#berlin now 1985

[cleopatragirlie]

Anita Lane's voicemail, featured in 'O Wow, O Wow' by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds from their latest album 'Wild God'

[marimayscarlett]

'Reise Reise' turns 20 today 💿🎶

20 years from today, on the 27th of September 2004, Rammstein's fourth studio album 'Reise Reise' was released in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and several other countries. It was most likely named after the old saying "Reise, Reise!" as a signal for the sailors of a sailing ship to get up.

Recordings of this album took place in the El Cortijo Studio in Málaga, Spain, where the band gathered in November 2003. Producer for this record was once again Jacob Hellner, and a making of about this recording process and the band's time in Spain was released on the 'Völkerball' DVD in 2006. During interviews for this documentary, the bandmembers expressed that this recording session seemed to be more relaxed than the last ones, and thought about several alternative names for this album - Schneider liked the title "Rot", Flake rooted for "Nein", Paul thought about "Amerika" and "Amore" as titles, Olli liked "Reise Reise" and Richard, a bit clueles, refrained from making a suggestion. Till apparently wasn't asked or declined talking about his ideas. Documentary parts with english subtitles can be found here, here and here.

The album was originally planned as a double album, but this idea was ultimatly discarded. The following songs were recorded during the session for this album, but were used on 'Rosenrot' later: Rosenrot, Wo bist du, Mann gegen Mann, Zerstören, Ein Lied, Feuer und Wasser and Hilf mir. Additional demos exist for the following: Absinth, Eisenmann, Holz und Sonntag bei Omi.

The promotional photosession for this album was done by Olaf Heine and most likely was inspired by the movie "Falling down", starring Michael Douglas.

The cover for this album shows the outside of a aircraft's blackbox with the German imprint "Flugrekorder nicht öffnen" ("Do not open flight recorder") on it. Linked to this design, there is a hidden track before the first song on REISE, REISE - it can be heard on standard CD players by rewinding. It features radio messages (the black box recording) from the Boeing 747SR (Japan Airlines Flight 123), which crashed on August 12, 1985, killing 520 people. Up to now, it remains the deadliest single-aircraft crash in history. This dark aesthetic of all of this combined also suits the song "Dalai Lama" on the album. This song is based on the German ballad "Erlkönig", written in the 18th century by Goethe, and for this song the first instrumental tracks were written and finished for this album.

The limited digipack contained a picture from the above mentioned photoshoot.

The Japanese cover of the album is the same one that was later used for Rosenrot, a picture of the ice breaker USS Atka in the Antarctic from 1960.

As part of the promotion for 'Reise Reise', three additional CDs were published with interviews of the band members. CD 1 contained an interview with Till and Flake, CD2 with Olli and Paul and CD3 with Richard and Schneider. The linked videos contain the original soundtrack with the german interviews and a spoken english translation.

Regarding the success of this album: REISE, REISE reached number 1 in the album charts in seven countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Iceland, Estonia and Mexico). After the release of REISE, REISE, Billboard declared Rammstein to be the most successful German-speaking band internationally. The album achieved 1x silver, 3x gold and 6x platinum. The song 'Mein Teil' was nominated for a Grammy. All in all, Reise, Reise reached 47th place in the Top 50 album charts of 2005.

The Reise Reise tour started with one concert (September 30th 2004) at the Label showcase party "10 Jahre Motor" and marks the only acoustic concert the band has ever played. For the occasion, the band dressed up as East Berlin police women.

After that, three concerts at the Knaack club followed on the 11th, 12th and 13th of October, 2004, where the album was presented at fan club only concerts.

Two examples for tickets for the Reise Reise tour:

Sources: rammwiki, affenknecht, rammsteinworld, rammsteinblogcollection, metal-hammer, photo.sibnet

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Diana: Her Fashion Story

This was a special exhibition by Kensington Palace. I did not know it was here until I arrived for my visit of the state rooms.

Trace the evolution of Diana, Princess of Wales' style, from the demure, romantic dresses and other outfits of her first public appearances, to the glamour, elegance and confidence of her later life. In this elegant exhibition at Diana's former London home, her relationship with her favourite designers is explored through a display of some of their original fashion sketches, created for her during the design process.

I loved these. The William one could use a bit of work, but the Diana and Kate ones are so good! I am happy to report there were no pillows of Harry or Meghan at the time of my visit.

Designer sketches with fabric swatches

Left: Princess Diana's Pink Satin Evening Gown With White Raw Silk Collar And Cuffs, by Catherine Walker in 1987. (This dress was in a bunch of promo photos advertising the exhibition.) Diana wore it twice - once for this official portrait and again on a visit to the Berlin Opera House in November 1987.

Right: Catherine Walker Day Dress, worn in New Zealand.

The princess chose this pink silk dress for an official visit to Japan in spring 1986. The collar was shown to ocmplement the flowering cherry blossoms. She wore the dress again later that year to a charity ice show at Wembley arena. While there, she watched Olympic ice skating champions Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean perform.

A green Victor Edelstein gown worn for an official portrait.

The Travolta dress.

Behind is a Catherine Walker pink sequined ivory crepe gown with asymmetric neckline, worn at a banquet given by President Collor at the Itamaraty Palace while on a State visit to Brazil, 23 April 1991.

These two dresses (the Travolta dress and the Brazil dress) were both sold at an auction in 2013. See details, and other dresses from the auction, here.

Diana wore the (can't read this bit) design for her visit to Japan. (I can't read the rest.)

But read more about this dress here! She wore it for a state dinner in May 1986.

A Bruce Oldfield black velvet evening gown, worn for an official portrait by Lord Snowdon and at the first night gala opening of Les Miserables at the Barbican centre, 10 October, 1985.

This dress was also part of the 2013 auction.

Next to it is this dress that Diana wore to a Pavorotti concert in support of The Red Cross in 1995.

This Victor Edelstein dress, worn twice:

Princess Diana wore this silk lace gown from Victor Edelstein on two separate occasions. The first was in 1987 at London’s Royal Festival Hall. Later that year, she wore it again during a state visit to Germany. In 1997, designer Pat Kerr bought the gown, according to Diana: A Life in Dresses. It now resides in the Pat Kerr Private Royal Collection. (From Elle)

Tweed suit from the honeymoon photocall

From the Angola Landmine Walk

Diana's pink suit from 1997 (and an unrealized Meghan copycat? You be the judge.)

Red Catherine Walker suit. Worn to a charity luncheon for HIV/AIDS.

A collection of gowns:

Embroidered gown - Versace, worn for Harper's Bazaar Photoshoot

Purple gown - Versace, worn to a gala in Chicago, 1996

Black gown - Catherine Walker, worn to a UNESCO dinner at the Palace of Versailles, 1995

Another view, same collection of dresses.

