"Der Einstein des Sex" or "The Einstein of Sex" is a German 95-minute movie from 1999, so not too long anymore and this one will have its 20th anniversary. The director is Rosa von Praunheim and one of the two writers is Valentin Passoni, who worked with RvP on many occasions. The other writer is Chris Kraus, a fairly successful German writer, who also made the script for "4 Minuten" for example. This film here is the story of Magnus Hirschfeld and I am certain that he would not really be too well entertained by watching this one. Of course, there are many people less deserving of a film like the German sexual equality pioneer from the late 19th and early 20th century, but you also have to deliver quality and I don't believe this is the film that Hirschfeld deserved. I did not feel as if we learned half of the things we should learn about the man during this film. Instead it was filled with homosexual stereotypes from start to finish be it in terms of how they looked, acted and talked. And yes we already know there was discrimination back then and the way this part was depicted in here also offered really anything new or particularly creative. And everybody with minimal interest in Nazi Germany knows how Nazis thought about same-sex relationships, so scenes of Nazis beating up gays added nothing memorable either, just went for cheap shock and thrill moments. The lead actor is Kai Schumann and despite the heavy makeup, he rarely never makes a lasting impression and I am not surprised that he has not been a lead in other memorable German films. Maybe the problem here is the writing. Rosa von Praunheim usually was at least co-writer in his own movies and here (according to IMDb), he had no role in the creative process of the script. It is a bit of a pity as you rarely never find mainstream movies by von Praunheim, who is a very successful indie filmmaker in his own right. But if he has a shot at stardom, like this film here, it's really sad to see it turn out so generic and forgettable. Also the inclusion of known actors like Otto Sander, his children Ben and Meret Becker and Wolfgang Völz added almost nothing of value here. Thumbs down. I don't recommend the watch.
Review of The Einstein of Sex
