Der junge Karl Marx (2017)

	Also Known As: Le jeune Karl Marx
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Raoul Peck
	Actors: August Diehl, Stefan Konarske, Vicky Krieps, Hannah Steele, Olivier Gourmet
	Country: D, F, B
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 03.03.2017, Schauburg, German/French/English version
Synopsis: Karl Marx (Diehl) is 26 when he embarks with his wife, Jenny (Krieps), on the road to exile. In 1844 Paris, he meets Friedrich Engels (Konarske), an industrialist's son, who investigated the sordid birth of the British working-class supported by Mary Burns (Steele). Engels, the dandy, provides the last piece of the puzzle to the young Karl Marx's new vision of the world. Together, between censorship and the police's repression, they will develop the labor movement inspired by French Proudhon (Gourmet) into a modern era.
Review: I wanted to watch this movie as Karl Marx is always subject of stereotypes from both right-wing and left-wing people. When he also was a human being. And this exactly what the movie presents. A human being, stubborn, in admiration for his wife. A friendship that did not start well with Friedrich Engels but blossomed after some nights spent together drinking and chatting. And also by the way, the creation of a European movement. I liked the story a lot. It feels really real as, from my experience, friendships are indeed often built like this.  The place of women is important as well even if the focus is the friendship Marx and Engels. Both women are the trigger to their vocation, are what they admire the most, are the sources of the inspiration and the communist principles. Even if Jenny Marx has much more dialogues than Mary Burns and a place on the poster, both have a great role. The acting was really good. The four characers are good and reflect the internationality of these times, where both capitalist go to invest where it is worth (here German capitalist in England) and intellectuals go where they are free to speak (here in Paris, Brüssels and London). Several languages are spoken by the actors. The characters had to travel or better said to flee from one place to another. I believe that the directing was not an easy project management as it is shot in several countries, it uses several languages, it cast actors from different nationalities and languages. And the artistic focus has been kept with an excellent cut.
Rating: 7 /10 Q&A with August Diehl in the Schauburg (picture from the Facebook page of Schauburg) During the Q&A many people asked about or discussed the political realism, most of them regretting that specific aspects of Karl Marx or Friedrich Engels political life have not been presented. As the actor Ausgut Diehl could not discuss the political context, he had to pass these questions. By luck he appreciated the questions on the internationality of the characters, on the position of Jenny and May with their men. August Diehl in front of the Kino Schauburg (picture from the Facebook page of Schauburg)