Babylon Berlin: Media, Spectacle, and History

Babylon Berlin (henceforth BB) premiered in Germany on the pay channel Sky TV in October 2017 and in the United States on the streaming service Netflix in January 2018. It is based on Volker Kutscher's series of crime novels set in late Weimar Republic and early Nazi-era Berlin. At its center are the lives and investigations of the laconic and tormented police detective Gereon Rath and his charismatic and irrepressible assistant Charlotte (Lotte) Ritter. In anticipation of the series premiere on public television, marathon screenings took place in 150 cinemas across Germany, where audience members dressed up in 1920s fashion and enjoyed a Currywurst break. Its viewership in the Federal Republic was topped only by the global fantasy behemoth Game of Thrones. The series is clearly modeled on American series such as Mad Men (2007–2015) and The Wire (2002–2008) as it unfolds a complex web of characters and subplots with loving attention to the history and fashions of the time. Indeed, this collaboration of seasoned directors Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries, and Henk Handloegten is the most expensive German TV series to date. The fact that BB premiered on pay TV while having been largely produced with public funds drew some ire. German reviewers questioned both the circumstances of its production and its creative ambition. While Der Spiegel called it “a masterpiece,” one much debated blog review went so far as to call it “pure crap,” which neither reflected historical truth nor carried artistic merit. Many critics faulted the series for trading in postcard clichés and creating a 1920s “Berlin Disneyland.” The weekly Die Zeit complained that there was a little too much cute dialect, such as “icke” and “kiek ma,” which made the critic sometimes feel like wiping the dirt makeup off the proletarian faces. (And indeed, one of the numerous intertexts of this series are Heinrich Zille's unflinching depictions of proletarian misery.)

Genres within Genres within Genres: Nested Narrative and Metalepsis

This chapter explores the relationship between genre and orientation by means of studies of two films with heavily nested narratives that are distinguished by genre: Cloud Atlas (Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 2012) and The Forbidden Room (Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson, 2015). The more distinct narrative levels a film contains, the more opportunities for metalepsis, and hence for the generation of disorientating effects. But these two films indicate the range of possible ways that complexity and disorientation may relate to one another. Structural diagrams of the two films demonstrate that simplicity of structure by no means necessarily results in ease of orientation for viewers.

Lola no palácio de Palas: a compossibilidade no cinema de Tom Tykwer

Propomos que o filme “Lola Rennt” pode ser utilizado como instrumento didático de apresentação da filosofia de Leibniz em “Ensaios de Teodiceia”. Para tanto, apresentamos uma análise do filme acompanhada por uma explicação dos principais conceitos do filósofo. Em seguida, criamos um cálculo para medir as ações dos personagens e através deste justificamos a tese de Leibniz, concluindo que mesmo no melhor mundo possível há a ocorrência de males.

Mirage and Reality Interplay in Tom Tykwer’s A Hologram for a King

This article discusses 2016 film A Hologram for a King, directed by Tom Tykwer in the context of the interplay between mirage and reality. Set in Saudi Arabia, this film revolves around the story of an American consultant, Alan Clay, who attempts to sell a hollographic teleconferencing system to the king. The film is imbued with captivating and symbolic visuals that point to the interplay between mirage and reality. This article will focus on how the cinematography and mise-en-scene of the film help supporting the interplay between mirage and reality, and to show what the film comments on the interplay in regard to our contemporary world. The method used is a film scene analysis by focusing on the important scenes in the film. The findings show that the director cleverly utilizes cinematic techniques to emphasize the main theme of the film and to offer his own viewpoint on the interplay between mirage and reality.

An Olfactory Cinema: Smelling Perfume

While technological improvements from the era of silent movies to that of sound cinema have altered and continued to affect audience’s cinematic experiences, the question is not so much how technology has increased possibility of a sensory response to cinema, rather, it is one that exposes how such technological changes only underscore the participation of our senses and the body in one’s experience of watching film, highlighting the inherently sensorial nature of the cinematic experience. This paper aims to address the above question through an olfactory cinema, by close analysis of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) by Tom Tykwer. What is an olfactory cinema, and how can such an approach better our understanding of sensorial aspects found within a cinema that ostensibly favours audio-visual senses? What can we benefit from an olfactory cinema? Perhaps, it is through an olfactory cinema that one may begin to embrace the sensual quality of cinema that has been overshadowed by the naturalized ways of experiencing films solely with our eyes and ears, so much so that we desensitize ourselves to the role our senses play in cinematic experiences altogether

Lola ReRuns in the Classroom: Dramatic Improvisations on the Film Run Lola Run for Intermediate German Instruction

This paper presents an approach of how student-created dramatic reenactments and improvisational renditions of the German film Run Lola Run (Lola rennt, Tom Tykwer 1998) can serve as important vehicles to foster transcultural and communicative, student-centered competence in intermediate German language instruction, based on successful implementation in two intermediate college German courses. By performing improvised scenes, inspired by key scenes of the film, students learn to closely interpret and engage with the film’s themes and motifs beyond the meta-textual level, while sharpening their mastery of situational vocabulary, cultural nuance, and linguistic structures of the German language. This film in particular, with its focus on repetition and variation, offers especially suitable material for facilitating students’ awareness of language as a tool with which to access imaginative and interpretative potentials, as well as to express integral aspects of culture itself. The approach presented here also includes suggested materials, methods, and ideas to enhance understanding on the textual and performative levels and incorporate at the intermediate level of the curriculum, particularly for the Independent User level (B1 and B2)2 who has a basic grasp of the German language yet desires to develop greater linguistic flexibility and aptitude.

The use of dance music and the synergy of narrative vehicles in Run Lola Run

Run Lola Run (Tom Tykwer, 1998) is unconventional on many levels. Its narrative structure, editing style and use of mixed media are highly ambitious. Director, writer and composer Tom Tykwer had a strong creative vision for the film and wanted to captivate and fully engage the viewer. The underscore consists of prominently featured through-composed dance music. The chosen musical idiom is a pastiche of contemporary dance music, rock and pop, combining hypnotic techno beats with mainstream rock appeal. The cue Running One is analysed with regards to the correlation of music and (non-)diegetic sound, as well as music and visuals. The article considers the effect of dance music on the listener, the chosen musical idiom is described as an ideal choice to have a high level of impact on the target audience. The synergetic relationship of the narrative vehicles in Run Lola Run proves effective in attaining the dramatic expressiveness Tywker envisioned.