Begegnung mit Werther (1949)

For the most part, including its wordiness, the film stays true to the literary source, The Sorrows of Young Werther. At the center of the story is the romantic young title character, who one day meets the young Lotte at a village festival and falls in love with her at once. Lotte, however, is no longer unattached: she is engaged to Albert, whom she intends to marry. For Werther, the realization that his love is hopeless is a plunge into the abyss. He leaves so that he can forget Lotte… During this time, he earns his living as a court assessor. But one day Werther feels drawn back to his old home. There he discovers that Lotte is married to Albert, though unhappily. Werther’s love for Lotte quickly flares up again, and this time the young wife does not seem entirely unreceptive either. But convention prevails: Lotte does not feel able to leave her husband, Albert, and so everything remains as it was. In the depths of despair, Werther then shoots himself.