Embroidered short dress - Worn in June 1997 to a party for her dress auction at Christie's.

Short blue dress - Catherine Walker, worn in 1997 for personal shopping excursion in London (see a better view here)

Tuxedo halter dress - Catherine Walkler, green velvet. Worn for her 1997 Vanity Fair interview and photoshoot

Bruce Oldfield, worn in 1986 on a visit to Saudi Arabia

Some quotes about Diana

Now, you might recall from my 'Victoria' Exhibit post that I mentioned I had two all-time favorite objects from the Kensington Palace visit, tied for first place. The first one was the bathroom signs, which I showed you on that post.

Now the second one:

This is the wallpaper that lined the hallway just outside of the Diana exhibition near the restrooms.

I LOVED this. The watercolors, the tribute to her fashion and style, the little references to flowers, buildings, and jewelry associated with her. I had this had my phone wallpaper for a little bit.

A closeup of the sketch for her wedding dress in the wallpaper.

About the wallpaper

So this is the last of the "royal Britain" photos! Up next, The Crown and some Harry Potters.

[longtallglasses]

Heaven (Let My Love Open The Door) fic mixtape songs

Mike’s sappy cheesy lovey valentine’s mixtape he made for Will and all the lyrics and reasons why I think he added them and enjoys them. I feel absolutely insane for writing all this and posting it. I don’t think you have had to read the fic to get the vibes and the gist, it’s pretty much just byler through songs, but I do recommend. 

Let My Love Open The Door by Pete Townshend (1980) - 

A song that when Mike first heard it when he was younger thought it was just a fun song, but now it feels like everything he wants to say to Will. 

When people keep repeating that you’ll never fall in love, when everybody keeps retreating, but you can’t seem to get enough. 

He feels this about himself - you can’t fall in love with a boy - and feeling like he’s at arms length with everyone because of how he feels so different. But also about Will, knowing that he turned on him in some way. 

When everything feels all over, Everybody seems unkind, I’ll give you a Four Leaf Clover, Take all worry out of your mind. 

Growing up in Hawkins has not been the best, especially for Will (his Dad, bullies), Mike wants to make that all better, better for both of them.

Take My Breath Away by Berlin (1986) - 

On this endless ocean finally lovers know no shame, turning and returning to some secret place inside - 

through everything they’ve been through, all the unimaginable horrible things they’ve experienced, falling in love with your best friend can’t be the worst thing now can it? Maybe they can return to how close they used to be, and maybe it won’t turn out wrong.

Through the hourglass I saw you, in time you slipped away, when the mirror crashed I called you, and turned to hear you say, If only for today I am unafraid.

Losing Will in the way he did, all at once and then slowly over time, because he was scared of what he felt. Now after everything, he feels maybe he can finally be— maybe not brave—but at least not be afraid of what he feels for Will.

Can’t Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon (1984) - 

Is there ANY song more them ?? (yes, there is, because I will say this numerous times throughout this list) 

What started out as friendship has grown stronger, I only wish I had the strength to let it show. Tell me Mike didn’t combust when he listened to that. 

I said there is no reason for my fear, ‘Cause I feel so secure when we’re together, You give my life direction, you make everything so clear.

It’s so clear and seems so simple to be with Will but it’s scary!! 

And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might. The months leading up to this Valentine’s day they’ve been closer than ever, more than Mike could ever think he would let himself.

How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) by James Taylor (1975) -

This song is just so sweet and I imagine this also being a song that Mike heard on the radio growing up and thinking, hm I wonder if I’ll ever feel like this when/if I fall in love and now the song holds a whole new meaning. 

I needed someone to understand my ups and down, There you were, with sweet love and devotion, deeply touching my emotion. You were better to me than I was to myself, For me there’s you and there ain’t nobody else. 

Somewhere I hear Mike groan at these words, tossing and turning, Called Out!!

Head Over Heels by Tears For Fears (1985) - 

Is there ANY song more them??? No actually this is the most them song I’ve ever heard. Turn it up, and scream and cry bc my god there is no cure, no chance for recovery.

I wanted to be with you alone, and talk about the weather, But tradition I can trace AGAINST THE CHILD IN YOUR FACE, WON’T ESCAPE MY ATTENTION. YOU KEEP YOUR DISTANCE VIA THE SYSTEM OF TOUCH I’M LOST IN ADMIRATION, COULD I NEED YOU THIS MUCH?  Let That Sink In. Tears for fears is so underrated (or maybe so overexposed that they’ve become so) the poetry that haunts me.

And the most Mike Wheeler string of lyrics ever uttered, 

Something happens and I’m head over heels, I never find out until I’m head over heels. And this is my Four Leaf Clover, I’m on the line, one open mind, This is my four leaf clover. He is MAKING that wish.

You’re the Inspiration by Chicago (1984) - 

This is that song, that if Mike and Will were some cheesy rom com, when Will walks through the door and everything starts going in slow-mo, stars in their eyes when they lock eyes, this song would play, the chorus 

You’re the meaning in my life, you’re the inspiration, You bring feeling to my life, You’re the inspiration. 

A line that makes Mike feel very called out, And I know, yes I know that it’s plain to see, So in love when we’re together, Now I know (Now I know) that I need you here with me, From tonight until the end of time. 

And my favorite part of this song, just the little added nuance with the phrase YOU SHOULD KNOW, everywhere I go, always on my mind, you’re in my heart added at every bridge and then at The Culmination, Wanna have you near me, I wanna have YOU HEAR ME SAYIN’. Mike knows Will deserves to hear it, he’s scared to tell him, but that doesn’t matter as much when Will deserves to know that someone loves him that much.

Space Age Love Song by A Flock Of Seagulls (1982) - 

I saw your eyes, and you made me smile, for a little while, I was falling in love

I saw your eyes, and you touched my mind, although it took a while, I was falling in love

I saw your eyes, and you made cry, and for a little while, I was falling in love

I don’t think it needs any explanation. Will’s a snobby hater and when he listens to it he won’t think a flock of seagulls are that bad. ;) 

Hungry Eyes by Eric Carmen (1987) - 

I’ve been meaning to tell you, I‘ve got this feeling that won’t subside

One look at you and I can’t disguise, I’ve got hungry eyes

I feel the magic between you and I

He’s been meaning to say, he’s been MEANING TO. He CANNOT disguise this desire!!!! It will Not go away. He’s fantasizing he’s fantasizing :) 

Open Arms by Journey (1981) - 

How could our love be so blind? We sailed on together, we drifted apart, and here you are by my side. I meannn. But now that you’ve come back, turned night into day, I need you to stay. With open arms, nothing to hide, BELIEVE WHAT I SAY… Hoping you’ll see what your love means to me. 

Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac (1987) - 

this song just makes me blush when I hear it, the vibe of this song has never been topped. Can you hear me calling out your name? You know that I’m falling and I don't know what to say. You know that I’m proud and I can’t get the words out. Will’s been picking up on his weird signals, he thinks he knows what’s going on but he’s not sure. and Mike just wants to be with him everywhere :’)

Father Figure by George Michael (1987) - 

This song is now officially in my byler multi-verse of madness. In every universe I see Will loving this song, for what it represents and also bc he has a crush on George Michael. Like in my blair witch fic I see this as Will playing this song and album all the time and Mike being like, “ugh, why? girls like him, it’s so cheesy and weird,” but on close reinspection he discovers a lot to love about it and wants to let Will know that he gets it now. 

That’s all I wanted, something special, something sacred in your eyes. For just one moment to be bold and naked at your side. 

They’ve toed this line for so long, being so special to each other, but erring just on that side of caution, not fully letting their guards down to be completely uninhibited in their desire and be able to lay it all out on the table. But something tells me together we’d be happy. 

This is one of George Michael’s most “controversial” songs because of the lines I will be your father figure, put your tiny hand in mind (it apparently is about a relationship between an older/younger person) wanting to teach them things, guide them, 

I will be your preacher teacher, anything you had in mind.

I think Mike and Will both want to teach each other things, learn things together, learn and grow into whatever they want to be together. 

I will be your father figure, I have had enough of crime… That’s all I wanted, but sometimes love can be mistaken for a crime. currently shedding my skin. 

Historically Mike and Will have not been shown that who they love/being gay is a good thing. The aids crisis at this point in time is in the trenches, they are told good things do not happen to gay people, bad things, death, suffering that’s what this kind of love means but, If we have faith in each other, we can be strong… I will be your father figure… I will be the one who loves you ‘til the end of time. 

Society might not like it, parents might not like it, but I’ll be that person for you, that unconditional support you need, if you so need it. And just another line to kick you down So when you remember the ones who have lied, Who said that they cared but then laughed as you cried, beautiful darling don't think of me…because all I ever wanted it’s in your eyes… 

Mike may have run away, maybe Will thought he lied when he said they’d always be friends, but Mike doesn’t want Will to think of him that way, he wants to change that, tell him the real truth.

Everything I Own by Bread (1971) - 

Another song from the childhood years, so I’m projecting onto Mike saying this was one of his favorite albums growing up because it was one of mine, every song on this album, it’s just so good (Bread was my jam, no pun intended sry). I imagine it playing in the Wheeler living room, it’s just classic rock sounding enough and in-offensive (besides that one government song, but I believe ted would purposefully misunderstand what it means) that I think it would be acceptable for the whole family to find something they liked on it. 

And THIS SONG, again is there ANY song more them???

The finest years I ever knew, Were all the years I had with you

You taught me how to love, What it’s of, what it’s of, You never said too much, 

But still, you showed me the way. 

Mike didn’t know what loving someone felt like before Will. He learned what it meant to really care for someone, because of how he wanted to care for Will. He learned this through the rest of the party as well, all his values, “friends don’t lie,” “a friend is someone you would do anything for,” “you tell them stuff you don’t tell your parents,” Those innocent years were the best he’s ever known because he let himself practice those, and he just wants to get that back!

And I knew from watching you, Nobody else could ever know, The part of me that can’t let go

he just can’t let him go, and no one can know :( 

And he would Give anything I own, Would give up my life, my heart, my home, Just to have you back again. FUCK OFF!

In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel (1986) - 

I get so lost sometimes, days pass, and this emptiness fills my heart. 

All the time Mike spent running away, feeling so lost. 

When I want to run away, I drive off in my car, but whichever way I go I come back to the place you are. 

He tried to fight it, but he can’t help that he feels most at peace with Will. 

All my instincts, they return. The grand facade, so soon will burn. 

When he’s with Will he can’t help but be himself, Will lets him be himself. It feels so good not to pretend!! 

I get so tired, working so hard for our survival, I look to the time with you, to keep me awake and alive. 

I mean Come On! Mike might as well have written this song, facing the possibility of the end of the world, always looking to each other to help keep them going.

The Lady in My Life by Michael Jackson (1982) - 

It’s on the biggest selling album of all time, almost every household had a copy in the 80s. And Mike is BOLD for including it. He likes it for reasons. He knows it's a sexy song but he thinks the sweet aspects of the song overpower all of that. 

Let me fill you with my dreams, I can make you feel alright

And baby through the years, (even when we’re old and gray) gonna love you more each day

So I’ll promise you tonight, that you will always be the lady in my life.

I also think Mike would enjoy the ‘nighttime’ aspect of this song, so much of their bonding recently being sleeping together, as well as when Will’s (and his) nightmares come.

There’ll be no darkness tonight…Our love will shine, lighting the night…And I will keep you warm through the shadows of the night… 

Forever Young by Alphaville (1984) - 

I feel like I could write a paper on this one. Not just about Mike and Will, but the whole party growing up, the time period they live in (cold war, reagan, aids) it’s just…

But for Mike, Will is so tied to his childhood, and so tied to his dreams of the future.

Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. Are you gonna drop the bomb or not? 

Again this song is about the cold war, referring to an actual bomb, but I see Mike thinking of wondering if he’s gonna take that plunge, dropping this bomb onto Will (and also perhaps in the future having to do the same with his family and friends), going back and forth on whether that’s going to be received well.

Let us die young or let us live forever, We don’t have the power but we never say never.

Silence = Death. I have to wonder if part of Mike thinks that accepting that he’s gay, or that living a gay lifestyle he might have to accept a young death if he’s unlucky. I assume he knows as much as what most of middle america knew about aids at the time (which wasn’t the full breadth of the situation and definitely wasn’t all true, they were still discovering new things at the time) - and should he let himself do that or should he continue on as he is, even if maybe he’s not strong enough.

It’s so hard to live without a cause, I don’t want to perish like a fading horse.

Nope that’s why he can’t continue on as is. How could he when he knows what it is to live to fight for something, for someone, for all the people he’s cared about.

Heaven by Bryan Adams (1984) - 

Ok whew back to the sappy shit. Is there ANY song more them???? NO! This is The One!!

Oh thinkin’ about all our younger years, there was only you and me, we were young and wild and free

Now nothing can take you away from me, we’ve been down that road before, but that’s over now.

They had it all, but lost it over and over again. All the things that had taken Will away are gone, now the only thing in their way is them.

Yeah nothing can change what you mean to me, Oh there’s lots that I could say, but just hold me now.

