"If you smoke a bad cigar it tastes like horse shit. If you smoke a good cigar it tastes like tobacco. If you smoke a very good cigar it tastes like the world".
The German word "Trafik" is used in Austria and refers to a shop that sells tobacco, together with a few other items like newspapers and stationery. A "Trafikant" is a person who works in a "Trafik", whether it's the owner or an employee.
The film is based on a best-selling novel by Robert Seethaler. The film's lack of a happy ending and its seemingly random events made me suspect it was a true story, but I haven't been able to verify it. Unless anyone is able to tell me otherwise, it must be a pure work of fiction.
The film is a year in the life of Franz Huchel from 1937 to 1938. As a 17-year-old he moves from the picturesque little town Schörfling to Vienna to become a Trafikant. I'll refrain from translating that word, because the official translation "tobacconist" doesn't seem appropriate. He sleeps in a room at the back of the shop while the shop's owner, Otto Trsjnek, lives a few doors away. Vienna is very politically charged at the time, but Franz doesn't care. He doesn't even notice what's going on around him. Communists are planning a revolution, whereas the Austrian patriots are seeking a closer connection with Germany. Franz's boss is a Communist and stocks Communist newspapers. One of the shop's regular customers is the prominent Austrian Jew Sigmund Freud. At this time it was common for shops to refuse to serve Jews, so the neighbouring shopkeepers looked on with disgust whenever he walked in to buy his Cuban cigars.
Franz and Sigmund become close friends. Franz has never had a girlfriend, so he asks Sigmund for advice, to which the old man (aged 81 in 1937) replied "Love is a mistake". When Franz finally meets a girl, a nude dancer in a cabaret theatre, Sigmund asks if he feels love or if it's only a question of his libido. Franz doesn't even know what the word means.
After the unification with Germany in March 1938 things grow more difficult. Otto is arrested, and Franz has to take over the shop. Franz's girlfriend leaves him for an SS officer. Sigmund is afraid for his life and is considering emigrating to England. Franz's naivety is charming. He still doesn't understand what's happening. He isn't anti-Nazi or pro-Nazi, he just wants to get on with his life, and he acts without considering the consequences.
Usually I don't like films with dream sequences, but in "Der Trafikant" they're essential to the story. Sigmund Freud tells Franz early in the film that he should write down his dreams as soon as he wakes up, before he forgets them. There's no interpretation of the dreams, but their meaning is obvious.
I enjoyed the film as a fascinating portrayal of Austria's darkest days. The plot meanders, never seeming to go anywhere. As I said above, this is typical for true stories. The performance of the young actor Simon Morzé is impressive, and Bruno Ganz plays Sigmund Freud brilliantly, like he does all his roles.
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