Filmbrain's Berlin Report: Greatest city for film lovers?

Ever since the fall of the wall Berlin has been a city in flux, and though almost fifteen years have passed, the city is still going through many changes. The greatest changes are, naturally, in the areas where the wall once stood, including the famous area around the Potsdamer Platz, which has been completely rebuilt as an area with new apartment buildings, shopping malls, huge movie mega-plexes, and home to the wonderful Filmmuseum Berlin in the Filmhaus. (More on that in a bit.) Upon his arrival, the first thing Filmbrain did was pick up a copy of Zitty, a weekly mag of what's going on in Berlin. The film listings were staggering. Sure, the large theater complexes are chock full of American shit -- Die Frauen von Stepford, Catwoman, Troja, etc. -- but the vast amount of revival and "art" theaters give film lovers a daily choice of about 20-30 incredible titles. On one day in August it was possible to see Oldboy, Wings of Desire, Godard's Masculin, féminin, Billy Wilder's One-Two-Three, Sign o' The Times, Once Upon a Time in the West and much, much more. The number of independent cinemas far exceeds those of NYC, Paris, London, or Tokyo, and most of the Berlin cinemas are connected to a restaurant/bar/cafe -- perfect for pretentious pre- and post-film pontifications. German television is also a great place to catch films, especially documentaries, though the really good stuff doesn't start until well after midnight. Two very interesting documentaries Filmbrain managed to catch were Das Dritte Reich in Farbe (The Third Reich in Color) and Hitler's Hitparade. The former, produced by Spiegel Magazine, is a compilation of rarely seen color footage of Hitler and Germany under the Third Reich. Events such as his arrival in conquered Paris, his meeting with Mussolini in Berlin, the North African invasion, and even footage of the Warsaw Ghetto -- pictures we're well familiar with in black and white that suddenly don't seem so distant (and at the same time even more horrific) in glorious color. The latter film is a seventy-minute montage set to a selection of dance and popular music that was popular under the Third Reich. The images consist mostly of propaganda footage of healthy, happy German citizens exercising, dancing, parading, etc. as well as some darker footage, including shots of Jews being humiliated in public. Both films were extremely powerful, frightening, and depressing as all hell. One stop that everybody visiting Berlin must make is the Film Museum Berlin, which is part of the Filmhaus at the impressive Sony Center. Besides offering an incredible history of German cinema, the physical layout and design of the museum is a work of art in itself. When you first enter, you walk along a mirrored path of giant monitors showing clips from classic cinema that are configured in such a way as to cause near vertigo -- you appear to get lost in the images. It's an incredible effect. From then on it's a chronological history of German film, with each room bringing you into another era or to a specific director. There are brilliant exhibits about Murnau and Lang, and the audio tour (available in English) presents extremely useful information. (i.e., Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse the Gambler was the first German film released in black & white -- all films prior had been hand tinted or colored.) The largest part of the exhibit is the Marlene Dietrich collection, with no fewer than four rooms devoted to her films, her fashion, and her history, including her many loves and lovers. Filmbrain got a kick out of this passage from one of her American journals: Fritz Lang was the SADIST INCORPORATED. He hated my devotion to [Josef von] Sternberg and attempted to take his place in my mind and my body. I know it because he told me so. The Teutonic arrogance which he was feeding on was repulsive to me. Following the Dietrich collection are two rooms devoted to film history under the Nazis. The larger room is set up like a morgue, and guests must pull out heavy metal drawers in order to see the exhibits (some of which include footage from films made during those years). An efficacious design choice indeed -- pretty damn haunting. From then on it's the post-war years, including a brief history of the East German cinema and DEFA studios. The last thirty years get short shrift, but the exhibit does end with the actual costume that Franka Potente wore in Run Lola Run.

Comments

[Matt]

I'm extremely jealous. Welcome back to the blogosphere.

[karen]

Sigh, me too. I want to go on vacation and have the option of 20-30 reperatory films! That sounds faboo.

[George]

Andrew:
Berlin stuff is fascinating. Cp. my August 27 post from Paris.

George

[David Hudson]

Hey, I watched The Third Reich in Color and Hitler's Hitparade, too. We need to hook up next time!

[FIlmbrain]

GreenCine has a correspondent in Berlin? How amazing. Yes -- we should meet next time. I'll be back in Berlin in the winter.

[David Hudson]

Excellent! Are you coming for the Berlinale? (Please say yes.)

[Thomas]

Nice review of my hometown. :o)

yes, film culture here is pretty good, that's why i love to live here. :)

[colinr0380]

Re: The Third Reich In Colour and the quote "Events such as his arrival in conquered Paris, his meeting with Mussolini in Berlin, the North African invasion, and even footage of the Warsaw Ghetto -- pictures we're well familiar with in black and white that suddenly don't seem so distant (and at the same time even more horrific) in glorious color."

I think I saw this series as well. I wonder if you felt the use of color in the ghetto scene of Schindler's List felt even more manipulative after seeing colour footage - like Spielberg wasn't certain that we could empathise with anyone but a child?