I wish IMDb.com allowed "Likes" and "Comments" the way social media allows these days. Although there were some beautiful scenes, most of the outdoor shots were stunning (I'd love to know where it was all shot, as it seems to be an idyllic land to visit), and the lead actors are all gorgeous and obviously very talented -- these riches were all just wasted on this much-too-long film. Kudos to the Casting Director, those two lead actresses could definitely pass for sisters with their mesmerizing blue eyes, and the "Schiller" character was played by a very hunky and charming actor. I didn't really need to write a movie review, because the review posted by "Trivial Tapestry" says it all. As did all the other user reviewers who agreed that "Beloved Sisters" was simply boring overall with a practically non-existent musical score.
14 Reviews
Two sisters fall in love with Schiller but can't sustain the union
maurice_yacowar5 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Beloved Sisters is a Romantic epic about the failure of Romanticism. It needs its 138-minute sweep because it's a love story that parallels the sweep of modern history.
From our current perspective Romanticism is splendid in literature, exhorting readers to huge ambitions, untrammelled individualism, unleashed emotions and the full embrace of natural. You can't complain about a movement that gave us Schiller, Goethe, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, John Lennon. But off the page and stage it can be bloody brutal. The Romantic ideals of the French Revolution soured into the anarchy, mob violence and slaughter that ensued. German Romanticism bred nationalism and we know how many lives that cost the world in 20th Century Europe and around the globe still today.
The story of Schiller's passionate affair with two sisters replays those inevitable schisms on the domestic plane. In the ironic title, the sisters start out beloved — by Schiller but more importantly by each other — then end up antagonists. Their dying mother tries to reconcile them, to more disputatious result. Their passionate triangle left several marriages in ruin, even if they remained intact.
The girls take a roaring waterfall as the emblem of their anti-conventional wills. Though Schiller can't swim he saves a little girl from drowning in a tamer current, but he has to be saved by one of the sisters and warmed back to life by both. The scene proves prophetic because all three lovers fail to navigate the tumultuous current of their pledged manage a trois.
Nice place to visit, Romanticism, but it's hard to live there. Our need for social order and responsibility won't accommodate it.
From our current perspective Romanticism is splendid in literature, exhorting readers to huge ambitions, untrammelled individualism, unleashed emotions and the full embrace of natural. You can't complain about a movement that gave us Schiller, Goethe, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, John Lennon. But off the page and stage it can be bloody brutal. The Romantic ideals of the French Revolution soured into the anarchy, mob violence and slaughter that ensued. German Romanticism bred nationalism and we know how many lives that cost the world in 20th Century Europe and around the globe still today.
The story of Schiller's passionate affair with two sisters replays those inevitable schisms on the domestic plane. In the ironic title, the sisters start out beloved — by Schiller but more importantly by each other — then end up antagonists. Their dying mother tries to reconcile them, to more disputatious result. Their passionate triangle left several marriages in ruin, even if they remained intact.
The girls take a roaring waterfall as the emblem of their anti-conventional wills. Though Schiller can't swim he saves a little girl from drowning in a tamer current, but he has to be saved by one of the sisters and warmed back to life by both. The scene proves prophetic because all three lovers fail to navigate the tumultuous current of their pledged manage a trois.
Nice place to visit, Romanticism, but it's hard to live there. Our need for social order and responsibility won't accommodate it.
Two cuts
kosmasp24 May 2015
Two cuts of the movie that is. There is the shorter cinema version and the Directors cut, which obviously is longer. And therefor more conclusive, which also makes more sense than. If you only watched the shorter version you probably won't get that. Not that this means it's a sure thing you will like the longer version.
