Don't Mention the War!
Firstly, I need to say why I've been so reticient for the last days. This nasty flu had me firmly in its grip for about a week. It felt like a total waste of time, especially since I've got a lot to do and I don't want to hang in bed all day. But there you are... some nastly little viral strain got the better of me.
On Wednesday I was in town for the first time again, in the evening. We met friends and went to see 'The Downfall', which really was a worthwhile movie. It didn't grip me as strongly as 'Schindler's List' did, years ago (gee, that was 1993!). I saw that movie in Berlin, for some reason. I was obviously a lot younger, 21. But after coming out of the cinema those years ago, I was aghast. I was the same nationality as that insane man Goeth, and my ID card bore the word 'Deutsch', the same word that was written across the entrance to Schindlers factory, the 'Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik'. It was frightening, gripping and full of a sense of real horror. All contrasted with the amazing humanity of some of the protagonists, mainly of course Itzhak Stern, played so magnificiently by Ben Kingsley.
Now, of course, everyone has seen Schindler's List and I need not say much about that film. 'The Downfall' was quite different. The people were a lot closer. Closer to the camera, for one. Closer to each other, locked up for days, weeks, in that bunker. The closeness of warmth and insanity, as seen in the eyes and the words of Bruno Ganz, portraying Hitler.
What also struck me is how long it took German cinema to make such a movie. Daring to make a movie about how everything ended, and thus showing how history got rid of this nightmare of a regime, must be a bit like finally laying it to rest. Maybe those were the apprehensions previously. Be that as it may, one of the faces I remember most vividly is that of Christian Berkel playing the doctor Ernst-Günter Schenck. The professor, who refuses to be evacuated right at the beginning of the film, and in the end escorts Traudl Junge out of the bunker. He seemed to not quite understand what was going on, all the while acting as if he knew exactly what was to be done. This kind of incredulous amazement seemed most appropriate for that particular time. This massivley cruel and violent structure is tumbling down right before his very eyes, and he has to cope, find his way through it. That was fascinating.
Then, just a few weeks ago, I walked past the block of flats that stands next to the patch of grass at the Wilhelmstraße, in Berlin Mitte. There is no sign, no memorial. It is, though, very close to the large Holocaust Memorial which is being finished right now just south of the Brandenburger Tor. This is of course the site of the bunker. It is eerily devoid of mention. It seems this is still a place we'd rather not look at.
On Wednesday I was in town for the first time again, in the evening. We met friends and went to see 'The Downfall', which really was a worthwhile movie. It didn't grip me as strongly as 'Schindler's List' did, years ago (gee, that was 1993!). I saw that movie in Berlin, for some reason. I was obviously a lot younger, 21. But after coming out of the cinema those years ago, I was aghast. I was the same nationality as that insane man Goeth, and my ID card bore the word 'Deutsch', the same word that was written across the entrance to Schindlers factory, the 'Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik'. It was frightening, gripping and full of a sense of real horror. All contrasted with the amazing humanity of some of the protagonists, mainly of course Itzhak Stern, played so magnificiently by Ben Kingsley.
Now, of course, everyone has seen Schindler's List and I need not say much about that film. 'The Downfall' was quite different. The people were a lot closer. Closer to the camera, for one. Closer to each other, locked up for days, weeks, in that bunker. The closeness of warmth and insanity, as seen in the eyes and the words of Bruno Ganz, portraying Hitler.
What also struck me is how long it took German cinema to make such a movie. Daring to make a movie about how everything ended, and thus showing how history got rid of this nightmare of a regime, must be a bit like finally laying it to rest. Maybe those were the apprehensions previously. Be that as it may, one of the faces I remember most vividly is that of Christian Berkel playing the doctor Ernst-Günter Schenck. The professor, who refuses to be evacuated right at the beginning of the film, and in the end escorts Traudl Junge out of the bunker. He seemed to not quite understand what was going on, all the while acting as if he knew exactly what was to be done. This kind of incredulous amazement seemed most appropriate for that particular time. This massivley cruel and violent structure is tumbling down right before his very eyes, and he has to cope, find his way through it. That was fascinating.
Then, just a few weeks ago, I walked past the block of flats that stands next to the patch of grass at the Wilhelmstraße, in Berlin Mitte. There is no sign, no memorial. It is, though, very close to the large Holocaust Memorial which is being finished right now just south of the Brandenburger Tor. This is of course the site of the bunker. It is eerily devoid of mention. It seems this is still a place we'd rather not look at.
posted by sven at
12:36 am
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