Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck: the poet
As I have written before in this blog, 'the lives of others' was one one of my favourite movies of 2007. It is only recently however, that I bought the DVD and saw the director's interview that I finally understood how poetic this movie truly was. FHvD's idea for the film came apparently from a quote by Lenin that if he had to listen to Beethoven's Appassionata, he wouldn't be able to finish the revolution. This line features in the film but I had then misunderstood it: I thought then that it meant that if Lenin let himself be consumed by art, he would no longer be able to leave enough time in his life for politics. Apparently, this is not what he meant, apparently he meant that this music would humanize him so, that he wouldn't be able to do all the inhuman things that you are expected to do, if you want to make a revolution succeed. FHvD then said that his initial idea for the film was this image of this man with headphones, listening to the Appassionata and not being able to do his job, merely because art subconsciously turns him into a better person. This has been a criticism towards the movie, as a friend saw it: how does it happen, this change in Wiesler's mind? Does he read Brecht and everything changes inside him? Well, maybe music has a much more subconscious, powerful and lasting way to change you, because it is so abstract. Brecht can change you, sure, but perhaps only after you've listen to the Appassionata.
This, to me, is the essence of FHvD's lyricism: music can change the world, and perhaps it has to. And relating this to the previous post, and Youkali's comment, realism does have a place in our lives, but lyricism, abstract expressionism can lead us more directly to where we have to go.
Fatih Akin: the immigrant
Hallow Kitty adored this movie, compared Fatih Akin to Marcel Proust when writing about it here so I went to see it. I loved the movie so much myself, because it was so unpretentious and poignant. One thing I absolutely hate is pretension: movies that pretend to be important, intellectual and artistic and in the end they end up just slow and annoying. Fatih Akin's masterpiece, that is added to the long line of multi-character films that accentuate the role of fate in life, spanning from 'short-cuts' and 'amores perros' to 'talk to her' and 'crash', is beautiful and important yet it looks so normal, so simple.
But most of all Fatih Akin succeeds in being a director that depicts so well the loneliness of the immigrant with the nomadic soul. This is an idea that I hold too dearly, perhaps due to my narcissistic desire to be dramatic and deep. But there is some truth in the idea that these people, immigrants are in between two worlds, strangers in both. It is so difficult for these people to feel at home and when they do (like in the end of the film) they truly reach the edge of heaven.
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My dear, dear Lady V, I love your pronneness to intellectual discussion - do you realise that you could have been born in the beginning of the century and you could have met all those intellectuals from the 20s and 30s and spend holidays with them in the French Riviear (which they helped make popular) and wear long pearl necklaces and spend your life in a lovely idleness made of poetry, understated fashion, Picasso and Fitzgerald? Allas, you were born later, and to be fair the 21st century also needs your intellectualism (this word probably doesn't exist, I know, but we're allowed to create new words in English, right?)
Anyway, all this to say that what you wrote about music and the Lenin line (which is magnificent!) is so true! Again, the same way the world needs your intellectualism, it needs me to say certain things are true. Anyway, it is true, and I'm stupid and incredibly cheesy to say this, but I used to listen to Mozart's Requiem, or alternatively Bach's The Passion According to St Matthews, while on the bus to go to university and sometimes I believed in God. I deserve a good beating for being so cheesy - but that's the extent to which music drives us.
'As a conclusion' (I got this from my students - all of them finish their essays like this, they are so sweet), I liked your text. so much, so much. Now go wear your pearls.
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