Friendship of Men

Friendship of Men

85 mins | Drama, Documentary | Dec. 13, 2018

In this docudrama Rosa von Praunheim looks into Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s sexual orientation, especially into his erotic experiences during his travels in Italy. Contrary to the common belief, von Praunheim argues that Goethe was not a heartbreaker and conqueror after all. It was only in Italy, that he had diverse sexual experiences, not least with men. Von Praunheim bases his assumption on letters written by Goethe to his friend Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi about these sexual encounters. Some of the content of these letters is re-encated in the film. At the same time, historians and linguists analyse and classify the letters into their historical context.

Friendship of Men

85 mins | Drama, Documentary | Dec. 13, 2018

Friendship of Men
In this docudrama Rosa von Praunheim looks into Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s sexual orientation, especially into his erotic experiences during his travels in Italy. Contrary to the common belief, von Praunheim argues that Goethe was not a heartbreaker and conqueror after all. It was only in Italy, that he had diverse sexual experiences, not least with men. Von Praunheim bases his assumption on letters written by Goethe to his friend Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi about these sexual encounters. Some of the content of these letters is re-encated in the film. At the same time, historians and linguists analyse and classify the letters into their historical context.
Producers ARTE, MDR, Rosa von Praunheim Filmproduktion, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM)
Original title Männerfreundschaften
Directors Rosa von Praunheim
Writers Valentina Schütz, Rosa von Praunheim

Cast

Rosa von Praunheim

as Himself

Matthias Luckey

as Goethe

Valentin Schmehl

as Herzog Emil August

Thomas Linz

as von Platen / Seidel

Tobias Schormann

as Schiller

Max Conrad

as Jacobi

Sybille Enders

as Adele Schopenhauer

Petra Hartung

as Gräfin Goertz

Bernhard Jarosch

as Gleim

Sebastian Lange

as Klatschweib

Wolfgang Mirlach

as Winckelmann

Maximilian Müller

as Humboldt

Runa Pernoda Schäfer

as Sibylle Mertens

Wolfgang Bunzel

as Himself

Paul Derks

as Himself

Marco Karthe

as Himself

Andreas Krass

as Himself