Of Zwertboek, Germans and the War

12 May

Zwartboek is the original title of the Paul Verhoeven movie I went to see at the cinema yesterday evening. I went with a Dutch colleague, his German girlfriend – and colleague – and another German colleague. It is a movie about a Jewish Dutch lady who was part of a resistance in Holland during the WWII. Now, I think that the most comon advice to anybody going to live in Germany is ‘Just don’t mention the war and you’ll be fine’.

We went to see the cinema at the suggestion of the Dutch guy (of course, Paul Verhoeven is Dutch), with promises that we would see a great movie. We really didn’t know that it was about the war until we got there. The first objection was raised by the other German lady, who has given me permission to call her Status, just after we bought the ticket. We got into the cinema hall and found that it was almost empty. That was another suggestion of the popularity of the movie. I was able to follow the movie in my not-yet-good German, and in all, it was a good movie, nothing great. The Dutch guy said it was a great movie, his girlfriend said it was a billiger Film (cheap film) that drew from a time in history that was a ready pool to elicit the kinds of feelings the producer wanted it to. Status called it a ‘very boring movie’. The little I have written would show how much Germans do not want to be reminded of the war. Status said that sometime ago when she was a student in China the class was given an assignment to write about why they were proud of their country. Others did but she couldn’t; she wrote about why it was difficult to be proud of her country.

This whole story reminded me of a day I was watching Schindler’s List and a German friend called me. I asked if I could call her back after watching the movie. Immediately the movie ended I called her and the first thing she said, jokingly, of course, was ‘do you hate me now?’ These stories show hard it must be for them to live with the history, something I can only imagine.

  • Jeremy

    Talking about Germany and films, have you seen The Lives of Others? If not, get thee to a picturehouse. It’s a corker of a film, really brilliant..

  • Jeremy

    Talking about Germany and films, have you seen The Lives of Others? If not, get thee to a picturehouse. It’s a corker of a film, really brilliant..

  • loomnie

    Thanks Jeremy. I haven’t see it… but I will pretty soon.

  • loomnie

    Thanks Jeremy. I haven’t see it… but I will pretty soon.

  • Anja

    What a coincident! My Norwegian flatmate just lent me the same movie a few days ago (in exchange for one of my own). I liked it very much, especially since it’s not one of the the-Germans-were-all-evil movies. And then, of course, it has a very gripping story line, made me almost cry when Rachel was told that Müntze had been shot. :-(

    About your Schindler’s-Liste-anecdote, was that me?! :) ) It somehow seems familiar but then my memory might be playing me a trick … Anyway, if anyone ever asked me to write an essay on “Why am I proud of my country”, I couldn’t do it either. I love the Pfalz (Germany is just a place too big and diverse to consider your own) but am I proud to be a Pfälzer? Was it any of my own effort that caused my birth and upraising to take place in the Pfalz? I know, how German of me to argue like this! :D

    Just like Jeremy, I would also recommend the movie “Das Leben der anderen” to you. I’m sure you’ll find it interesting, especially since it is about the part of Germany from which our dear Sophie hails originally.

  • Anja

    What a coincident! My Norwegian flatmate just lent me the same movie a few days ago (in exchange for one of my own). I liked it very much, especially since it’s not one of the the-Germans-were-all-evil movies. And then, of course, it has a very gripping story line, made me almost cry when Rachel was told that Müntze had been shot. :-( About your Schindler’s-Liste-anecdote, was that me?! :) ) It somehow seems familiar but then my memory might be playing me a trick … Anyway, if anyone ever asked me to write an essay on “Why am I proud of my country”, I couldn’t do it either. I love the Pfalz (Germany is just a place too big and diverse to consider your own) but am I proud to be a Pfälzer? Was it any of my own effort that caused my birth and upraising to take place in the Pfalz? I know, how German of me to argue like this! :D Just like Jeremy, I would also recommend the movie “Das Leben der anderen” to you. I’m sure you’ll find it interesting, especially since it is about the part of Germany from which our dear Sophie hails originally.

  • loomnie

    Anja, thanks for stopping by. You are right, it was you. I don’t know if you remember but I was in Uppsala then. I will try to watch the movie, and will get back to you guys on that.

  • loomnie

    Anja, thanks for stopping by. You are right, it was you. I don’t know if you remember but I was in Uppsala then. I will try to watch the movie, and will get back to you guys on that.