DIE THEORIE VON ALLEM review by Marinell Haegelin
© NEUE VISIONEN FILMVERLEIH
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
DIE THEORIE VON ALLEM ; THE UNIVERSAL THEORY
GERMANY | AUSTRIA | SWITZERLAND 2023 OPENING OCTOBER 26 , 2023
DIRECTED BY : TIMM KRÖGER
WRITING CREDITS : RODERICK WARICH , TIMM KRÖGER
PRINCIPAL ACTORS : JAN BÜLOW , OLIVIA ROSS , HANNS ZISCHLER , GOTTFRIED BREITFUSS , PAUL WOLFF-PLOTTEGG
Hamburg , Germany , 1974 : The TV-moderator ( Dirk Böhling ) posits a theory so different to that of Johannes Leinert ’ s ( Jan Bülow ) best-selling book — an alternate world — that the author walks offset . Director-co-writer Timm Kröger and Roderick Warich ’ s screenplay then backtracks twelve years to the Alps , where an adolescent boy ( Jonathan Wirtz ) and girl ( Vivienne Bayley ) are sledding ; ominous clouds form , a mountain emits a deep-bellied rumble , and subsequently they are in a scary tunnel .
Abruptly , the film switches to a young eager Johannes , a doctoral physics student , on his way , with his supervisor , the learned Herr Doctor Strathen ( Hanns Zischler ), to a physics congress in Switzerland . En route , the bombastic and oftentimes rude Professor Blumberg ( Gottfried Breitfuss ) boards the train and then bores them . At the Alpine hotel , the guest speaker , an Iranian scientist , does not arrive ; Dr . Strathen decides they will nevertheless remain . When Johannes accidently meets Karin ( Olivia Ross ), a jazz pianist , his world seems to mysteriously tip . There is an avalanche of unexplainable events , an unaccountable and grisly death , children in hospital , and on and on . The character that seems most consistent in its actions is the environment , which even at its scariest and / or most enigmatic is majestic to behold .
The actors fail to raise any emotional connection to their characters , so that audiences feel no attachment nor care what happens to them . But then Warich and Kröger ’ s convoluted screenplay staggers between the classic 1940s / 1950s noir drama ’ s complex plots that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations yet stay on point , with clarifying flashbacks and motivations . The storyline , by contrast , unsuccessfully inserts the theory of parallel universes , which its depiction renders elusive and incomprehensible . The film ’ s length only accentuates the storyline ’ s confusion / gaps , although it does meet aesthetic perimeters .
Just because Roland Stuprich ’ s ( outstanding ) cinematography is in black and white does not make this a film noir . Diego Ramos Rodriguez and David Schweighart ’ s felicitous score loses its effectiveness through overuse , which evinces Jann Anderegg ’ s blatant heavy-handed editing . Die Theorie von Allem ’ s many good elements , and the script ’ s attempt to intertwine classic filmmaking elements and the modern parallel worlds concept , was a bold undertaking by Kroger . Their entanglement emphasizes nonfulfillment , that leads to confusion , leading to a ponderous too-long film — too bad . 118 minutes
50 HAMBURG HAPPENINGS