About the Movies

Yesterday I went to a movie. The proud legacy of German Cinema includes many who have stood at the vanguard of the Kinetoscopic Arts, stretching practically all the way back to the days of the Black Maria, from such greats as F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang to Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Werner Herzog, and the tradition continues with such standard bearers as Wolfgang Becker (Goodbye, Lenin!) and Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (Das Leben der Anderen). Bearing all this in mind, I went willfully, knowingly and with knowledge aforethought to see Mitten ins Herz, which you may know better as the latest Hugh Grant/Drew Barrymore vehicle: Music & Lyrics. Something else to consider: The Germans, for some reason, are loathe to subtitle foreign films. As such, they have created (at great cost) a massive and sprawling system of dubbing each and every non-German-language film that is exhibited in theaters. Thus, you have actors whose job it is to provide the "German (hereafter "D-") voice" for every non-German speaker who ever appears on celluloid. There is a D-"Sean Connery", a D-"George Clooney", a D-"Gerard Depardieu", even a D-"Rick Moranis"! Personally, I enjoyed D-Kristie Alley and D-Brad Garrett, more than D-Drew Barrymore or D-Hugh Grant. There probably isn't too much I can say about the film itself that's not already on rottentomatoes.com, but the German "movie experience" deserves good a comparative breakdown, I think. Though, I would like to clarify: I have only been to one movie in on theatre, so I can't make any claims to the universality of my experience. The German/American cinema experience is, in a lot of ways, a microcosm of the differences between Germany and America in general. First of all, this theatre only had maybe two screens and they split a lot of movies between them. E.g. we caught the only showing of Mitten ins Herz that day (there are multiplexes, I hear, but I have yet to see one myself). As for concessions, of course there was popcorn, but it was the sweet, kettle corn type. In addition, there was a big ol fridge full of beer and wine. The popcorn, by the way, was a better deal than in the states. I paid €3($3.95) for the equivalent of a U.S. large. This probably has to do with the fact that the Arts are government subsidized and, as such, don't need to worry so much about the bottom line. The theatre itself was listed on the ticket as the "film palace", and lived up to the name reasonably well. There were probably a good 500 seats in the place (not stadium style) and the gold colored curtains on the wall were a nice touch. They went all the way around the room, and the matching masking was closed to cover the screen before the film started. Also the bathroom was down in the front of the theatre right next to the screen. What really struck me though was the previews system. Namely, the previews and the pre-movie ads and trailers and things were all combined into one reel. This included cigarette ads. After the previews, though, the masking was closed again while (I assume) they threaded up the feature. Again, I am not sure, but I think that the projection set-up may have been the old two reel change-over system, as opposed to the one reel setup at such fine institutions as the Mariemont Theatre. If it was a two-reel rig, the projectionist was definitely on the ball, as I certainly couldn't tell the difference. Good times at any rate. Classes start next week, and it looks like I'll be travelling to London or Dublin over Easter break with Zachariah, so you can all look forward to lots of pictures and hilarious stories concerning that.