Oh does Mike have things to say, oh does he have things to share, so much, finding those words are hard for him though, that’s why he’s saying it through all these songs. They can say it all in time, he just wants them to come together now.

And love is all that I need, and I found it there in your heart, 

isn’t too hard to see, we’re in heaven.

:) :) 

AAAHHH thank you for your time.

[thespiritofvexation]

Some more Thåström-recommendations for @glorious-blackout (and anyone else who might be curious about what my problem is) Sorry, I got carried away!

Ebba Grön - Die Mauer (1982)

I feel I need to explain what I meant when I said Die Polizei reminded me of Die Mauer (apart for the obvious similarities in the titles!) I'm just gonna go ahead and assume you know what Die Polizei is about! Die Mauer is about a man who is separated from his love by the Berlin wall, he is overcome by longing and anger and decides to do whatever it takes to reunite with her. The sound of gunshots at the end of the studio version implies that he failed, hence the "Die Mauer but with a happy ending"-comment. Musically Thåström's solo-rendition of the song is more like Die Polizei than the original though (this one for example)

Imperiet - Alltid rött alltid rätt (1983)

Title means "always red always right", basically a raging against the machine socialist anthem (live video for maximum intensity!)(I promise he is perfectly sane)

Imperiet - Märk hur vår skugga (1985)

A cover of a song originally written in 1790! The band felt they were becoming to commercial and wanted to do something "avant-garde" and the record company was not happy. To everyone's surprise it became their biggest hit! (The song may not be very Kaizer but the video sure has Kaizer-vibes!)

Imperiet - Österns röda ros (1986)

"Red rose of the east" (meaning Palestine) You might know this one already if you've seen my pinned post. Including it anyway since it sadly still is relevant and because I think I might like this 2015 version best

Thåström - Djävulen o jag (1989)

I made a whole post about the various live versions of this song and the studio-version is also a favourite! But I feel like especially this version only needs a couple of oil barrels and it would fit right into a Kaizer concert

Thåström - Radio Thåström (1991)

This list got a bit heavy so have a silly nonsense song with a silly nonsense video!

Peace Love & Pitbulls - A. Psycho (1992)

In the early 90's Thåström said fuck this, eloped to Amsterdam and started a industrial- rock- techno- metal- band, or as a swedish journalist put it "went to Amsterdam and drilled into a mountain wall for 5 years". I'm glad he did, and so was Marilyn Manson who cited PLP as an inspiration (Just so that no one gets the wrong idea, PLP came first!)

Thåström - Vacker död stad (1999)

Then he got tired of playing with the sampling-machine and replaced it with "a fuckton of guitars". All of sweden celebrated the return of the king except for little me who did not get the appeal of this terrifying angry hobo (or "waldschrat" as @copias-juicebox would say!)

Thåström - Kärlek är för dom (2009)

Thought this one has a vibe that might be up your alley. Bit of Öppet hav-feel? (Live video just because Thåström stage-antics)

Thåström f. Titiyo - Papperstunna väggar (2021)

Probably my favourite from his latest album to finnish off this list! Titiyo has a beautiful voice♡ (First time I watched this live video I thought 'dude are you ok?' but now I know this is perfectly normal Thåström- behaviour! (Rip tumblr you would have loved to diagnose him)

[thisisyourdriverspeaking]

In honour of Le Mans today, here's a little soundtrack for you. This is motorsport number twos, the edition for all the drivers. Enjoy 😊

Sebastien Loeb (26th February 1974) - Alvin Stardust - Jealous Mind

Tony Kanaan (31st December 1974) - Wombles - Wombling Merry Christmas

Juan Pablo Montoya (20th September 1975) - Leo Sayer - Moonlighting

Mark Webber (27th August 1976) - Wings - Let 'Em In

Kimi Raikkonen (17th October 1979) - The Police - Message In A Bottle

Jenson Button (19th January 1980) - Billy Preston & Syreeta - With You I'm Born Again

Felipe Massa (25th April 1981) - Ennio Morricone - Chi Mai

Heikki Kovalainen (19th October 1981) - Laurie Anderson - O Superman

Andre Lotteter (19th November 1981) - The Police - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

Pippa Mann (11th August 1983) - Paul Young - Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)

Simon Pagenaud (18th May 1984) - The Pointer Sisters - Automatic

Robert Kubica (7th December 1984) - Jim Diamond - I Should Have Known Better

Nico Rosberg (27th June 1985) - Madonna - Crazy For You

Jerome D'Ambrosio (27th December 1985) - Whitney Houston - Saving All My Love For You

Rahel Frey (23rd February 1986) - Diana Ross - Chain Reaction

Kamui Kobayashi (13th September 1986) - Boris Gardiner - I Want To Wake Up With You

Rene Rast (26th October 1986) - Status Quo - In The Army Now

James Hinchcliffe (5th December 1986) - Berlin - Take My Breath Away

Oliver Turvey (1st April 1987) - Mel and Kim - Respectable

Sebastian Vettel (3rd July 1987) - The Firm - Star Trekkin'

Alexander Sims (15th March 1988) - Rick Astley - Together Forever

Molly Taylor (6th May 1988) - Fairground Attraction - Perfect

Simona De Silvestro (1st September 1988) - Brother Beyond - The Harder I Try

Sarah Bovy (15th May 1989) - Kylie Minogue - Hand On Your Heart

James Calado (13th June 1989) - Cliff Richard - The Best Of Me

Brendon Hartley (10th November 1989) - Milli Vanilli - Girl I'm Gonna Miss You

Earl Bamber (9th July 1990) - Luciano Pavarotti - Nessun Dorma

Cristina Gutierrez (24th July 1991) - Heavy D & The Boyz - Now That We've Found Love

Abbie Eaton (2nd January 1992) - Michael Jackson - Heal The World

Timmy Hansen (21st May 1992) - Guns 'N' Roses - Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Daniel Abt (3rd December 1992) - Charles & Eddie - Would I Lie To You?

Alice Powell (26th January 1993) - Exterminate ft Niki Harris - Snap!

Tatiana Calderon (10th March 1993) - Shaggy - Oh Carolina

Christine GZ (22nd July 1993) - 4 Non Blondes - What's Up?

