Watch The Young Karl Marx For Free

Simply Perfect

i must have seen a different film!!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

But what's with the "young" part, which brings to mind turbulent emotional dramas rather than trenchant economic theory? Whatever else you think about Marx and his ideas, it's hard to imagine him as hot-blooded and young. Watch it if you have time.

I don't think that the film was terrible. It had decent cinematography, music, acting. I really enjoyed listening to so many different languages in the same film. It is watchable once, especially if somebody is interested in this topic and period of history. But I think it lacked any artistic vision or imagination, depth, or entertainment. I don't know if it was because the filmmakers wanted to stay very true to the historical facts (which would be understandable), but watching the film felt a little bit like listening to a very basic two-hour lecture about Marx and his work. The plot fell quite flat, without twists, without changes or even a real climax. (I guess Engels' speech in the end was supposed to be the climax of the film, but I only came to that conclusion after thinking about it for a while, since it didn't have too much emotional impact.) In the beginning, Marx works on articles and talks about his theories, after he meets Engels, they work on articles and talk about their theories with each other and others, finally, in the end, they still write articles, and talk about theories. So basically they do the same things and talk about the same things. Marx is having financial problems and has a loving wife, Engels doesn't have financial problems, and has a supporting girlfriend/wife throughout the whole movie. So their circumstances, their private lives do not change too much either. It is great for them, but not so great for the viewers. (Although I am sure that in reality they had quite a bit of drama in their lives, like Engels going against his father, their marriages, the effects of the financial problems, the eviction from France etc.) The glimpse we get into their private lives in a way feels too much, since it is portrayed in a rather uninteresting way, but it's too few to get to know them on a more "personal" level. It still feels like we see two characters who just walked out of the pages of a history book, as opposed to real living people with complex lives and feelings. If you want to know more about Marx, as a young guy, as a person I think this film doesn't do the job. If you want to know more about his work, or this part of history, you are better off reading a book, if you want to be entertained, than maybe it's also not the film for you. From a different point of view, for a commercial film, it's not really entertaining enough, for an art film, it doesn't have a point of view, and as a biographical film, it's probably not detailed enough.

The movie does a good job at a general overview of Marx'process in becoming the person he was, together with his legacy.It shows the reader how the ideas of both Marx and Engels are not some farts in the wind but indeed theoretical and even genius. They were highly educated intellectuals, which is well communicated. Marx as a critic of everything is profoundly integrated. The same goes for the friendship between them, how deep it was and how it developed: well communicated. While Marx was not as poor as the proletariat, he indeed struggled to survive and provide for his family. Something that is also shown properly. His relationship with Jenny, however, is mostly overlooked and only abstract, his kids are nearly completely left out of the picture.The ideas of Engels and Marx that are portrayed are only basic, but formulated on a level not so basic...their intellect is basically communicated too well. This movie has great potential to spread their ideas and to introduce new people to the idea of Communism, it does however take some knowledge to understand the concepts thrown around. As such the movie has failed in the way that it only deals with the top layer of their ideas but fails to clarify them clearly. Therefore it only has potential.Clothing style and the used shots and settings seem very realistic, the atmosphere feels right. The feeling of the Communist specter haunting Europe is kind of missing for the lack of any real footage of revolts/uprisings. The struggle should have been visualized.The movie is about the young Karl Marx (and Engels I would add, he is there for the most part, an intrinsic part of Marx'life), as such it is an introduction into his life. The foundation upon which his book 'Capital' has been build. Following this summary, the movie itself is also an introduction and foundation upon which could be build. With more knowledge of their work, and perhaps a better understanding as to enhance clarification, its potential could be multiplied.

This is a beautifully presented historical drama – and a political story/argument. It's based on the letters exchanged between Marx (August Diehl) and Friedrich Engels (Stefan Konarske). The film follows their friendship from their first meeting all the way until the the drafting of the Communist Manifesto. The story illuminates their arguments, their friendship, and their personal histories.Marx, played by August Diehl, in an angry way, impoverished, and looking for an argument. Engels, played by Stefan Konarske, is the wealthy fellow, a dandy and a romantic.The problem is, watching people argue about communist theories reminds me of my college days, minus the joint. It can be tedious, especially given the failure of communism. Nevertheless it's interesting if you're into politics and history. In fact it's a perfect film to show in a university course on social studies because it is, I believe, historically accurate. I would love to see someone take these characters and plop them down in present day to reflect on the course their ideas have taken. THAT would be a great talking film.