Antikörper (2:07)

A young girl is murdered in a town and a small-town police officer is convinced that Gabriel Engel is who to blame. Engel admits that he has only killed boys, but he may know who killed the young girl. Engel manipulates the officer and brings out a darker side to him. Eventually Engel tells the officer that his son was the one who killed the girl, and the officer becomes incredibly angry. By this point Engel has taken poison and starts to die. Just before the officer is about to kill his son, a helicopter and his wife fly overhead to tell him that Engel was dying, and that he in fact did kill that little girl.

I thought this movie was going to be much different. Based on the cover of the book it looked like it was going to be a Saw movie or something really scary. It turned out to be pretty mellow although, very dark. I am noticing that in a lot of these German movies there is a very dark underlying story plot; or the main character has a dark past. Compared to AMerican movies I find this to be interesting; the horror movies that we have in the states are incredibly gruesome and visual  while this one was more psychological and less predictable.

Music Videos!

1. Seeed- Aufsehen (0:04)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6JYzOjglBs
This is my favorite Seeed song. I am absolutely surprised by how much I can understand after this term. I think that between the vocabulary and the use of verb tenses it is much easier to follow along with the songs. I have been listening to this song for a couple of years and its almost all of the sudden that I understand the chorus.
2. Frida Gold- Wovon Sollen Wir Träumen (0:04)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZbsqG_R3ySE#!
I was actually very surprised how "poppy" this music sounds. It is very similar to American music. I think that the costumes give the video away as being European. They are awesome, the shapes and colors blow me away. I wonder who influenced who in regards to the apparel featured in this video. Although it looks very European it doesnt look very German, I would love to learn more about the fashion side of Germany because Berlin is one of the fashion capitals of the world. It would be neat to know if it was a German who designed the outfits for this video.

Anonyma- Eine Frau in Berlin (1:31)

This is a movie heavily based on politics and social issues. The main character keeps a diary recording a Russian invasion into German while she is in hiding. There are issues of rape, alcoholism, and violence brought into the country by the Russian soldiers. Anonyma, the main character does her best to help those who fall victim to the soldiers, but comes to realize the only way she can stay alive it so join the Russian side. This was not very difficult because she did speak Russian. She decides to be the partner of Major Rybkin. When the 3^rd Reich is over the couple struggles with the idea of what their lives were like before the war.

I thought this movie was pretty interesting. I like movies about WWII and I haven’t really seen to many about the Russians, it was a very different point of view. I thought it was interesting that the main character went from protecting those from the Russian army to protecting herself with the Russian army. I think that more movies about WWII and the presence of different nationalities should be made.

Die Welle (1:47)

I watched die Welle. I was incredibly intrigued by it when some other students brought it up in class. I though the movie was very well done and it also hits a lot of very serious topics in German culture. The movie begins with a classroom discussing thoughts on autocracies, the professor attempts to bring interest amongst his students by posting this question: Can Germany have another dictatorship. Most students think that this is impossible, based on German’s history with dictators. The teacher proposes that the class does an experiment; to start an autocracy in the classroom. The movement starts out small and those involved seem to enjoy being apart of a social group. After awhile things start getting heated, the members of the “wave” start standing up for their beliefs and some become too emotionally involved. When the teach realizes the project has gone too far he stands in front of the entire class and makes an example out of one of the students straying away from the “wave” movement. The teacher makes the students look like fools; they realize that they have gone too far and hatred of those not apart of the group is taking control. Just when the view thinks that there is a complete understanding, one of the students makes a stand. He talks about how important the “Wave” is to his life and there is nothing else for him. He pulls out a gun (originally thought to just shoot blanks) and kills a student. The teacher attempts to talk him down but the student uses the gun on himself. The scene ends with a look of remorse on the teacher’s face while he is cuffed and pushed into a cop car.

I thought that this movie was very interested. I feel that this is a sensitive topic to discuss, especially for the older generations. The students started out following something that they believed in that was based on good and being equal. But because they has a bond that those who are not inside of the “Wave” they had power. They used this power and violence became a common theme within their daily lives. Ultimately, something positive turned negative very quickly. I wonder how German’s feel about this film across generations. If they see it as appalling, something they can relate to, or if they can just take it for what it is.