THE PARIS LETTER: The Political Intrigue of the Job Interview

Hello everyone, Happy Oscars and Cesars weekend -

As most of you know, the Oscars are TONIGHT, but the Cesars, the French film industy's awards show, was on Friday, so we already know what the best French films of the year are, thank you very much.

As predicted, Xavier Beauvois's DES HOMMES ET DES DIEUX (OF GODS AND MEN in English) won Best Picture, as well as Best Supporting Actor and Best Cinematography - The film is being released by Sony Pictures Classics in the US and I urge you all to go see it - I saw it at Cannes last year kind of accidentally; I didn't know any of Beauvois's earlier films, and just stumbled into this screening because it was a competition film that fit into my schedule. Its a really beautiful film and one of my favorites this year - as you may have heard, it's based on true story of a group of French monks at a monastery in Algeria during thethe civil war of 1990s, and their decision over whether they should stay or leave as things became more and more harrowing for foreigners and French in particular to stay. Its a contemplative film that has a lot to say about humanitarian aid and action, but says it in a quiet and thoughtful voice. Several of thethe actors are leading stars of the film industry here - though may only be known by American audiences for their small roles in international blockbusters - the film's star, Lambert Wilson, played the creepy albino twins in the 2nd Matrix film, though he's a serious and reknowned actor here in France. Ironique, as the French would say.

THE PARIS LETTER: Berlin

Hello and viva la revolution! -

Berliner Dom and Graffiti

Though I am writing from Paris, this letter will be all about Berlin - which seems appropriate, given the protests sweeping the world this week, from Bahrain to Madison Wisconsin. And also since that's where Matt and I spent last weekend - a first time in the city for both of us. We were only there for three days, and we clearly tried to do too much - it's a huge place with centuries of history and lots to see and do, and even with my best planning we barely scratched the surface.

But, here are some general things I can tell you about Berlin - let's start with that:

BERLIN IS BIG - Really big, man. Like, London-big. Remember when I told you that you can basically bike across Paris in an hour? That the metro stops are usually less than a 10 minute walk apart? Well, imagine the opposite of that, and it's Berlin. BUT it's also fairly dense (like London), so, you are given the false sense that you CAN walk everywhere. But trust me, DON'T DO IT. You will end up one of the walking wounded, like I was by Monday afternoon. Take subway system, thethe U Bahn & the S-Bahn - they are basically free, and once you are on them you'll appreciate how freaking big the city is. Sheesh. 

Matt looking cold at Checkpoint Charlie

BERLIN IS COLD - Cold like New York cold, not like Paris with it's wimpy 35-40 degree temps. Cold like it snowed multiple times while we were there (the snow didn't stick around, but still), I was cold in full winter wear (coat, gloves, scarf, hat), and Matt, who had forgotten to pack a hat and scarf, was freezing and kept mumbling "Maybe gloves would have been a good idea". So would a down jacket. And some long underwear.

BERLIN STAYS UP LATE - Another reason why you need some serious winterwear. Berlin is a great city to wander around late at night.The trains run all night, bars stay open till at least 2AM and often all night, there are plenty of late night IMBISS ( fast food shops), and then of course the NIGHT CLUBS of Berlin, the most famous of which, Berghain, doesn't open until midnight and doesn't start its official DJ sets until 5AM. Yes, 5AM people! Matt and I actually thought of getting a real nights sleep, then going to Berghain at 7AM when the bigger acts go on. Which I understand a lot of people actually DO in Berlin - because you can only take cocaine so many nights in a row. Who the hell stays up until 7AM to hear a DJ??? Am I just OLD now? What?

We were in Berlin for the Berlin Film Festival, which after Cannes is the largest and most important European film festival, with a prestigious competition and a big market selling distribution rights to films in various territories. But, like Toronto's film festival, it has advantage of also being a Public event - ie, everyone and anyone can buy tickets without having to prove professional status (in Cannes and several other festivals you must prove you are a member of the industry before you get to see films). So, perfect for a couple like Matt and I, half in and half out of the industry - we got to do a combination of exploring and seeing films, which is a fun organizing principal for a trip, and if you're a little bit informed you can usually see some decent movies.

Our hotel was in the middle of Mitte, the downtown section of the city, right near Checkpoint Charlie. Now, I want to go on record by saying that I know almost nothing about German history, so for those of you that DO, or say, are German (hi, Claudia!), please forgive any inaccuracies or the general tone of American naivete and wonder that is about to pervade this letter.

Touristy Checkpoint Charlie

Like, did you know there was a WALL running through Berlin, separating East and West? I bet you did know that.( I did too). But what I didn't know is that pretty much all of Mitte, which is now the downtown commercial center of the city, was all part of East Berlin, and in fact quite a bit of it around our hotel specifically was sort of cleared out to make way for the famous checkpoint in and out of the American section. Change has happened so quickly since 1989 that quite often you can't tell when you are in historically East or West Berlin anymore, and Checkpoint Charlie is just a memorial in an island in the middle of Friedrichstrasse, with cars driving by on either side (see picture below).

Also, the majority of the historic buildings are in what was East Berlin - Including everything along Unter Den Linden, Berlin's Champs Elysee - Above also you can see a picture of Berliner Dom, the church of the German royalty (i think?), seen through a graffiti covered underpass near Hakescher Markt in former East Berlin - what to me feels like a classic Berlin sight.

