want me to put the third rose?", the rose appears in Dominic's lifeless grasp.

Cast

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English actor and producer. He began acting on films and television series in the 1980s. He was among a group of prominent British actors of the era, the " Brit Pack". He made his television debut ...

as Dominic Matei *

Alexandra Maria Lara Alexandra Maria Lara (''née'' Plătăreanu; 12 November 1978) is a Romanian-German actress who has appeared in '' Downfall'' (2004), ''Control'' (2007), '' Youth Without Youth'' (2007), ''The Reader'' (2008), '' Rush'' (2013), and ''Geostorm' ...

as Laura, Veronica *

Bruno Ganz Bruno Ganz (; 22 March 1941 – 16 February 2019) was a Swiss actor whose career in German stage, television and film productions spanned nearly 60 years. He was known for his collaborations with the directors Werner Herzog, Éric Rohmer, Franc ...

as Professor Stanciulescu *

André Hennicke André Hennicke (born 21 September 1958) is a German actor. He has appeared in more than one hundred films since 1984. Hennicke was born in Johanngeorgenstadt in Saxony. He was awarded a German television award for best actor for ''Something to ...

as Josef Rudolf *

Marcel Iureș Marcel Iureș (; born 2 August 1951) is a Romanian actor. He is one of Romania's most acclaimed stage and film actors. He has acted in films and on stage both in Romania and internationally, and has played at least ten roles on Romanian and Briti ...

as Professor Giuseppe Tucci * Adrian Pintea as Pandit *

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...

(''uncredited'') as Ted Jones, a reporter for ''Life'' magazine *Alexandra Pirici as the woman in Room 6

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was composed by

Release

The film was released on October 26, 2007 in Italy. The original runtime was 210 minutes, then cut down to 170, then cut down to 140 minutes,

Walter Murch Walter Scott Murch (born July 12, 1943) is an American film editor, director, writer and sound designer. With a career stretching back to 1969, including work on '' THX 1138'', ''Apocalypse Now'', '' The Godfather I'', '' II'', and '' III'', ''Am ...

then cut it down to the desired 124 minutes. It was released on Blu-ray and DVD on May 13, 2008.

Reception

Box office

''Youth Without Youth'' grossed $244,397 in North America and $2.4 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $2.6 million.

Critical response

, the film holds a 32% approval rating on the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 106 reviews with an average rating of 4.80/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Although visually appealing, Coppola's latest film mixes too many genres with a very confusing plot." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' gave it high praise, writing, "In this film Mr. Coppola blurs dreams and everyday life and suggests that through visual and narrative experimentation he has begun the search for new ways of making meaning, new holy places for him and for us.". ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', however, was "disappointed" by the "mishmash plotting" and "stilted script".

Rex Reed Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic, occasional actor, and television host. He writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for '' The New York Observer''. Early life Reed was born on October 2, 1938, in Fort Wo ...

panned the film, writing, "You know a movie is doomed when the only star in it is Tim Roth. You know it's pretentious when the ads print the logo backward and upside down. Not one word of this bilge makes one lick of sense, and it is two hours and six minutes long. The only way to survive ''Youth Without Youth'' is dead drunk." Roger Ebert of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' gave the film one-and-a-half out of four stars, stating that " ere is such a thing as a complex film that rewards additional viewing and study, but "Youth Without Youth," I am afraid, is no more than it seems: a confusing slog through metaphysical murkiness." In 2016, Scout Tafoya of '' RogerEbert.com'' included the film in his video series "The Unloved", where he highlights films which received mixed to negative reviews that he believes to have artistic value. He stated that Coppola "made a film he would have wanted to see, with energy borrowed from his heroes. But this film is all him, really. What other major American director would throw out studio money just to scamper around Europe re-living the years of his father's prime? .... I saw the human struggling to change the world through his work, and the ways in which he failed himself, and I felt for him." The film was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 23rd Independent Spirit Awards.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Youth Without Youth 2007 films 2000s fantasy drama films American fantasy drama films Romanian fantasy drama films French fantasy drama films Italian fantasy drama films 2000s English-language films English-language Romanian films English-language French films English-language Italian films English-language German films Akkadian language German fantasy drama films 2000s German-language films 2000s French-language films 2000s Italian-language films 2000s Russian-language films 2000s Romanian-language films 2000s Mandarin-language films Latin-language films Armenian-language films Egyptian-language films Constructed languages Films directed by Francis Ford Coppola Films with screenplays by Francis Ford Coppola Films set in Bucharest Films set in Uttar Pradesh Films about language Films about writers Films based on Romanian novels Films based on works by Mircea Eliade Films produced by Francis Ford Coppola Films set in 1938 Films set in Malta Films set in Switzerland Films shot in Romania American nonlinear narrative films American Zoetrope films Films about Buddhism Films about reincarnation Madhyamaka Metaphysical fiction films American World War II films French World War II films German World War II films Italian World War II films Romanian World War II films Films about psychic powers Films shot in Bulgaria 2007 drama films Films about rapid human age change Films set in the Alps 2007 multilingual films American multilingual films French multilingual films German multilingual films Romanian multilingual films 2000s American films 2000s French films 2000s German films