0
[postlink]https://yoursoundtrackfilm.blogspot.com/2012/02/carlos-gardel-le-tango.html[/postlink]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KepjW1H2d1wendofvid
[starttext]


Version en castellano
Por una cabeza de un noble potrillo  
que justo en la raya afloja al llegar  
y que al regresar parece decir:  
no olvides, hermano,  
vos sabes, no hay que jugar... 
Por una cabeza, metejon de un dia,  
de aquella coqueta y risueña mujer  
que al jurar sonriendo,  
el amor que esta mintiendo  
quema en una hoguera todo mi querer.    See all

English Version
Losing by a head of a noble horse  
who slackens just down the stretch  
and when it comes back it seems to say:  
don't forget brother,  
You know, you shouldn't bet. 
Losing by a head, instant violent love  
of that flirtatious and cheerful woman  
who, swearing with a smile  
a love she's lying about,  
burns in a blaze all my love.    See all


Genre:  Action, Thriller -- 141 min
Release Date:  15 July 1994, USA
Filming Locations: Santa Clarita, California, USA 

Synopsis
Location: Lake Chapeau, Switzerland. It's nighttime; snow covers the ground. Security guards screen cars for their official invitations for a black-tie event at the château. Other security guards with submachine guns and dogs patrol the grounds, and spotlights shine around. Underwater in a canal that passes through the yard, a scuba diver (later identified as Harry Tasker) (Arnold Schwarzenegger) cuts through the gate with a torch. He breaks through the ice on the other side of the gate with a large knife and removes his headgear, then sets a leather bag on the ice and gets out. Harry hides behind the boathouse and removes a walkie-talkie from the bag and says, "Honey, I'm home" to his partners Albert "Gib" Gibson (Tom Arnold) and Faisil (Grant Heslov) in a surveillance van. Harry removes his scuba gear, revealing a suit and tie, and puts on his gun. He then puts on a radio earpiece, then his coat, and then places a radio-controlled explosive device on a barrel of benzene and puts on some cologne from a small bottle.    
See all

Review
This is how an action movie should be like!
Biggest problem with most action movies is that they take themselves way too serious. "True Lies" is mainly fun and entertaining and on top of that, the action is top class!

Finally a movie of which I can say: "Budget well spend!" The action really jumps off the screen but it never feels overdone or forced, which is thanks to action-director veteran James Cameron. He should stick to directing action movies like this, the Terminator movies and "Aliens". Please no more movies like "Titanic"! (not that it was a VERY bad movie) Stick to were your talent lies.
See all


James Cameron
[Writer, Producer, Director]
Date of Birth:  16 August 1954, Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada
Birth Name:  James Francis Cameroon 
Nickname:  Iron Jim 
Height:  6' 2" (1.88 m)

“People call me a perfectionist, but I'm not. I'm a rightist. I do something until it's right, and then I move on to the next thing.”  JAMES CAMERON


Bio
The top-tiered action director of his generation, as well as one of the most allegedly demanding and difficult, James Cameron reshaped 1980s and ‘90s Hollywood with a string of lucrative multimillion-dollar films remarkable for their marriage of technical wizardry and human sentiment. Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster Titanic exemplified this union of elements, as one of the highest grossing motion pictures in the history of the medium. It also netted its director a dazzling array of international awards, including the 1997 Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director.    See all



[endtext]

Carlos Gardel :: Le Tango

0
[postlink]https://yoursoundtrackfilm.blogspot.com/2012/02/paso-doble-spanish-dance.html[/postlink]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XTeorQC3K0endofvid
[starttext]
The name 'Paso Doble' in Spanish means 'Two Step'(Smith, 1971, 416), and may be distinguished from 'Paso a Dos' which means 'Dance for two'. "Two Step" refers to the marching nature of the steps, which may be counted '1,2' for 'Left, Right'. This may be contrasted with its description as the 'Spanish One Step', so called because only one step is taken to each beat of music (Burchfield, 1976, III / 293).    See all



