Batman

24.Aug.08

“Knight of Darkness”

I just got back from the newest Batman movie with Philip and one of his friends. The whole movie was dubbed in German except the name “Batman” (apparently “Fledermausmensch” doesn’t have quite the appeal). I’ll describe what the German movie going experience is like:

As the film just came out a few days ago, we phoned ahead and got a reservation number, 22, which we used at the window to get our tickets. The theater had a two piece curtain that separated at the middle when it was time to see stuff. We spent the first half an hour or so learning what we need to buy and what movies we will need to see in the future. The first commercial was for cigarettes, something we don’t get in the States. It was cowboys riding horses in the great planes of America, herding cattle, and looking over majestic canyons while sipping on cancer. Interesting side note: all tobacco products need to have a big label on them that says in black and white (literally) that smoking is bad. I’ve seen “Rauchen kann toedlich sein” which means “Smoking can be deadly” but there are also labels that say “smoking harms you and others around you”.

The movie was good but I had to concentrate to understand what the people were saying so it wasn’t quite as relaxing as the original version would be. The other difference I found interesting was a “Pause” right in the middle so we could get up, stretch, pick up some more sweets, and discuss the first half. House lights on, curtain closed, elevator music playing, the whole thing. A few minutes later, we got back to our seats and watched the rest. Interesting.

-H