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Natascha Kruger GERM 3160: Survey of German Film Class notes: Nov. 3, 2003Herr Reimer announced the screening of Joseph Vilsmaier’s film Brother of Sleep (Schlafes Bruder) for Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2003. He pointed out that in terms of cinematic values, Vilsmaier’s films are far from those of the New Cinema.
1st excerpt: Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders) - Theme: search for identity; the search for identity takes on a particular historical feature (political, ideological, geographical, moral changes of Germany after World War II) - Set against the background of a movie based on the Holocaust - Focus on the angel who longs to become human out of love - Angels preserve memories, tell other people’s stories - One of the minor characters is a major story teller: Jewish actor (insider knowledge) who was persecuted by the Nazis plays the story teller - The Berlin Wall: contemporary Germany – East-West conflict/ division - Healing power of love; healing power of love also needed for the two Germanys –more than a love story - City of Angels: Focus solely on love story and the angel becoming a man; Healing power Central question: What does it mean it to be human? –Being human is to die - Opening scene: * “Als das Kind Kind war, wusste es nicht, dass es ein Kind war.” (When the child was a child, it did not know that it was a child.) * We see an angel on the top of a cathedral as he watches the city. Only children seem able to see him. We hear the angel thoughts (use of voice-off). * Airplane scene with a former angel (Peter Foss) * We follow the angel from an apartment, to an ambulance, the cemetery, and a Turkish family until he meets with another angel in a car. * The angel and his angel friend share unusual stories they have perceived on the streets of Berlin today. The main protagonist relates to the other angel that he longs for weight and being human in pretense so that he can know what it feels like. He is tired of is solely spiritual existence. * We see the angels in huge library. We hear many whispers of various thoughts * Odd sounding classical music – soft music, whispering stops - Discussion: * How does Wenders begin the film? -He starts with a poem, which provides the frame of the film. The poem shows the contrast between innocence and awareness. A child asks questions, finding itself on a mental journey searching for some kind of truth – mythology: the pure, innocent child -Child = entity of what we were before we became what we are. -Contrast of child and angel, the angel does not undergo the same journey a child does from innocence to awareness. -The Angel wants to go through that experience of finding one’s identity. Fundamental question: “Why am I me and not you?” * Religious overtones (Corinthian) * Camera: -Overhead shot (Wenders seeks to foreground technology) -Long takes, editing * We go from room to room, hearing the thoughts and emotions of various people. We meet a man who is without emotions when his mother dies. * Mood = melancholic: people appear to be alone and isolated, physical separation (different rooms), except for argument of the Turkish family in the car * Library: -Collection of history, stories of our past -Reflections in isolation -Intellectual activity -Angels record activities, function as guardians of those activities and isolated events. * Idea of the “fallen” angel (Peter Foss): cannot see angels but knows they are there * Wenders goes beyond the New German Cinema; this film gave him a name as well as fame in Europe and the U.S.
2nd excerpt: Sugar Baby (Zuckerbaby, Pelsey Odlin) - End of New German Cinema - Demonstrates what directors will do to create a certain atmosphere for the audience (has a demanding German Art audience in mind) - Film about an overweight woman who sees a gorgeous man, who is taken. She thinks about a way to get him to fall in love with her, but he does not even know she exists at first. She calls the man her “Sugar Baby” for he loves to buy the candy. She works at a funeral parlor, which reinforces her exclusion from society. We see her at home eating and sleeping in front of the TV, in the pool, on the subway, and at work, always isolated from others. - We listen to the radio play songs from yesterday for people of today (Hits von gestern fuer Leute von heute): “Sugar Sugar Baby” (Peter Kraus, I believe) - The woman misses her exit, when she finally gets off the subway, she sees her “sugar baby.” We did not watch the part where she stalks and chases him. Herr Reimer told us that she ended up seducing the man. - Purpose of the film: * Reflects monotony * Shows loneliness of the woman * Weird/odd color of the apartment – reinforces the notion of isolation * We did not hear the woman speak a word in the opening scene. * Her only human contact is with dead people: we see her dressing a dead man * She seems to have an epiphany on the train, reason for missing the right stop; eerie music
3rd excerpt: Hollywood TV version of Sugar Baby - Song: “Big girls don’t cry” - Focus on Hollywood audience - Main character: Rikki Lake - Woman not as isolated as in the German version - Has a co-worker/ friend at the morgue - Good person, gives money to a beggar - Funerals: focus on money –notion of time is money - U.S. version wants to create a sympathetic character; principle of U.S. films: everyone, even a loner, has a best friend, no one is alone (in contrast to the notion of loneliness and existentialism in the German version) - Parody/ satire of funeral industry obvious (The British and Americans like to lampoon the funeral industry) - Man she falls in love with is only engaged (fair game) – moral discrepancy between German and American version
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