Alex Lynn (17th September 1993) - Pet Shop Boys - Go West

Bubba Wallace (8th October 1993) - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Boom! Shake The Room

Michelle Gatting (31st December 1993) - Take That - babe

Naomi Schiff (18th May 1994) - Stiltskin - Inside

Jessica Hawkins (16th February 1995) & Luca Ghiotto (24th February 1995) - Annie Lennox - No More I Love Yous

Beitske Visser (10th March 1995) - Alex Party - Don't Give Me Your Life

Nicholas Latifi (29th June 1995) - Outhere Brothers - Boom Boom Boom

Jack Aitken (23rd September 1995) - Michael Jackson - You Are Not Alone

Oliver Askew (12th December 1996) - The Prodigy - Breathe

Louis Deletraz (22nd April 1997) - Robbie Williams - Old Before I Die

Catie Munnings (15th November 1997) - Natalie Imbruglia - Torn

Cem Bolukbasi (9th February 1998) - Backstreet Boys - All I Have To Give

Jamie Chadwick (20th May 1998) - Aqua - Turn Back Time

Kevin Hansen (28th May 1998) - All Saints - Under The Bridge

Mick Schumacher (22nd March 1999) - Boyzone - When The Going Gets Tough

Toni Breidinger (14th July 1999) - ATB - 9pm (Till I Come)

Max Fewtrell (29th July 1999) - Five - If Ya Gettin' Down

Robert Shwartzman (16th September 1999) & Bent Viscaal (18th September 1999) - Lou Bega - Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of...)

Felipe Drugovich (23rd May 2000) - Madison Avenue - Don't Call Me Baby

Marta Garcia (9th August 2000) - Craig David - 7 Days

Arthur Leclerc (14th October 2000) - Mariah Carey ft Westlife - Against All Odds

Sophia Florsch (1st December 2000) - Leann Rimes - Can't Fight The Moonlight

Clement Novalak (23rd December 2000) - Eminem - Stan

Frederik Vesti (13th January 2002) - Puretone - Addicted To Bass

Luke Browning (31st January 2002) - A1 - Caught In The Middle

Liam Lawson (11th February 2002) - No Doubt - Hey Baby

Olli Caldwell (11th June 2002) - Eminem - Without Me

Jack Doohan (20th January 2003) - Busted - Year 3000

All added to this playlist 😊😊

[thefugitivesaint]

Enzo Sciotti (1944-2021), ‘Demons’ (1985) “A group of people are trapped in a West Berlin movie theater infested with ravenous demons who proceed to kill and possess the humans one-by-one, thereby multiplying their numbers.” A very, and I mean VERY, distant cousin to this film is 1988′s ‘Night of the Demons’ (heavily cribbing its camera work and plot from ‘The Evil Dead’). For me, it was a VHS Halloween staple that features a dance scene that feels like an interpretive dance of the birth of goth. (Now that I think about it, Amelia Kinkade might just be a precursor to Fairuza Balk in 1996′s ‘The Craft’) Non-dubbed version of ‘Demons’

[experimentik]

Experimentik #78 / 16.Oct.2024 /

Marina Cyrino / Alexander Markvart / Javier Areal V��lez

16. October 2024 / 20:30- (doors 20:00) *no entry during sets

3 x solo

Marina Cyrino - amplified flute, objects

Alexander Markvart  - feedback acoustic guitar, objects

Javier Areal Vélez - laptop

FB event ———————————

Marina Cyrino is a Brazilian flutist and sound artist based in Berlin. She works in the fields of improvisation, composition and performative installations. Her flute playing is characterized by singular techniques developed through the use of internal amplification. The rhythmic use of the flute, the extensive use of objects and balloons attached to the instrument, and the use of disassembled flute parts are other distinctive elements of her playing. She is a member of the Brazilian experimental music label Seminal Records.

photo © Cristina Marx_Photomusix

———————————

Alexander Markvart - is a musician, member of theater projects and organizer of events and festivals. Born on January 5, 1987 in Kemerovo. Now based in Berlin. He is a notable figure on the Russian new improvised and experimental music scenes. Uses in many projects and performances a wide range of musical instruments: as quite common - piano, guitar, accordion, saxophone, trumpet, analog synthesizers, electric drums, flute, laptop, etc., and also various objects, wires, appliances, etc. Stylistically he works in a lot of musical genres from radical free improvisation, EAI, noise, hardcore, to well-structured projects, minimal techno and post-folk.

Founder of such polystylistic musical formations as Studio of Unconscious Music (SUM) and Siberian Improvisation Company (SIC!). Also in different years is a member of another experimental bands and projects - Sacrifices, Verevka, Radical Muzak Septet, MITLO, Klub Demboh, Inorganic Blossoming, PSVSV, Cherubs, Importunate Twins, Sekta Phoenix. Works and plays concerts in various projects with different musicians such as: Axel Dörner, Lucio Capece, Burkhard Beins, Mazen Kerbaj, Joke Lanz, Adam Asnan, Jonas Kocher, Fire! (Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling, Andreas Werliin), Ilia Belorukov, Joel Grip, Nick Sudnik, Michel Doneda, Bryan Eubanks and with many others. 

———————————

Javier Areal Vélez (Buenos Aires, 1985) is an experimental music composer, improviser and curator. His recent work focuses on the coding of digital companions for the performance of live improvised music. Javier's electronic music develops around noisy polyrhythms of extra-human complexity to make the most deformed audiences move. He researches human+machine collaborations through the use of samples, synthesis, lights, and mechanical robots. Additionally, Javier has a long career as performer of prepared electric guitar. His characteristic style relies heavily on a primal technique that emphasizes timbre and rhythm over traditional forms, favoring intensity and dynamic contrast. Javier has released records on labels worldwide and has collaborated with artists such as Heiner Goebbels, Audrey Chen, Chris Pitsiokos, Violeta García, Brian Chase, Shayna Dunkelman and Jorge Espinal. He is a member of CALATO, KYSE and VVU and wrote commissions for ensambles Híbridx, Rotativo and Tempi. Over the past decade, Javier has performed extensively in Argentina and toured across South and North America, Europe and Japan. Javier is the founder and director of RUIDO Experimental Music Festival (active since 2017), and he coordinates the Sound Arts Center (CASo) of the Secretary of Culture of Argentina.

photo © Susi Maresca

---------------------------

Experimentik 2024  is supported by inm - initiative neue musik berlin / field notes

[denimbex1986]

'After making his name battling zombies in 28 Days Later and ruling a ruthless gang in Peaky Blinders, Cillian Murphy has now been recognised as a Hollywood heavyweight after winning his first Oscar for playing the father of the atomic bomb in Oppenheimer.

As an actor with a serious reputation and a serious talent, it was refreshing that the first thing to come out of Murphy's mouth when he went on stage to accept his best actor statuette was a joyful laugh.

Not someone usually given to public displays of emotion, it was clear how much winning an Oscar meant.

He may have been the frontrunner to win throughout awards season, but he was still "a little overwhelmed" to have the Oscar in his hand, he told the audience.

Declaring himself "a very proud Irishman" - the first Irish-born star to win best actor at the Oscars, in fact - he did then get serious.

Clearly conscious of his winning role as J Robert Oppenheimer, the US theoretical physicist whose work gave humanity the potential for nuclear annihilation, he dedicated the award to "the peacemakers everywhere".

