Archive for April, 2008

Two Days in Europe and elsewhere…seen through the eyes of German film directors

Published on 28 April 2008 in Europe, Germany and Movies. 2 Comments

Ich denke oft an PiroschkaMore German movies during the past weekend…

1) Ich denke oft an Piroschka / I often think of Piroschka

A summer love story between a German student and a Hungarian girl called Piroschka in 1950s in a small village in Hungary. The tone was pleasant and sweet. Colourful landscapes and festivities. Reminds me of my good time in that lovely country and the peaceful Lake Balaton.

Directed by Kurt Hoffmann, 1955.

2) Schneeland / SnowlandSchneeland

A newly-widowed female writer who tries to take her life in the snowy barren hinterland of Sweden accidentally comes across traces of a love story of a dead woman. The story switches between past and present, giving the audience details of what happened to the dead woman when she was young. It was a bit confusing at the beginning and towards the end the whole plot became much clearer. Breath-taking landscape wonderfully captured in the movie.

Directed by Hans W Geissendoerfer, 2004.

And along come tourists3) Am Ende kommen Touristen / And along come tourists

A young German guy Sven signed up for civil army service in a youth hostel in Auschwitz (Poland). There he had to take care an old, stubborn concentration camp surviver. There were lots of conflicts depicted in the film: Germans vs. Poles; young vs. old, remembering and forgetting. Being a German in a previous concentration camp site made him uneasy, and when Sven realised how disrespectful (may be unintentional) of the younger German generation towards German war crime sufferers, he felt angry and ashamed. A very touching and thought-provoking film on trans-national and trans-generation issues between the two countries.

Directed by Robert Thalheim, 2006/2007.

4) MarseilleMarseille

Sophie, a young photographer, exchanged her apartment with a student in Marseille. There she met a guy, went back to Germany, and decided to go back to Marseille. But there she encountered a strange accident.

This movie was the worst of all the German films I watched over the weekend and was a total waste of time. Extremely fragmented and boring. When Sophie went back to Germany, the focus turned to her friends who were having family problems. Then all of a sudden Sophie was back to Marseille and without knowing why, she ended up in police station.

Directed by Angela Schanelec, 2003/2004.

Der alte Affe Angst

Published on 25 April 2008 in Germany. 0 Comments

Robert and Marie’s relationship are going through rocks because of his psychological problems of fearing commitment. When his father dies, he becomes very despair and starts looking for comfort from one night stands with prostitutes. This hurts Marie and she chooses to run away and eventually tries to destroy herself.

At the beginning the focus is on Robert and his angst with women and relationships. Gradually the film centres on Marie and reveals her angst and her painful past. Marie’s role is extremely complex, and Marie Bäumer gave a very powerful performance.

IMDb site

奧運聖火傳送

Published on 21 April 2008 in Thoughts. 0 Comments

到底而家仲有幾多人知道傳遞聖火的意義和奧運精神是什麼？新聞報導只著每站重路程有否縮短，是否順利，有多少保安等，完全沒有提及那些火炬手是什麼人。或者提起火炬手，大家只會想起由頭跑到尾站站有份的火炬護衛？原本意義重大的活動，卻變成一齣齣鬧劇，還是快點取消境外傳送算了。

近日內地杯葛家樂福事件，令我忽然發現我的mentality跟內地人的，仍然相差遠超十萬八千里．．．

Siegfried Lenz: Arnes Nachlass

Published on 16 April 2008 in Books and Germany. 0 Comments

Arnes NachlassA 12-year-old boy became an orphan after his father killed the whole family with a ship wreck because of his bad debts. The boy, Arne, was taken in by his father’s best friend. Being an intelligent and introvert child, he tried to overcome his grief and fit into the new family, including doing everything to get himself accepted by the new siblings. His effort was not much appreciated and turned into a disaster in the end…

The story was simple and the writing was very plain. The whole tragedy was told very gently and it lured the reader to read straightly to the end, and afterwards, to re-read the whole or parts of it. It also makes one think about how difficult it is to fit in to new environment, or new social circle in life.  

寂寞，在生命最後八天

Published on 7 April 2008 in Books and Life. 0 Comments

Poulet aux prunesPoulet aux prunes (Chicken with Plums in english) is a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi about the last eight days of the life of Nasser Ali Khan in November 1958. Nasser Ali was a musician whose beloved musical instrument tar was destroyed by his wife. Feeling very depressed, he chose to lie down and end his life. During the last days, he thought a lot about his family and friends, and his unforgettable love. 

The whole book was realistic and sarcastic, funny and sad at times. An easy and good read.

國境之南‧太陽之西

Published on 5 April 2008 in Books. 1 Comment

　「我是愛她們，非常愛，而且非常珍惜，正如妳所說的。不過我知道──這樣是不夠的。我有家庭，有工作。我對兩方面都沒有不滿，到目前為止，我想兩方面都很順利。我想甚至可以說我很幸福。不過，只是這樣還不夠。我知道。自從一年前遇到妳之後，我變得非常清楚。最大的問題是我欠缺了什麼。我這樣一個人，我的人生，空空的缺少了什麼，失去了什麼，而那個部份一直飢餓著，乾渴著。那個部份不是妻子，也不是孩子能夠填滿的。這個世界上，只有你一個人能夠做到這個。跟妳在一起，我才感覺到那個部份滿足了。而且滿足之後，我才第一次發現，過去的漫長歲月，自己是多麼飢餓、多麼乾渴。我再也沒辦法回到那樣的世界去了。」

得不到的，就是最好的。

只是，真得到了一個莫名其妙、不肯坦白的女人，又會幸福嗎?

為什麼女主角自動消失後，男主角不去想方法找她? 又為什麼不離開妻女，用餘生堅守女主角回來?

村上春樹不只精於描述都市人的孤寂，還非常善於刻劃男人於感情困局中優柔寡斷不敢行動的懦弱。

既然沒有拋棄一切追求快樂的勇氣，那一生要活在空空的世界也是活該。