Being one of the thousands (millions?) who rate the book as their all-time favourite, I just had to watch the film. It took me more than 20 years to do so; and, yes, it is unfilmable. Or maybe not; there are examples of "unfilmable books" that made fascinating movies. But not this one. Hesse's book is timeless, unlike the movie, which is very much a product of its time. After all, it's all a matter of talent and/or commitment. I mean, why on earth D. Sanda?!...Why not a fridge, a piece of wood or something, instead?... Among this array of bad performances, poor M.V.Sydow is perhaps the only reason to watch this movie, and even though he too seems to lack direction after a while, his presence and his physical resemblance to Hesse are quite astounding. And then the music score...A film adaptation of "Der Steppenwolf" without Mozart's music! And only just a little bit of Bach somewhere in there...It's not fair, as little Alex would say. Anyway. All of you thousands (forget about the millions...): get drunk and watch this movie. I know I did. And I'm going to watch it again. Sober. I'll try. Promise. And hope no one will ever try his hands on this book again. After all, how many dead directors do you know that are still alive?
Review of Steppenwolf
