Youth Without Youth

2007

Youth Without Youth

Critics Consensus

Although visually appealing, Coppola's latest film mixes too many genres with a very confusing plot.

32%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 104

44%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 16,872

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Movie Info

A professor's life changes after a cataclysmic incident during the dark years before WWII. Becoming a fugitive, he is pursued through far-flung locations including Romania, Switzerland, Malta and India.

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Cast

Tim Roth
as Dominic
Alexandra Maria Lara
as Laura/Veronica/Rupin
Bruno Ganz
as Prof/ Stanciulescu
André Hennicke
as Josef Rudolf
Alexandra Pirici
as Woman in Room 6
Marcel Iures
as Prof. Giuseppe Tucci
Adrian Pintea
as Pandit
Adriana Titieni
as Aneta
Florin Piersic Jr.
as Dr. Gavrila
Mirela Oprisor
as Craita
Zoltan Butuc
as Dr. Chirila
Mircea Albulescu
as Davidoglu
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News & Interviews for Youth Without Youth

Critical Consensus: I Am Legend All Over the Map, Chipmunks Hits Sour Note
Walter Murch on Youth Without Youth: The RT Interview (With Exclusive Photos and Clips!)
Francis Ford Coppola’s Headquarters Robbed, Script Stolen
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Critic Reviews for Youth Without Youth

All Critics (104) | Top Critics (38)

  • Youth Without Youth is pretentious as hell but so goofily in love with the idea of itself that you feel protective toward it, the way you would toward a platypus that has lost its way.

    Nov 24, 2011 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

    Ty Burr

    Boston Globe
    Top Critic

  • Youth Without Youth smacks of vanity project from the first poetic moments to the last, and whose vanity lays a stronger claim to the big screen than Francis Ford Coppola's?

    Nov 21, 2008 | Full Review…

    Ruth Hessey

    MovieTime, ABC Radio National
    Top Critic

  • Coppola may be back, but he's a long way from being back on form.

    Nov 14, 2008 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

    Sandra Hall

    Sydney Morning Herald
    Top Critic

  • Youth Without Youth is so beautiful, in fact, that it almost transcends the epic bunkum of Coppola's script. But almost doesn't count, even when it is uttered in ancient tongues.

    Feb 7, 2008 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

    Steven Rea

    Philadelphia Inquirer
    Top Critic

  • The suspicion that all this froth builds up towards nothing but some poetic imagery is inexorably realized and sours the magic of the second half of the film.

    Jan 29, 2008 | Rating: C- | Full Review…

    Amy Nicholson

    I.E. Weekly
    Top Critic

  • Although it's easy to admire what [Coppola] was attempting to do with Youth Without Youth, the movie fails on such a thorough and complete level that to call it a noble attempt isn't really fair: It's really a colossal miscalculation.

    Jan 11, 2008 | Rating: 1/4

    Rene Rodriguez

    Miami Herald
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (104)

Audience Reviews for Youth Without Youth

  • Jan 11, 2019
    I'll concede that at times the narrative is frustrating, but that doesn't mean this movie deserved the excessively nasty criticism it received. Coppola is playing around with so many genres here that I found myself drawn into the dense plot, hell even the seemingly unconvincing romance pays off in unexpected ways.
    Alec B Super Reviewer
  • Jul 18, 2011
    Confusing? Does the RT consensus need a refill on their Ritalin?
    Jonny B Super Reviewer
  • Jan 01, 2011
    I'll warn you first: if you manage to survive the first 45 minutes it gets better! "Youth Without Youth" is based on the novella of the same name by Romanian author Mircea Eliade and it was the first film that Coppola had directed in ten years since 1997's The Rainmaker. In this film you'll find a very personal approach to a barely known novella by Mircea Eliade, but also homage to Romanian culture and civilization. People who read the novella found it difficult and "anti-cinematic"... it's some kind of a meditation on time and the relation between human memory and identity. The major theme of the film is "la vita est sueno" (life is dream) but Coppola said that he made the film as a meditation on time and on consciousness, which he considers a "changing tapestry of illusion," admitting that the film may also be appreciated as a beautiful love story, or as a mystery. I purchased this DVD and was ready to enjoy the experience which blurs dreams and everyday life and suggests that through visual and narrative experimentation the main character has begun the search for new ways of making meaning, new holy places for him and for us... but the problem in enjoying that search process was in the bad sound recording - I'll say the worst in the 21st century! Mumbling of the complicated philosophical theories is not something I prefer when having trouble with the full story! Disappointing work from one of my favourite directors... two hours and six minutes long!
    Panta O Super Reviewer
  • May 09, 2010
    A non cohesive and flawed experiment with some incredibly poignant moments, a haunting love story and a score to die for. Tim Roth is a very gifted and highly underrated actor, capable of transmiting sorrow and anxiety quite easily. I only wish Coppola had concentrated on structure and pace a little bit more.
    Pierluigi P Super Reviewer
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