One thing is for sure, there went a lot of thought into the design(s) of the movie. Again you might not like what you see, but the effort is there. Also our male lead has a way of speaking that fits more with a period piece like this than contemporary cinema. If you see it favorable you'll call it sophisticated. Acting in general is good, though not up to par with things Natalie Portman did of course. Still a refreshing look (with some artistic freedom/choices) back at time/history
One thing is for sure, there went a lot of thought into the design(s) of the movie. Again you might not like what you see, but the effort is there. Also our male lead has a way of speaking that fits more with a period piece like this than contemporary cinema. If you see it favorable you'll call it sophisticated. Acting in general is good, though not up to par with things Natalie Portman did of course. Still a refreshing look (with some artistic freedom/choices) back at time/history
For those who like novels
willians_franco27 August 2020
Median. A novel based on the love triangle involving the German writer Friedrich Schiller. I found the film long (almost 3 hours long) and, at one point, tiring. It's worth as knowledge about this love affair of the writer I wasn't aware of. I believe that 6 perfectly reflects the rating of this film. I like films set in the classical period, specifically in the second half of the eighteenth century. Schiller is a contemporary of Mozart and Beethoven, and during the execution of the film, listening to the soundtrack, this detail reminded me of the two composers.
trivial tapestry
kleiner_fuchs16 August 2014
(note: I watched the short version, about 140 minutes, of this film)
Beautiful landscapes, beautiful interiors with subtle natural lighting, beautiful actors and some beautiful moments don't save this film from being a serious disappointment that may be tolerable on a TV screen, but certainly not on a cinema screen.
Allegedly this is a story about passion, and early on in the film there is a promising moment when Schiller, soaking wet and half-frozen after rescuing a child out of a stream, is warmed up by the sisters clinging to his body; this was quite erotic, but sadly it remained the only erotic moment in the whole film. The director's approach to sensuality and passion here is much too buttoned up; the result is bland and soporific. You can't have women like Herzsprung and Confurius in such a film and never have them undress; this is simply inexcusable.
I won't talk about the score here; the music is so irrelevant that it doesn't even affect the film negatively. I'd like to talk about scenes: Usually, a film, be it a Hollywood film or an art film, is made of scenes; a succession of scenes, with each individual scene having a beginning, an ending, a development in between, and a relation to the preceding and to the following scenes.
Dominik Graf obviously doesn't believe in scenes. Take, for example, the beginning of his film: First shot is a close-up of Confurius sitting in a coach. I expected that I would get to know this character now and that I would be guided into the world of the film. Well, I was wrong. Suddenly an ugly voice-over starts explaining who this girl is and what she is about to do. Then we cut to something else. So what about the opening scene? There simply is no opening scene! This is terrible. Imagine a writer writing a novel and not even getting his first sentence right. The editing is terrible throughout. I remember at one point there is a cut to a wide shot of a street, and about half a second later there is another cut away to something else before we even had time to appreciate what is going on in this street. Terrible. However, the general problem concerning the editing is not that it is too fast, but (and I don't know if the writer/director or the editor is to blame for it) that the editor was incapable of giving the story a compelling structure, a recognizable rhythm. Instead of a succession of meaningful scenes we get an erratic tapestry of meaningless pretty shots, and even if these shots group themselves to a kind of individual scene from time to time, there is no weight behind it, no sense that this scene had to start at exactly this point and had to end at exactly that point. In contrast to the sad mess that "Die geliebten Schwestern" is, you may want to have a look at Kubrick's "Lolita" (there may be many other good examples, but this film comes to my mind right now as a benchmark for masterful writing): Instead of trying to cram as many scenes of Nabokov's novel as possible into the screenplay, they wrote mainly long or very long unforgettable scenes, that give the actors time to breathe and to unfold.
Bottom line: If you love the art of filmmaking and wan't to spare yourself some serious frustration, I don't recommend this one.
Beautiful landscapes, beautiful interiors with subtle natural lighting, beautiful actors and some beautiful moments don't save this film from being a serious disappointment that may be tolerable on a TV screen, but certainly not on a cinema screen.
Allegedly this is a story about passion, and early on in the film there is a promising moment when Schiller, soaking wet and half-frozen after rescuing a child out of a stream, is warmed up by the sisters clinging to his body; this was quite erotic, but sadly it remained the only erotic moment in the whole film. The director's approach to sensuality and passion here is much too buttoned up; the result is bland and soporific. You can't have women like Herzsprung and Confurius in such a film and never have them undress; this is simply inexcusable.
