Berlinale! That one bright spot in my lovely Berlin’s otherwise bleak winter. Somehow my first year in Berlin I missed it, but since then I have more than made up for it. I thought somehow I would be sitting this one out, but somehow the lovely people at Siegessäule liked my story about growing up in the bayous of Louisiana. (All true, I assure you!)
Sadly I couldn’t get into the premier opening film last night. I think it was VIP only and we weren’t invited. Not to be outdone, I thumbed through the program; I simply had to see a film on opening night. I looked through our handy queer guide given to the seven jury members, nothing there. There was nothing in G (for Gay), L (for Lesbian) or T (for Transgendered). Not even in the obscurely labeled C (for Context) category (I think that means that Clive Owen takes his shirt off or Barbra Streisand sings or something). There had to be something on….
There was some film that looked, well, rather difficult, but I wasn’t in the mood for that. I wanted over the top, I wanted big, I wanted 70MM! The Retrospective this year is full of wonderful old 70 mm films that were made when cinema was supposed to be larger than life, not something you furtively downloaded and watch on the U-Bahn on the way to work. And there it was… the Sound of Music on the big screen. My all time favorite, and who cares if I just watched it at home last weekend? This was cinema! This was Julia Andrews doing what she does best – singing and governessing children. And what could be more C (for Context) than The Sound of Music? Sorry, but someone wasn’t doing their homework!
It’s got singing (and dancing) nuns, gorgeous scenery, improbable romance, a catty baroness, and just when you think it’s all over, when the wedding bells finally stop ringing, the Nazis come marching in. I realize that this schmaltzy musical is a little dated, and it never really found an audience in Germany or Austria, which is where it takes place after all. But ask a Brit or an American and it’s a classic; it is even rebroadcast on TV every Christmas in the States.
But three hours and an intermission later I cheered and cried as they escaped from Salzburg by foot over the Alps and eventually to a wonderful new life in Vermont, in the United States. Only now has it occurred to me the great geographic fallacy that has been perpetrated on the English speaking film goers for the last 45 years: had the Von Trapp family really hiked to freedom from Salzburg over the Alps, they most probably would have ended up at the Eagle’s Nest in Germany!
Robby / Jurymitglied ELSE
Tags: Berlinale 09, Tag hinzufügen
I often wondered about that geography…
Robby, how could we not love this flick with Mother twirling and yodeling how the hills are alive whenever the Family Truckster pulled out for a scenic overlook?
I think we need to pull this one out next time you come to New Orleans. But don’t forget to bring your harmonica!