Genre:  Action, Adventure, Romance -- 136 min
Release Date:  17 July 1998, USA
Filming Locations:  Atotonilico de Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico

Synopsis
In 1821, the Mexican Army is on the verge of liberating its country from Spanish colonial rule. In the area of Las Californias the ruthless Spanish Governor, Don Rafael Montero, is about to be overthrown. In a last ditch effort to trap his nemesis, the masked swordsman Zorro (Anthony Hopkins), Montero prepares to execute three innocent townspeople. With assistance from two orphan brothers, Joaquin and Alejandro Murrieta, Zorro releases the prisoners. Zorro rewards the Murrieta brothers with a special medallion he wears, and escapes on his horse, Toronado, after cutting a "Z" into Montero's neck as a parting gift and warning. 
See all

Review
First saw this film when it was on TV a couple of years ago. Wow. I'd not long ago seen "Shrek 2" and my dad was going on about how so much of Puss In Boots' character had been taken from Zorro that I decided I wanted to have a look. I got my chance a couple of months later, and let me tell you, I was still laughing my head off the next day.   See all


Martin Campbell
[Director, Producer, Actor]
Date of Birth:  24 October 1943, Hastings, New Zealand  
Height:  5' 10" (1.78 m)

"I like pre-production and post the best. I don't like shooting at all. I find it grueling and tough, but I love post and the whole process of seeing the film finally come together. You start ironing out all the rough spots, and the really bad bits you just throw away. So from day one of post to the last day, you see nothing but improvements."   MARTIN CAMPBELL


Bio
Martin Campbell (born 24 October 1943) is a New Zealand TV and film director. Campbell was born in Hastings, New Zealand. He directed two James Bond films, 1995’s GoldenEye, starring Pierce Brosnan, and 2006’s Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig, and was the first Bond director since John Glen to direct more than one film, as well as the oldest director in the series’ history, at the age of 62 (beating the previous record set by Lewis Gilbert, who directed Moonraker at the age of 59). He also directed the two recent Zorro films, The Mask of Zorro (1998) and The Legend of Zorro (2005), both starring Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones.    
See all


[endtext]

Paso Doble :: Spanish Dance

0
[postlink]https://yoursoundtrackfilm.blogspot.com/2012/02/adventures-of-young-indiana-jones-of.html[/postlink]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwcOWDU1cDgendofvid
[starttext]
Geboren 1951 in der Türkei, trat als Zwölfjähriger bereits im professionellen Rahmen mit der „Sufi“-Flöte Ney und der türkischen Laute Baglama auf. Mit 20 einer der gefragtesten Musiker der Türkei, angeleitet von bedeutenden Musikern und spirituellen Lehrern (Sufis) seines Landes. Ab 1971 Konzerttourneen in Europa und den USA. Beherrscht Blas-, Zupf-, Tasten- und Schlaginstrumente. Lebt seit 1976 mit Frau und Kindern in New York. Gilt international als der Repräsentant nahöstlicher Weltmusik. Zahlreiche Aufnahmen und Konzerte mit Gitarrist/Keyboarder/Komponist Brian Keane.    See all


Genre:   Adventure, War -- 82 min
Release Date:   26 October 1999, USA
Film Location:    SCesme, Turkey


Working with a beautiful lady spy, Indiana Jones is assigned to assist the British forces in their attack on the Turkish-occupied town of Beersheba. With a regiment of the Australian Lighthorsemen approaching, Indy must defuse the explosives the Turks have placed throughout the town.      See all

Great

I cannot agree with Jellyneckr....the Young Indiana Jones films are excellent, full of good stories, good music and good acting, l think Sean Patrick Flannery does a great job.