I won't talk about the score here; the music is so irrelevant that it doesn't even affect the film negatively. I'd like to talk about scenes: Usually, a film, be it a Hollywood film or an art film, is made of scenes; a succession of scenes, with each individual scene having a beginning, an ending, a development in between, and a relation to the preceding and to the following scenes.
Dominik Graf obviously doesn't believe in scenes. Take, for example, the beginning of his film: First shot is a close-up of Confurius sitting in a coach. I expected that I would get to know this character now and that I would be guided into the world of the film. Well, I was wrong. Suddenly an ugly voice-over starts explaining who this girl is and what she is about to do. Then we cut to something else. So what about the opening scene? There simply is no opening scene! This is terrible. Imagine a writer writing a novel and not even getting his first sentence right. The editing is terrible throughout. I remember at one point there is a cut to a wide shot of a street, and about half a second later there is another cut away to something else before we even had time to appreciate what is going on in this street. Terrible. However, the general problem concerning the editing is not that it is too fast, but (and I don't know if the writer/director or the editor is to blame for it) that the editor was incapable of giving the story a compelling structure, a recognizable rhythm. Instead of a succession of meaningful scenes we get an erratic tapestry of meaningless pretty shots, and even if these shots group themselves to a kind of individual scene from time to time, there is no weight behind it, no sense that this scene had to start at exactly this point and had to end at exactly that point. In contrast to the sad mess that "Die geliebten Schwestern" is, you may want to have a look at Kubrick's "Lolita" (there may be many other good examples, but this film comes to my mind right now as a benchmark for masterful writing): Instead of trying to cram as many scenes of Nabokov's novel as possible into the screenplay, they wrote mainly long or very long unforgettable scenes, that give the actors time to breathe and to unfold.
Bottom line: If you love the art of filmmaking and wan't to spare yourself some serious frustration, I don't recommend this one.
Gorgeous drama
sarastro716 April 2014
I saw this at the CPH PIX film festival in Copenhagen, and was very impressed. Although much of the story that is shown is speculative, it appears to be highly qualified speculation. Whether it reflects historical reality or not, it worked exceedingly well as an epic cinema drama.
As the title says, "The Beloved Sisters" is about the two sisters who loved Friedrich Schiller. Schiller himself is a kind of supporting character, as seen through the eyes of the sisters. The actresses who play the sisters are very good indeed, esp. the older one (Caroline), and it is expertly illustrated how they actually love each other more than they love Schiller.
Highlights include the scene where the sisters sit by Schiller's sickbed in the dark, and (as I interpret it) he can't tell them apart, and the reconciliation scene towards the end where Schiller stands between the sisters, and then discreetly moves away, allowing them to reconnect. Very powerful stuff.
I enjoyed this 171 minute movie immensely and can't wait to watch it again. Definitely one of the best experiences at the film festival.
My rating: 9 stars out of 10.
As the title says, "The Beloved Sisters" is about the two sisters who loved Friedrich Schiller. Schiller himself is a kind of supporting character, as seen through the eyes of the sisters. The actresses who play the sisters are very good indeed, esp. the older one (Caroline), and it is expertly illustrated how they actually love each other more than they love Schiller.
Highlights include the scene where the sisters sit by Schiller's sickbed in the dark, and (as I interpret it) he can't tell them apart, and the reconciliation scene towards the end where Schiller stands between the sisters, and then discreetly moves away, allowing them to reconnect. Very powerful stuff.
I enjoyed this 171 minute movie immensely and can't wait to watch it again. Definitely one of the best experiences at the film festival.
My rating: 9 stars out of 10.
Disappointing, gives a bad name to German cinema
Horst_In_Translation17 October 2014
Warning: Spoilers
"Die geliebten Schwestern" or "Beloved Sisters" was written and directed by Dominik Graf, a man in his 60s with a long career in TV and film industry who has worked with pretty much every big German name in terms of acting. Recently, he was responsible for the very much lauded German TV series "Im Angesicht des Verbrechens".
