Liebfraumilch is a bit like a wine that went slightly flat

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for late silent films that feel like they are desperate to be talkies, you might find this one charming. It is a good pick for a rainy Sunday afternoon when you do not want to think too hard.

Most people will probably find it a bit slow or confusing. If you hate movies where characters make problems for themselves for no reason, stay away.

The Vibe

I watched this while sitting on my couch with a bag of pretzels. The movie has this very specific 1929 energy where everything looks very expensive but feels a bit hollow.

The title is named after a wine, and the whole film feels a bit tipsy. Not in a fun, party way, but in a "I have been at this wedding too long" way.

There is a lot of looking. Characters look at each other, look at wine bottles, and look at the scenery.

It is almost like the director, Carl Froelich, was worried we would forget what the actors looked like if he stopped the camera for a second. The lighting is very bright.

Everyone has these glowing faces that make them look like they are made of porcelain. It is pretty, sure, but a bit distracting after an hour.

The People in the Movie

Henny Porten is the big deal here. She was a massive star in Germany, and you can tell she knows it by the way she walks into a room.

She has this one hat in the second act that is so big I honestly wondered how she kept her head up. It looks like a small bird nest made of silk.

Then you have Willi Forst. He is just too smooth.

Every time he smiles, it feels like he is trying to sell me a used car or a very expensive watch. He has that classic mustache that looks like it was drawn on with a very fine pen.

Max Ehrlich shows up to do some comedy bits. Some of them work, and some of them just feel like he is waiting for a laugh track that hasn't been invented yet.

There is a scene in a cellar where he trips over something. I laughed, but mostly because the sound effect in my head was funnier than the actual silence on screen.

Specific Weird Moments

• The way the wine is poured. They do it so slowly. It is like the wine is the main character.
• One guy has a monocle that keeps falling out. I think it happened three times in one scene.
• The title cards are a bit long. I found myself checking my phone during the longer explanations of why someone was mad at a cousin.
• There is a dog in one shot that looks very confused to be there. He is the best actor in the film.

Comparing it to others

Compared to something like The New Babylon, which came out around the same time, this feels much more old-fashioned. It doesn't have that wild, experimental grit.

It is closer to the lighthearted stuff like The Cocoanuts. But without the Groucho Marx energy to keep things moving fast.

I kept thinking about Flapper Fever too. There is that same obsession with looking modern and cool, even if the story is basically something your grandmother would tell you.

Technical Stuff (Sort of)

The sets are actually quite nice. You can tell they spent money on the furniture.

There is a lot of shimmering. Everything reflects light—the glasses, the jewelry, the shiny floors.

It makes the movie feel like a dream. Or maybe just a very long commercial for a vineyard.

The pacing is... well, it is not great. The middle section drags like a heavy coat in the mud.

I think they could have cut twenty minutes of people walking in and out of doors. We get it, they are in a house.

"If you drink enough wine, maybe the plot starts to make sense."

Final Thoughts on the Couch

I don't regret watching it. It is a weird little time capsule.

It is strange to see these people right before the world changed. They all look so confident.

The ending is very abrupt. It just sort of... stops.

One minute they are arguing, and the next, it feels like everyone just decided to go home. I wish I had that kind of resolution in my own life.

Anyway, it is a decent watch for fans of the era. Just don't expect a masterpiece 🍷.

It is definitely better than Chivalrous Charley, which I watched last week and already forgot most of.

There is a certain grace to the way they move. Even if they aren't doing much of anything important.

I liked the scenes in the vineyard the most. They felt real, unlike the indoor sets that felt a bit like a museum.

Check it out if you want to see Willi Forst before he became a huge director. He has that star power even when he is just standing there holding a glass.