As ITV's Oscars night host Jonathan Ross said, it was "nice for him to use that moment to point out that we are living in a world which is forever changed by what that film's about".

Ross added: "That's one of the problems I had with the film, that it sort of lionised that man without really forcing the audience to look at what he'd done, even though he was going through that anguish."

Although the early part of the film focuses on the creation and development of the atomic bomb, the last hour sees Oppenheimer grappling with what he's done, as he comes to terms with the many lives lost as a result of his work.

"This is actually a very human story," Murphy told BBC culture editor Katie Razzall last month.

"And if you think about the sort of dilemmas they were wrestling with at the time, they are the biggest, most profound, most paradoxical, most important kind of moral dilemmas that we're still wrestling with as a race and as the world."...

Oppenheimer was released last July - on the same day as Barbie - and the resulting Barbenheimer phenomenon helped propel both to box office success.

Commercial success came with high critical acclaim for Oppenheimer, and it has now cleaned up at the Oscars, with trophies for Murphy and Nolan among seven wins.

The actor already has his next film in the pipeline. Small Things Like These, an intense drama in which he plays a taciturn coal merchant in 1985 Ireland - earned glowing reviews when it opened the Berlin Film Festival last month.

As Hollywood now knows, Murphy is an actor who brings gravitas to every performance - but can still allow himself a well-deserved laugh.'

[cleopatragirlie]

Anita Lane in 'Berlin Now' (1985)

[sloshed-cinema]

Demons [Dèmoni] (1985)

When the movie starts on a scare the likes of which filmgoers hadn’t seen since “L’Arrivée d’un train en Gare de La Ciotat,” you know you’re in for a treat. Lamberto Bava’s pulpy gore-fest gets the scene-setting, if it could be called that, through quickly enough: folks show up at a new cinema in Berlin, and the shit hits the fan pronto. It’s easy to ridicule the film for a lack of interior logic or sense of continuity. For one thing, a quartet of punks exist solely to add to the already staggering body count, and because someone thought that the image of a person snorting coke out of a Coke can would be hilarious. And the late reveal of a helicopter crashing through the roof of the cursed cinema makes absolutely no goddamn sense until well after it’s happened and all is revealed that things have escalated to outright In the Mouth of Madness tier apocalypse outside these walls. But aside from stating the obvious (nobody gave a shit about silly little details like that during the production), it’s funny how on one level Demons is a jarringly stark commentary on society’s fundamental inability to respond to emergency situations. After they find themselves to be trapped in the cinema, all of the disposable stereotypes assembled almost immediately sign their own death certificates. General chaos is the rule of thumb, with everyone working against one another in their panic. Try to assert yourself and take control of the situation? Sorry, still gonna meet an ignominious end. Go into a state of catatonia? Not helping. The real trick is simply to ooze main character energy. Also having a sweet katana bequeathed to you by your dying friend and a motorcycle that is on exhibit and yet apparently totally gassed up certainly helps.

But let’s be real, this is about the gore. This earns top marks in its intent and, well, maybe we should grade on a curve for execution. The ideas, the sheer number of ways that people are horribly maimed and killed, are relentlessly creative and fucked up. Even if Dario Argento produced this, the effects more align themselves with father Mario Bava’s proto-slashers or Lucio Fulci’s depravity: eyes are gouged on multiple occasions, fingernails split and deformed, teeth displaced, demons sent bursting from distorted backs. But for all of the glorious cringes and winces it inspires, there are a few moments when… well, now her face looks mostly like plastic so I guess something fucked up is about to happen. At least they warned us. Now we just need a nice boyfriend to tell us when it’s safe to look back at the screen, and to promise he’s not lying.

THE RULES

SIP

A song starts.

Someone drinks Coke with a straw (or starts bumpin' that).

A named character dies.

BIG DRINK

The Metropol Theatre logo appears.

Silver mask features in a scene.

[theoutcastrogue]

tagged by @lafcadiosadventures, hi!

Tag someone you want to get to know better! Or just check in with.

Favorite color: black (I give a different answer every time they ask me)

Last song: Fantastic Negrito - In the pines. This whole album is shivers.

Black girl, black girl, your man is gone Now you travel the road alone And you raise that child all by yourself Then the policeman shot him down

Black girl, black girl, where will you go? To the place where the cold winds blow In the pines, in the pines where the sun don't shine I shivered the whole night through

Well I know that your heart is breaking Into one million pieces I know that your heart is breaking, I know Where did you sleep last night?

Last movie: Umberto D. (1952) Classic Italian neorealist specimen.

Currently watching: Star Trek: Lower Decks, Critical Role c3.

Other stuff I watched this year: Fucked up movie of the year was Inside (2023), with Willem Dafoe and…. no one else, basically. The premise is intriguing and a bit misleading: "The film follows an art thief who is trapped inside a luxury penthouse, slowly losing his grip on reality". But it's not a heist flick, and it's not a survival thriller about obscene wealth and/or weird technology oppressing simple thieves folks, it's a movie about Art, and it's fucked up (honorific), and holy shit Dafoe's performance.

Also good movies: The Menu (2022), The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), Holy Spider (2022), Argentina, 1985 (2022), Mad God (2021), The Naked City (1948), Nimona (2023), Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (2021, thanks @tuulikki!). I kinda slept on new stuff, it's been a weird year.

Good shows: Babylon Berlin, The Last of Us, Succession, The Bear, and there's a bunch of good stuff coming out later (Yellowjackets, Severance, Chainsaw Man, The White Lotus, Interview with the Vampire, and SOME DAY Arcane and Russian Doll).

Shows I dropped this year: None (I chose wisely!)

Last book: Primo Levi, If this is a man (HOW had I not read this yet)

Currently reading: A book about the cuisines of yore of various greek minorities in Turkey. As a result, I am constantly hungry.

tagging: @bophtelophti, @athenenoctua9, @slowlymychaos, @honourablejester, @we-are-trickster, @wearepaladin, anyone who wants to share

[marimayscarlett]

To add to the last question - we can only speculate when and for how long Till and Richard lived together. We can assume it was in Schwerin, but we don't know when either of them moved to Berlin, pre - or post the fall of the wall.

During this years mothers day, Khira Li posted, crediting Mareike as "mostly single parent". It's none of our business why she was absent during Nele's early childhood (although Nele hinted, it could've been for mental reasons) but we all know why Richard was absent. Just like every musician ever, music was his priority. Then international travel started, New York.. Richard himself said that after Maximes birth, he wished to be a better father, and I think he achieved that with how close he is to his kids these days.

But let's not forget that Till wasn't as present for his second daughter. Both of them have pretty much blended families, and it would've happened with or without Mareike, especially when Richard lived in NY and Merlin entered the picture. Till was there to make him feel part of the family with his new found siblings.