The three lead actors in "Beloved Sisters" come from Henriette Confurius as Charlotte von Lengefeld, Hannah Herzsprung as Caroline von Lengefeld and Florian Stetter as famous poet Friedrich Schiller. It is basically all about their triangle relationship and the other men and women in their (love) lives. The result is like a huge colorful and beautifully decorated package with a sparkling twisted bow. And without anything inside. The costumes and art directions/set decorations are all fine as far as I can be a judge of that, but that is pretty much it. The acting is forgettable, sometimes cringeworthy. The writing is shoddy from start to finish. One example: Of course the husband to the older sister had to come the very moment she was in bed with Schiller. This film is the epitome of a mediocre period piece with no memorable features at all. Confurius and Stetter did not have a single scene that wowed me and Herzsprung was the negative standout, just like in her previous schmaltzy romance movie "Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen".
I really wonder what the German Film academy was thinking when they chose this movie as the official German submission to the 2015 Academy Awards. Now this stands in line with "The Lives of Others", "The White Ribbon", "When We Leave" and, most recently, "Two Lives"? Pretty ridiculous. I am fairly certain there are 25-30 better German movies this year and looking at the shortlist ambitious projects such as Edgar Reitz' newest "Heimat" movie or "Wolfskinder" are just another league completely in terms of quality. "Beloved Sisters" is the epitome of shallow and superficial and would even be a disappointment for a movie shown on German television at 8:15 pm. Another weakness I found with the movie was the narration (coming from director Graf himself), which added nothing really. Those scenes where the protagonists were speaking with the camera (i.e. the audience) felt completely out of place and truly hurt the movie as they were thrown in so randomly and their monologues were utterly pretentious. So were the overblown dialogs. Yes people were speaking differently at that point in time, but not like that. The movie takes itself far more seriously than it has any justification to do so.
I can't even call the film a guilty pleasure as the intrigues between the sisters themselves and Charlotte von Kalb for example were simply not interesting enough to keep the audience glued to the screen, especially for a film that crosses the two-hour mark considerably. still, if you liked this, let me recommend you another recent German period piece "Young Goethe in Love", which is not a masterpiece either, but clearly superior to "Die geliebten Schwestern". I hope there will soon be a film that does Schiller's art justice as this piece of tripe certainly does not. However, in order to end the review on a more positive note, I would like to say that Claudia Messner, who played the mother of the two girls, gave a good performance and stole all of her scenes, really the only positive highlight here. Still her role is not big enough to make up for everything else that is wrong with this very flawed film and I certainly would not recommend watching it.
The three lead actors in "Beloved Sisters" come from Henriette Confurius as Charlotte von Lengefeld, Hannah Herzsprung as Caroline von Lengefeld and Florian Stetter as famous poet Friedrich Schiller. It is basically all about their triangle relationship and the other men and women in their (love) lives. The result is like a huge colorful and beautifully decorated package with a sparkling twisted bow. And without anything inside. The costumes and art directions/set decorations are all fine as far as I can be a judge of that, but that is pretty much it. The acting is forgettable, sometimes cringeworthy. The writing is shoddy from start to finish. One example: Of course the husband to the older sister had to come the very moment she was in bed with Schiller. This film is the epitome of a mediocre period piece with no memorable features at all. Confurius and Stetter did not have a single scene that wowed me and Herzsprung was the negative standout, just like in her previous schmaltzy romance movie "Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen".
