Our hearty neighbor, a few weeks ago at the village fest: "Jett wollen wir uns mal öfter sehen! Aber das gehen wir langsam an!" (Now that you're back, we'll have to get together more often. But let's go easy with it."
Tatort: I was tuckered out tonight. And that's why I dozed during this week's Tatort, not because it wasn't any good. The portrayal of 'evil' in this week's Tatort was especially striking; it was a very believable, human evil, the evil of being disrespectful to institutions and to people that I could relate to and be on board with the hatin'. The villain was supposed to be a German Kurd and one of the others says to him, "Interesting that your German hasn't progressed at all in twenty years." This caused my husband to snigger and look at me meaningfully. Had I not been so tired and drifted off, I would have analyzed the episode for miscommunication based on intercultural differences. We had a short moment of confusion when my husband put on the synopsis of the episode and the date given was '1997'. "This is an old one," he said. I have been watching this Tatort duo for a long time and yet not that long. Or Inge hasn't aged at all since 1997. I woke up to look at clothing styles, but Inge dressed very classically, in a navy trenchcoat and jeans. Finally a smartphone came on, and I said, "It's recent." Finally an iPad was shown and I KNEW it was not 1997. Interesting even that we could have been confused for few moments. I actually love this team. I think I realize I love all the teams, which is why I continue to watch Tatort. Inge is an older (yet still glamorous) blonde (noticeable bags under her eyes) who investigates with an ATTRACTIVE younger man. I think this man left briefly to go to Afghanistan to train police officers but there was no mention of back story (that I was awake for) in this episode, thankfully. They just got on with it. I like it that they are so collegial and matter-of-fact with each other. The twist at the very end let us know that justice actually DIDN'T get served... but that is a familiar Tatort twist and I am used to it, although I don't like the pessimism of the ending. So hopeless and as if nothing you do really matters.
Back in the circus. Stars in the Manege. R. and I just groaned when the circus scene came up. Were we seeing a repeat? Don't these Tatorts inform each other about their settings? The October Tatort seemed to happen more at night, this Tatort was more of a daylight production, but the Eastern European roadies, family/employee relationships, tawdry glitter, near-poverty and cult-like togetherness of the circus performers' world remained the same. Quite depressing. Lena Odenthal is one of my favorite Tatort performers, and she was fine. Her co-investigator, the tall and imposing NAME HERE looked like a circus impresario in his Gottschalk-like wardrobe and elaborate facial hair. German note: They are still calling their assistant 'Fr. XX" even after working together fourteen years and organizing a birthday party for her. In this office there seemed to be more collegiality and ordinary friendliness among the co-workers than you usually see in Tatort.
Went to my first demo (do they shorten it that way in English, too?) today at the instigation of an old friend, who picked me up and drove me there. We stood a bit in the rain but the skies soon cleared. I think about one hundred people were there. The mayor of Pegnitz (assumed: whoever it was, he obviously needed no introduction) spoke very passionately about the FIGHT -- for real renewable energy, for the beauty of Oberfranken, for the economic viability of the city, against the devaluation of our houses' economic worth, against big corporations who make a profit on the back of the taxpayer, against the health risks of such huge power lines. Very stirring. The Landrat, Hermann Hübner, introduced the idea of Northern Bavaria being 'verarscht' (i.e. exploited) by the rich south, and with that an element of class warfare and regional nationalism into the mix. The execrable band 'Bieramisu' could hardly contain their greed at perhaps being able to sell a few copies of the world's most badly composed protest song and gave TWO performances of the SAME song. Between the two performances, the president of the regional Bund Naturschutz poured a lot of cold water on the idea of ever being listened to in Berlin. Left at the beginning of Bieramisu's 'encore' and had a coffee at the pizzaria on the square. When we came out, the protesters had dispersed and
T: Mama, will you help me study for my test? M: Sure, what's it on? T: Garbage. ...and that's how we spent the day going over the terms Müllverbrennungsanlage, Entsorgungseinrichtungen, Rauchgasreinigungsanlage, Sondermülldeponie and wasserundürchlässigen Sickenwasserrohre....
Tatort Berlin. This duo is apparently being phased out, which is a shame because it is one of my favorites. After years of watching, I suddenly fell in love with the 'short investigator' (famous actor) after one episode in which he fell in love with a gallery owner. I became slightly obsessed with him then and still retain a fondness for him now. He also did his wonderful thing of being with the victim -- silent solidarity, looking soulfully into their eyes, etc. Dreamy. Berlin looked pretty cool in this episode, too. Some aerial views of the city looking stately and ordered: lots of nature scenes filmed by the victim/suspect's dacha in Potsdam. Not the usual graffiti-filled, dirty Berlin we usually see on TV and it even caused me to recall my six years in Berlin with something like fondness. Every time an actor I didn't recognize appeared on the screen I rejoiced innerly. Getting so tired of the same old people in Tatort. Then a minor villain appeared -- had just been in a recent Tatort. Bummer. The victim/suspect's ex-girlfriend just looked inexpressibly sweet. I suppose I have seen her in other things but the face was new to me. And the victim/suspect was a man with one facial expression only, but an expression that was VERY WELL DONE and I did not get tired of looking at it! In the middle of the story, my brother called and I put everything on hold. At the end, my daughter came down (ten years old!) and we watched it together. Final note of recognition: the man's childhood room in the Potsdam dacha looked exactly like my husband's childhood room in his father's house in Kiel. Totally authentic. 'Holzverkleidung', posters, slanted walls, simple, unmatching furniture. Definitely a German boy's room! Loved it.
This is not the first time I have heard the word, nor will it be the last. But this is the day on which for the first time it truly was the word in every mouth. An unpleasant situation which everyone will have to engage with, whether they wish to or not.