Point is, whilst they've not actually been single fathers together, over the years, they did help each other with their kids - to this day. I wouldn't be surprised if Richard is honorary Opa to Till's grandkids because no matter the hardships, Richard and Till's bond is extremely strong.

Hello dear anon, thank you for your addition to this topic.

While Richard and Till are friends since 1987 (as mentioned in this article), I assume they lived together after the fall of the berlin wall. Richard mentioned several times how poor he and Till were around this time, how hard it was to come by, how they were almost starving and committed minor crimes together to keep them alive essentially (mentioned here and the infamous cow-stealing story is mentioned in-depth in this interview around 10.50min). Plus, if I'm not mistaken, Richard mentioned that Till would bring Nele to school and they would visit rave clubs in Berlin afterwards. Since Nele was born in 1985, she would've been of school-age around 1991, so that could've been the time they lived together.

As to how much which parent was present during the childhood of several children: You are right, this is none of our business. As with every rockstar, their children have to forgo time with their parents a lot more than children with parents in regular jobs. Richard once said that becoming a parent again in his 40s was so different than being 23 at the time with Khira, and gave him the opportunity to experience fatherhood much more mindful.

From what we can see today, everyone seems amicable with each other and the relationships between the children and the parents in question seem to be quite close - and that's the most important thing, no matter how much everyone was involved in any way. I don't know anything about how Merlin entered the family, I don't want to dig into such family matters since it's way too personal for me, but it's great that he now is part of the family.

And as you said, they helped each other with their kids, and not only that, they went through so much together and have formed a very close bond. And honestly, the possibility of being honorary Opas is such a heartwarming concept, would be amazing if they would handle it this way 🤍

[An addition to this ask.]

[cantsayidont]

Haterating and hollerating in the 1980s. None of these movies has any meaningful wlw content, so just assume the answer to "CONTAINS LESBIANS?" is "No."

VIDEODROME (1983): I'd never actually seen all of this loopy, surreal David Cronenberg thriller about an opportunistic Canadian TV station president (James Woods) who becomes convinced that a mysterious series of pirate broadcasts showing scenes of torture and murder might be the Next Big Thing, resisting all attempts to warn him off until it's far too late. Like SCANNERS (which I had seen), its influence has been so outsized that much of it feels familiar even on first viewing, including the film's now-notorious forays into body horror, which, if you're expecting them, are no longer really that shocking (although they are often memorably icky). What's less expected, and thus more striking, is the film's Pynchon-like (Pynchonian? Pynchonesque?) deadpan absurdity; the story is full of characters with names like Blanca O'Blivion (Sonja Smits), daughter of Marshall-McLuhan-like media theorist Brian O'Blivion, and Barry Convex (Leslie Carlson), a sinister optician who's also a defense contractor. It's really very funny, in the same mode as John Carpenter's later THEY LIVE. Judging by the sheer density of ridiculous stuff happening even around the edges, like the brief snippet we see of the weird call-in show hosted by Nicki Brand (Debbie Harry, who's less prominently featured than I'd been given to expect), I can only assume it was intentional, although Cronenberg's narrative straight face and the outsize reactions to the goopy "videocassette orifice" stuff stood in the way of its being recognized as a comedy. (That it's a satire should of course be obvious.) VERDICT: One of those movies you need to see for reasons of cultural literacy, even if it's not really your thing, but perhaps not while eating.

GOTCHA! (1985): Before finding his niche on the TV show ER, Anthony Edwards had a burgeoning career as one of the more obnoxious of the many obnoxious young male stars of the '80s, offering an insufferable combination of earnestness and smarm in films like REVENGE OF THE NERDS and this dumb teen adventure, obviously intended to capitalize on a then-popular campus fad. Horny 18-year-old UCLA veterinary student Jonathan Moore, whose favorite hobby is the titular paintball assassination game, decides to go to Europe with a friend (Alex Rocco, who has more charisma in his minor supporting role than Edwards musters in his entire '80s filmography) and falls for a hot older woman called Sasha (Linda Fiorentino), who soon involves Jonathan in some deadly real-world espionage. The midsection, set in Paris and Berlin, is an okay if unremarkable Cold War thriller, with Edwards relatively tolerable as a fish out of water; the movie's best scene has him hitching a ride with a van full of German punks who love DALLAS. Unfortunately, the third act returns to L.A. and attempts to pay off the paintball-game setup, with preposterous results. Also, if you're much older than the protagonist, the way the story wraps up Jonathan's relationship with Sasha will likely seem a little creepy. VERDICT: Misses the mark.

INTO THE NIGHT (1985): Oddball black comedy thriller starring Jeff Goldblum as Ed Okin, a depressed, insomniac aerospace engineer who over the course of one long night becomes the unlikely savior of a beautiful woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) who's being pursued by an assortment of deadly enemies. Goldblum has fun with his character, who hasn't slept in days and is no longer capable of any emotional response beyond mild dismay (something that becomes progressively funnier as the situation escalates), and he has excellent rapport with Pfeiffer, who's not so much a femme fatale as an aging good-time girl who's worn out her welcome just about everywhere. Unfortunately, they're saddled with a script that often seems like an unfinished draft, with a murky, rather racist plot that's full of setups for gags whose punchlines are still marked "TBA," and punctuated by bursts of violence that are frequently meaner than called for (the fate of the Kathryn Harrold character is especially nasty, and completely gratuitous). Dan Ackroyd, David Bowie, Vera Miles, Irene Papas, and other prominent stars pop up in minor roles, usually for no more than a scene or two, and director John Landis peppers the film with guest appearances by other film directors (including Roger Vadim, Paul Mazursky, David Cronenberg, and Jim Henson, among others), which is distracting if you recognize them and puzzling if you don't. VERDICT: Goldblum and Pfeiffer are great, but Landis's weird indulgences leave it feeling like a private joke.

MANHUNTER (1986): Mesmerizing Michael Mann adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel RED DRAGON, with William Petersen as Will Graham, Dennis Farina as Jack Crawford, Tom Noonan as the "Tooth Fairy" killer, Joan Allen as Reba, and Brian Cox as Hannibal Lecter (for some reason spelled "Lecktor"). It has a very different narrative center of gravity than later Hannibal Lecter movies or the HANNIBAL TV show, though it's no less stylized, with striking use of color and music (most memorably in the finale, which uses Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" diegetically). Like most such stories, it's ideologically objectionable — though arguably less so than THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS — but it's certainly effective, and less hokey than the 2002 adaptation with Ed Norton. Long, slow-paced (particularly in the director's cut), and not very deep, but if you catch it in the right frame of mind, its blend of chilly psychological detachment and procedural minutiae is almost hypnotic. VERDICT: A movie to dissociate to.