I really wonder what the German Film academy was thinking when they chose this movie as the official German submission to the 2015 Academy Awards. Now this stands in line with "The Lives of Others", "The White Ribbon", "When We Leave" and, most recently, "Two Lives"? Pretty ridiculous. I am fairly certain there are 25-30 better German movies this year and looking at the shortlist ambitious projects such as Edgar Reitz' newest "Heimat" movie or "Wolfskinder" are just another league completely in terms of quality. "Beloved Sisters" is the epitome of shallow and superficial and would even be a disappointment for a movie shown on German television at 8:15 pm. Another weakness I found with the movie was the narration (coming from director Graf himself), which added nothing really. Those scenes where the protagonists were speaking with the camera (i.e. the audience) felt completely out of place and truly hurt the movie as they were thrown in so randomly and their monologues were utterly pretentious. So were the overblown dialogs. Yes people were speaking differently at that point in time, but not like that. The movie takes itself far more seriously than it has any justification to do so.
I can't even call the film a guilty pleasure as the intrigues between the sisters themselves and Charlotte von Kalb for example were simply not interesting enough to keep the audience glued to the screen, especially for a film that crosses the two-hour mark considerably. still, if you liked this, let me recommend you another recent German period piece "Young Goethe in Love", which is not a masterpiece either, but clearly superior to "Die geliebten Schwestern". I hope there will soon be a film that does Schiller's art justice as this piece of tripe certainly does not. However, in order to end the review on a more positive note, I would like to say that Claudia Messner, who played the mother of the two girls, gave a good performance and stole all of her scenes, really the only positive highlight here. Still her role is not big enough to make up for everything else that is wrong with this very flawed film and I certainly would not recommend watching it.
Beloved Sisters in a Love Triangle
danwol-747-91458616 October 2014
This is a very intellectual, very complex movie. I had expected a movie more focused on Schiller's relationship with Goethe since they are such giants in German literature and history, but the movie focuses on the 3 way loving relationship between Schiller, his wife and his sister in law.
I left the movie wondering how much of the movie was fact and how much was conjecture. The expert opinion is that the events in the movie could have happened, and many of them likely did. All of the historical context is correct. It is also a fact that Schiller's sister in law wrote Shiller's biography, which would confirm the deep feelings between Schiller and his sister in law that is portrayed in the movie. Highly recommended.
I left the movie wondering how much of the movie was fact and how much was conjecture. The expert opinion is that the events in the movie could have happened, and many of them likely did. All of the historical context is correct. It is also a fact that Schiller's sister in law wrote Shiller's biography, which would confirm the deep feelings between Schiller and his sister in law that is portrayed in the movie. Highly recommended.
Extremely slow and long and lacks
blueyindustries10 October 2014
SO disappointed in this film. I had high hopes. I saw this film (the almost 3 hour version) at a recent film festival in Los Angeles. The editing was terrible and choppy. The use of zoom-in's was odd as the feel of the story did not support such a harsh visual choice. As other reviewers have mentioned, this film looks beautiful: the sets are amazingly detailed, the costumes and the lighting are perfect for the time period but the film is VERY SLOW in its telling of the story. I'm left wondering what was the point of showing the sister's mother's carriage breaking down? No plot point here. I would like the 3 hours of my life back but instead I will write this review. Lots of editing needed and then the film may be acceptable as a TV movie, not Germany's submission as a contender for the foreign film Oscar. Germany can do better than this.
A failed love affair with an idea
nancyldraper15 September 2018
A failed love affair with an idea. Although the casting of the three principle parts was perfect, the personalities alone could not sustain this film. The writing was all over the place. The voice over narration had no identity and seemed a bad substitution for good editing and for writing scenes that would speak for themselves. The cinematography was beautiful, as were the venues which were chosen from Schiller's life. In my opinion, Dominik Graf feel in love with a fantasy, a faint impression (from one letter) of a relationship that is not supported by literary or historical facts, which he tried to conjure up from an illusion but which never really took form. I understand there is a shorter version of this (I watched the three hour director's cut on DVD) but it really was a long, hot mess. I give this film a 4 (poor) out of 10. {Period Romantic Drama}
With Rich Literary Quality Rarely Found in Period Films
sriram_m1 July 2016
What makes this film so profound is its genuine literary quality(rarely found in period drama films); masterful and artistic portrayal. Background score haunts soul with its mellow and beauty. This masterpiece gives rich and profound experience to audience with its intellectual, complex and poetic tone.
