Despite incredibly beautiful cinematography and a great story, the film is not able to transport the emotions of the original book. Some of the main cast is simply not convincing, perhaps there was not the right chemistry with the provenly talented director.
I read the Hesse novel fifty years ago and can no longer remember it. However, whether this beautifully photographed film adheres closely to the original text is not important.
Spiritual insight can rarely be brought to the screen. Dreyer, Bresson and sometimes Rohmer achieved it, but good though this director is and visually exciting though the film is it is a banal rendering of Hermann Hesse.
A very nice try to adapt the novel of Hermann Hesse . The only small problem remains the novel itself.