THE MANHATTAN PROJECT (1986): If OPPENHEIMER struck you as too pompous and amoral, try this decent if implausible mid-'80s teen movie about a high school science prodigy (Christopher Collet) who decides to protest the secret DOE lab run by his mom's nerdy new scientist boyfriend (John Lithgow) by stealing some plutonium from the lab with the help of his aspiring teen reporter sort-of girlfriend (a babyfaced Cynthia Nixon) and then building his own atomic bomb. The first half relies too heavily on its hyper-competent (and singularly arrogant) kid hero effortlessly outwitting doofus adults, although it works well enough on its own terms. Things pick up in the exciting third act, which is enlivened by a terrific performance by Lithgow, supported by John Mahoney as a hard-bitten Army colonel who's decided the best way to contain the situation is to kill the boy as soon as they can separate him from the bomb. Collet is quite good, if not terribly likeable; Nixon does her best with an underwritten supporting role. VERDICT: The intended moral point ends up a little muddy, but an attempt was made, which is more than one can say for Nolan's overblown epic.

MIRACLE MILE (1988): AFTER HOURS at the end of the world: What begins as a treacly romance about a dweebish musician (Anthony Edwards at his most objectionably saccharine) falling for a diner waitress (Mare Winningham with a truly unfortunate haircut) takes an extremely dark turn as our hapless hero answers a misdialed pay phone call and learns that nuclear war is about to begin, setting him on a frantic, surreal late-night quest to find his dream girl and get them both out of L.A. before it's destroyed by (presumably) Soviet missiles. It's a frightening premise for a perfectly dreadful script whose painfully contrived setup, cartoonish characters (including Denise Crosby as an unlikely diner patron who seems to know something about what may be going on), and uneasy half-comic tone undermine its credibility at every turn. The urgency and uncertainty of the threat are enough to hold your attention for about an hour, but from there, the story has nothing left to do but to play out the string, leading to an incredibly nihilistic finale not recommended for anyone in an emotionally fragile state. VERDICT: Memorably weird, but not in a good way.

[harrison-abbott]

I used to visit Poland a lot when I was younger. It’s the country that I’ve spent the most time in in terms of foreign land (as somebody from Scotland), and I would go around the big cities. But I also visited the countryside a lot, too.

And what I felt about the Polish country especially was a sense of great beauty. Polska is a very beautiful land, with the fields and the forest. There is a dense, rich quality to this nation’s wilderness. And whilst I was watching Shoah (1985) I was reminded of all of that beauty – for a lot of it is shot in the same terrain that I mention.

This is what makes it a highly unusual documentary. Because there is no archival footage whatsoever used to portray the time period in question. What we see instead are scenes of 1980s, beautiful Poland.

Accompanying this visual array, are the interviews and words with real people who were involved with the events that happened forty years earlier. We witness a whole range of people speak about their experiences. And their stories clash and mix with the scenery.

I actually posted on this blog yesterday about H.G. Wells’ book, A Short History of the World. And I was struck by just how much violence was involved in the history between peoples, throughout the ages. It was as if violent behaviour was the key motivator behind what propelled most of the chapters. This group of people invaded another group of people in this other part of the continent, and won over this area of land, for x amount of time, until a new army invaded, and they ruled for y number of years.

And whilst I was reading this book, the violence was somehow diluted because it was so repetitive.

When I watched this documentary ^, the horrors involved were far more subjectively portrayed. Not that I’m saying that the horror in the Wells book was to be ignored. Only that, in this film, the accounts were actual people who were direct witnesses to what happened.

I’m sure we know lots of black comic jokes that are made about this particular topic. People make jokes about this genocide, in crass terms. Be it in cartoons, or in the playground, or just for a sick ‘sense of humour’. It is as if what happened during WWII has ended up as a soup of jargon, in a way, whereby words and phrases such as; holocaust, Auschwitz, concentration camp, gas chambers, Hitler, Nazi: all of these items seem to gloss over the sheer scale of the atrocity.

I remember being in college (FE college, not university) and overhearing a lad talking about his visit he made to Auschwitz with his friends. And he was telling them about “shower jokes” he had made whilst there. And the other folk who were listening were just laughing at them. And I remember reading a novel by a Hungarian writer who repeatedly made black digs about the Jews being sent off to be gassed.

What on earth is funny about what happened?

Often, I marvel at how short a time ago it was. It really wasn’t that long ago. Eighty years ago, as I write this on the 17th March 2024, it was still happening. My own grandfather was a British serviceman in the Royal Engineers, and he was rescued from Dunkirk. And then he went back to Europe and ended up in Berlin after the war ended, where he was a prison guard. Albert Speer was one of the detainees in the prison he guarded.

And I am 31 years old now, and my grandfather was only two generations above me. This is how recent World War Two is in historical terms.

As for a film, it is very good. It is nine and half hours long, so it takes a while. And many of the stories included are so grim that I had to pause for a while and do other things, just because the content got so oppressive. But in the way that is shot, and the manner in which the information is delivered, is somehow magnetic. Or, rather, you feel that you are watching something that is important to watch. Which, I believe, is what films are supposed to do.

Not everything was pretty, in a visual sense, throughout this film.

This was not the point I was trying to make earlier. What I meant was that, there are many areas of Poland where the old camps were demolished and now they are surrounded by green, fertile land. Particularly with Treblinka: it just seems like a lost place in the sticks, and you wouldn’t think anything awful had gone down there if it weren’t for the cemeteries.

But with Auschwitz, it has remained intact. That famous shot of the train track, with the entrance on the horizon. The ominous tower above the entrance … it just looks like something out of Hell.

I think it is profoundly important that they kept Auschwitz preserved. In the same way that it was essential for Claude Lanzmann to have made this epic film.

There are many scenes whereby he interviews, via his translator, the Polish people who remember the Jewish folks before they were taken off to the camps. And the lady translator speaks back to him in French what they said. Lanzmann also speaks in English and German to various other people who were involved. And there is Hebrew at points as well, and Greek. And with this collage of languages, one gets a sense of the magnitude of the whole ordeal. It makes you incredulous how mammoth this massacre was. And stuns you to think that it ever possibly happened.

I won’t go into details about a particular part in the doc: but there was a note of disbelief amongst the victims as well. Or, rather, disbelief before they became victims. They couldn’t believe that they would be murdered in such a way, on a mass scale. And it happened across a whole continent.

This is not an easy documentary to watch. But, it makes you think, and it’s worth experiencing. I certainly rate it highly amongst the many documentaries I’ve seen. And it is a huge achievement from Lanzmann and the rest of his team.