The film is based on the life of the German poet Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) and upon his long relationships with two sisters, Caroline and Charlotte von Lengefeld. This film won't focus on Schiller's relationship with Goethe, as some people may expect, since they are such giants in German literature and history.
There are two cuts of the movie available, shorter cinema version and the Directors cut. I recommend longer version of 138 mins to experience true substance of the film.
The film was nominated for the Golden Bear Award at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival, and had its premiere at the festival. It was selected as the German entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.
The film is based on the life of the German poet Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) and upon his long relationships with two sisters, Caroline and Charlotte von Lengefeld. This film won't focus on Schiller's relationship with Goethe, as some people may expect, since they are such giants in German literature and history.
There are two cuts of the movie available, shorter cinema version and the Directors cut. I recommend longer version of 138 mins to experience true substance of the film.
The film was nominated for the Golden Bear Award at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival, and had its premiere at the festival. It was selected as the German entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.
Don't do this to yourself
thiagosblancos23 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
To be fair, it was beautifully filmed, the landscapes, the colours, etc... everything was right and set to make a perfect film. The original music not so much, I like the fact they used Rameau's Zaïs overture for some scenes (just in case you were wondering what that was) but except that, the soundtrack was dull.
Since we don't see so many German period dramas (unless you do count the every year film about the Nazis' era), it was worth at least to give it a chance; we watched this film with a friend as part of the annual German FILM FESTIVAL in Buenos Aires (otherwise this would have never even get to a DVD here): to say the least I fell asleep twice (maybe three times, I'm not sure), and that didn't affect the overall opinion I might have over the film or the story (if there was any), so did my friend, we were nudging each other in order to avoid falling sleep... and yet we both failed.
It is too slow: nothing actually happens and when the film ends you do have the feeling you lost a lot of your time, the whole audience was trying to awake themselves by the end of it, I saw a lot of people yawning and there was an utter silence except for the relief most of them felt on leaving the room in order to get some coffee.
This could have been an excellent story, the cast is great, the filming might almost get good but there is no story behind and that's the main trouble here. If you can, don't watch this on a cinema, do it at home, with a cup of coffee and consider the idea of pressing FAST FORWARD from time to time for it won't affect the final result.
Since we don't see so many German period dramas (unless you do count the every year film about the Nazis' era), it was worth at least to give it a chance; we watched this film with a friend as part of the annual German FILM FESTIVAL in Buenos Aires (otherwise this would have never even get to a DVD here): to say the least I fell asleep twice (maybe three times, I'm not sure), and that didn't affect the overall opinion I might have over the film or the story (if there was any), so did my friend, we were nudging each other in order to avoid falling sleep... and yet we both failed.
It is too slow: nothing actually happens and when the film ends you do have the feeling you lost a lot of your time, the whole audience was trying to awake themselves by the end of it, I saw a lot of people yawning and there was an utter silence except for the relief most of them felt on leaving the room in order to get some coffee.
This could have been an excellent story, the cast is great, the filming might almost get good but there is no story behind and that's the main trouble here. If you can, don't watch this on a cinema, do it at home, with a cup of coffee and consider the idea of pressing FAST FORWARD from time to time for it won't affect the final result.
A speculative drama about the loves and life of one of the best German writers
rolandpopp23 June 2020
Historical drama about the triangular relationship between sisters Charlotte and Caroline von Lengenfeld and Friedrich Schiller, which was not documented, but is indicated in various sources (letters, diaries). Schiller then married the former. Caroline was already bound in an unfortunate marriage - but the two of them don't really get away from each other. Wonderfully light, romantic scenes and moments of happiness and harmony alternate with blows of fate and crises, but the crackling between the three always remains and this is due on the one hand to the great book and the direction of Dominik Graf, and on the other to the brilliant performances of the three leading actors Henriette Confurius, Hannah Herzsprung and Florian Stetter. So, no fear of costume dramas! This film deserves all your attention.
Lacks A Rhythm
SwollenThumb5 May 2018
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