We're all humans part 2 or: Why I don't watch feature films set in germany anymore

Dear reader,

I don't watch feature films set in germany anymore. I do watch feature films, which aren't set in any particular time. But when they're set in a certain time, it seems that the german film industry and other countries, know nothing other than the nazi time. Certainly it's important that this time is never forgotten. I'm also sorry for what happened to those, who lived during that time. Still does every single film set in germany or where the time it's set in is relevant, be in the nazi time? Oh, I almost forgot. Alternatively: the time the wall still existed or when it fell. It's important to remember and something like that should never ever happen again. I'm just annoyed, that practically every historical germany type of feature film is reduced to that time in german as well as foreign films.

When I was studying, a student, who was about 20 years old, told us she had been to england once. She found some nice friends there. They walked away from her though, after they found out that she was german. Nazi. Yes, of course. Someone just 20 years of age is certainly a nazi, because she's german. Okay, there are still nazis around today, neo-nazis. So someone could possibly be a nazi even today and being young doesn't mean, they may not be one. But that doesn't mean every single german is also a nazi! Suppose her parents got her when they were about 30 years old. That would make her parents about 50 years now. So not even her parents lived during the nazi time, much less are they inevitably nazis, because they're german.

I liked the Hellboy movies by Guillermo del Toro. I already reviewed his movie Pan's Labyrinth last month. What I didn't like at all about the first Hellboy movie, was the prologue, the beginning. That's set in the nazi time, yes, with the bad germans. And because Hellboy, a devil, already is a good guy and the nazis are no longer as strong as they have been before Hitler's death, the movie needs another baddie. The classic baddie of the russian history is Grigorij Rasputin, the so called “faith healer”, who helped the tsar son on a regular basis. Some to this day see him as a sort of devil, or in fact “the” devil himself. Regardless what he was (first of all, he was a human, like all of us), he was an interesting person. I will write more about him in separate entry. I don't know yet when that will be.


In my entry Pride and prejudice I already wrote that I like the film music composer James Newton Howard and that I enjoy listening to his music. In 2008 the movie Defiance came out in cinemas. Maybe I'll write about that some day in a M&M post. Even though it's not one of my “favourite movies”. It is a good movie. I found it, because I was a bit more aware of what Daniel Craig was doing and I had seen him in the James Bond movies. When I read that James Newton Howard scored the film music to it, I listened to that. “Naturally” I liked what he had composed. With certain people I know, even when I don't like the movie, I can trust those people and enjoy it still, because of them. I liked James Newton Howards music enough, to make me curious. I read that the movie was about sibblings in russia, who were hiding and helping other nazi regufees. The movie is based on a true story. It seemed to me to be more of a sort of modern Robin Hood version rather than “the bad nazis once again” story. I'd describe that movie to others that way in fact. Yes, people are fleeing from the nazis. It's about a group of people, who start a new life in the woods and are willing to make this new home safe and defend it. But it's not so much about the nazis as such in the movie. To me it really is more like a Robin Hood story and without knowing the true, historical details of the life of those brothers, I liked the movie and find it worth watching. Defiance was however the only movie set in the historical nazi time, I deliberately watched. Valkyrie on the other hand did get good reviews, as far as I know. The Stauffenberg assassination attempt was talked about a bit in our history lessons a bit. I don't remember much about it though. So actually it is a suspenseful aspect of german history. And yet I delibertely didn't watch the movie to this day. Add the fact that Tom Cruise is in that film and I don't like him that much. Maybe it is a good movie. I'm willing to be convinced to watch it once, if it's really worth it. Right now, it's just another movie in the line of “the forever bad nazi” movies.

With all respect for what happened and for the persons, who suffered then and to this day, with all respect for history: it's starting to be enough for me. Write to me. If you know good movies, I am in fact open, despite maybe sounding bad, annoyed and closed. I am open for watching movies set in the nazi time or at the time of the fall of the wall or something. But I will not just like that watch those movies, because they're on telly just now or because everyone is rushing to watch them in the cinema. Because I think, those masses of nazi movies especially don't help other countries, to change the image of the bad german everlasting nazis. Certainly not all british or non-germany are as uneducated as those sad friends of that student. I still wish that they'd start making other movies now about germany and the germans and that germans aren't only the bad guys of the movie.

Until next blog,

sarah