Sigh.

The Thompson interview is very telling.

1) That CAA signed him speaks volumes. I don't think Matthias Glasner, Andreas Dresen, and other interesting cotemporary German directors received calls from the coast. This film reeks of Hollywood. Buena Vista picked it up -- 'nuff said.

2) There is something amusing about the image of a privileged West German kid sitting in his uncle's monastery (!!!) in Austria writing about the struggles of an East German Stasi agent.

3) "When he [Muhe] did military service, they positioned him on the Berlin Wall with orders to shoot. He collapsed on duty with stomach ulcers. They treated him, released him, and threatened him. He found out that his wife, a famous actress, was a Stasi informant. These three sentences contain more power and truth than FHvD's entire film. Not as glamorous, however, as a good looking playwright playing a sonata "for a good man".

4) Going forward, Henckel von Donnersmarck doesn't want to make the classic missteps made by so many foreign directors in Hollywood. "I will not be tempted to go into a higher budget range and give up complete artistic freedom." Ha! We'll see! Bet he'll wind up doing a Hollywood reamke of The Lives of Others with Raiph Fiennes and Antonio Banderas.

David - I’m sorry to harp on the film so much, and I respect that you (and just about everybody else for that matter) enjoyed the film. My bigger concern is that it will set a precedent, and soon scores of young European directors will be churning out calling-card films for studios, agents, and the Academy. The recent re-birth of German cinema has been very exciting, as I’m sure you’ll agree. I’d hate to see real talent like Glasner get shoved aside (or have difficulties locating funding) if there’s a swing towards more conventional fare.

Sony Classics picked up THE LIVES OF OTHERS, not Buena Vista. I haven't seen it yet and have no idea if I'll agree with Filmbrain that it's crap, but signing with the company that's distributed or will distribute films by Michael Haneke, the Dardenne brothers, Jafar Panahi and Wong Kar-wai in the U.S. is no disgrace.

The film was distributed by Buena Vista in Germany. From what I gather, they were also the ones who decided that it should not play at Berlin or Cannes, so that would dispel the notion that it is a "look what a great Hollywood movie we've made in Germany" notion. I think BV Germany never realised what a great film they had until they released it. (It did play at the market in Cannes).

I feel sad to have to report that the lovely Claude Jade, remembered mainly for three of Truffaut's Antoine Doinel cycle of films, as the woman whom Léaud courts, marries and divorces but always loves, has died of cancer aged 58. I have done an obit for The Guardian which should appear tomorrow unless Pinochet decides to kick the bucket today. I have mixed feelings about this.

Boyd - Are you sure about that? I thought it was the festival that chose not to include it in competition.

FB, re: your #2: I have to admit that, while reading Anne's interview with FHvD, alarms went off in my mind more than once, but never as loudly as right at that point. In the early 90s, when I was still translating screenplays, I also served as a script advisor now and then for an established screenwriter who wrote in a monastery in the Bavarian woods. (How he acquired it is a whole 'nother story, but oddly enough, it involves a trip to Mexico and a stash of vintage movie posters.) So I know how easy it is, once you're out there, to smooth the rough edges of reality off a story.

As for your concerns about Glasner, Dresen and the rest, I would imagine that just the opposite is the case; that is, if Lives of Others raises the profile of German cinema, it will increase, not decrease the chances of other German directors finding distribution. Somewhat; I certainly don't see it sparking a mad rush, but we've seen this happen to other national cinemas - Korea, Mexico, Argentina and so on. The films tend to get picked up in clusters.

Ronald, sad news about Claude Jade.

David - I wish I could share your optimism. Yet if we use Korea as a model, it doesn't look so good. Ever since Hollywood "discovered" Korean cinema, there has been a greater trend towards high-concept fare, with smaller filmmakers (Hong Sang-soo, Im Sang-soo) finding it increasingly difficult to find funding.

Though I don't worry about directors like Glasner compromising their vision, future directors might be tempted to create films that will spark the interest of Buena Vista, CAA, etc. This is what I worry about.

I'd like to see a film culture that's more open to experimentation, but I have a hard time imagining any climate in which a 160-minute character study of a rapist wouldn't be marginalized. Maybe I'm overly pessimistic. Did Glasner's film do well in Germany?