Matt near Prenzlauerberg, with Graffiti

We spent a lot of time walking around Prenzlauer Berg, which seems like the Williamsburg (or maybe even Park Slope?) of Berlin - it was one of the first East German neighborhoods to become fully gentrified after the wall came down - at first it was filled with artists and young people without a lot of money, but as often happens it quickly became a pretty comfortable place to raise a family for yuppie Berliners. Now, being kind of a yuppie myself, I liked this neighborhood a lot, but many Berliners I think now feel like its a little TOO fancy and have moved towards Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg (also in East Berlin) for the real cutting edge/cheaper communities. To me, Prenzlauer Berg felt like Brooklyn - We went to the Prater on Kastienallee, widely recommended beer garden - of course, we couldn't see it in its full glory because the outdoor space was shut down, but we had delicious beer there in the indoor space. We also went to KulturBrauerei (Culture Brewery) in this same neighborhood, which is a giant historic brewery that has been converted into a cultural space, wiht restaurants, film/media/theater company offices, and a very cheesy looking nightclub - it's bizarre because the complex looks like a fortress and takes up a huge block, when you walk inside you feel like you are in a medieval village - with a nightclub. And a movie theater.

We saw four movies - which I will say just a little bit about here :

MARGIN CALL - This was at Sundance, and is a smart thriller about the last 36 hours of a very-lightly-fictionalized Lehmann Brothers - starting from the moment a young research analyst discovers that they're about to go bankrupt, through what happens as this news is run up the chain of command and what the bank decides to do about it. It's got a great cast - Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons (clearly enjoying himself), Zach Quinto, and Stanley Tucci - and all in all its a really enjoyable smart film - two minor quibbles for me: Demi Moore plays only female banker in thethe film, and is shown as both weak and kind of a villainess, which is always a little boring to me - plus she also OF COURSE doens't have kids and regrets it - in an all male movie, this grated a little. Also, the movie as a whole will ask you to empathize with or at least understand the people inside investment banks -and while this was okay with me, I'm sure there will be people who won't be too sympathetic with their plight. But overall, this was my favorite movie that I saw - I recommmend it.

THE BENGALI DETECTIVE - Also at Sundance, and soon coming to you as a TV series from HBO - this is a documentary about a private detective in Calcutta, where apparently profession is in great demand as thethe police are unable to fully investigate all crimes. filmmakers lucked out with their subject, he is a GREAT character - a PI, a father & husband, AND an aspiring dancer (no joke), who is really compelling. TheThe filmmaking isn't great, but guy at thethe center makes up for this.

YELLING TO THE SKY - Obligatory horrible competition film about gang violence in New York, starring Zoe Kravitz as a teenage girl who moves from victim to gang-banger in a ridiculously cliched story that also has strange arty shots of clouds and things sprinkled throughout. Matt now understands why you should never sit in the middle of a row at a film festival - in case you need to ESCAPE.

THE CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS - Werner Herzog's latest, a documentary about the cave paintings in southern France, the oldest paintings in the world - Very interesting in principle but felt long and is inexplicably shot in 3-D, clearly Herzog just wanting to get in on the technology while sort of giving a fuck-you to it at the same time. Not his best work.

Finally, a word about CURRYWURST, the Berlin specialty:

Okay first, what is Currywurst? It's a sausage, usually cut into pieces, smothered in tomato sauce and curry powder, and then eaten with toothpicks.
Where can you GET currywurst? On literally every streetcorner and in every trainstation in Berlin. Next to Checkpoint Charlie there is a stand called Checkpoint Curry. Not kidding. There is a Currywurst Museum for gods sake.
But, you ask, is Currywurst actually DELICIOUS? No, no it is NOT delicious. Well, it might be very delicious if you were drunk, which I think is how it's intended to be eaten. We tried it twice, once in a train station (the low end) and once at the KaDeWe department store food hall (the high end) and though KaDeWe's was better, we both decided we'd stick to bratwurst or other wursts with sauerkraut and mustard. I was very relieved when my German friend Cathrin told me that no one in Berlin actually likes currywurst either, they just eat it to be cool.

Then we went to the zoo

Oh and one more thing about Berlin - They have an awesome ZOO. By Monday, I was so tired I basically didn't want to do anything but sleep - but we'd checked out of our hotel and had another two hours before we had to head to the airport. We were actually right near the zoo, and so we decided to go for our final outing in the city. I've realized recently that I love zoos - as an adult who has spent basically her entire live in cities, seeing any animals that aren't pigeons, squirrels or rats makes me extremely excited. But the Berlin Zoo has EVERYTHING - monkeys, elephants, giraffes, a giant panda, and a little polar bear named Knut, Matt and I spent most of our time in the monkey house, watching the baby orangutan learn to climb ropes, and it couldn't have been better. Berlin Zoo- my recommendation for when you are too tired and/or hungover to do anything but stare at cute animals.

Thanks to EVERYONE who gave suggestions of where to go in Berlin, we are so bummed we couldn't do everything - but it just means we will have to go back and explore the city some more - I really recommend it.

Have a great week everyone!

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