Jellyneckr says this kind of film will appeal to the very young nly...well thanks for the compliment l`m over 50, and l have about 16 of the Young Indiana Jones films.....so l will give them all a good mark because l think they have kept the period and action up to par with the main films...do watch them if you can.    See all

Simon Wincer


Writer, Director, Producer
Date of Birth:   1943, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 
Simon Wincer (born 1943 in Sydney) is an Australian film director and film producer. He attended Cranbrook School, Bellevue Hill, Sydney from 1950 to 1961. On leaving school he worked as a stage hand at TV Station Channel 7. By the 1980s he directed over 200 hours of television. In 1986 he directed the made for TV movie The Last Frontier and also won a Christopher Award. His most successful film to date is the 1993 film Free Willy.     See all




[endtext]

Omar Faruk Tekbilek :: Shashkin

0
[postlink]https://yoursoundtrackfilm.blogspot.com/2012/02/estrella-morente-volver.html[/postlink]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSsSDvjMKnkendofvid
[starttext]
by:  Carlos Gardel
Perfomed by:  Estrella Morente

Spanish:
Yo adivino el parpadeo
de las luces que a lo lejos,
van marcando mi retorno... 
Son las mismas que alumbraron,
con sus palidos reflejos,
hondas horas de dolor.
Y aunque no quise el regreso,
siempre se vuelve al primer amor.
La quieta calle donde el eco dijo:
Tuya es su vida, tuyo es su querer,
bajo el burlon mirar de las estrellas
que con indiferencia hoy me ven volver...    See all

English Version:
I imagine the flickering
of the lights that in the distance
will be marking my return.
They're the same that lit,
with their pale reflections,
deep hours of pain
And even though I didn't want to come back,
you always return to your first love
The tranquil street where the echo said
yours is her life, yours is her love,
under the mocking gaze of the stars
that, with indifference, today see me return.    
See all

Genre:  Comedy, Crime, Drama -- 121 min
Release Date:  26 January 2007, USA
Filming Locations: Almagro, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
Volver ("To Return") occurs in Spain in 2006. Raimunda (Penélope Cruz), her sister Sole (Lola Dueñas) and Raimunda's 14-year-old daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo) visit their home village of Alcanfor de las Infantas to clean the tombstones of their dead parents, who died in a fire four years earlier. They also visit the home of their aunt, Tía Paula (Chus Lampreave). The aunt is living in the past and knows only Raimunda. They stop by to visit a neighbor, Agustina (Blanca Portillo), who looks after Tía Paula and whose own mother disappeared the day Raimunda's parents died.    
See all

Superb Must See
It's when you stumble out of the cinema and dive into the nearest coffee shop to greet the assistant in a language you only use on holiday that the power of this movie becomes evident. This is incredibly powerful stuff...and done in a way only Pedro Almodovar knows how. Cruz is absolutely magnificent in a finely nuanced performance. This an incredible mix of gritty realism and absolute fantasy. The dialogue is clipped and aggressive....wonderful...none of that Hollywood psychobabble and truly down to earth. This is a film about the lives of people who won't see it, if they even get an opportunity...subtitled films are the preserve of the chattering classes right? How many independent cinemas are to be found in working class areas? Can't see this being shown at the local flea pit ...a real shame really, it's a must see for all.      See all



Pedro Almodóvar
Director , Writer, Soundtrack

Date of Birth:  24 September 1949, Calzada de Calatrava, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain 
Birth Name:  Pedro Almodóvar Caballero 
Nickname:  Marty 
Height:  5' 9¾" (1.77 m)


“I also wanted to express the strength of cinema to hide reality, while being entertaining. Cinema can fill in the empty spaces of your life and your loneliness.”  
PEDRO ALMODÓVAR

Bio
Splashing his colorful films across the dour post-Franco Spanish landscape with the irreverent glee of a prostitute arriving late to church after a long night, Pedro Almodóvar has been called the most influential Spanish filmmaker since Luis Buñuel. Beginning in the 1980s, Almodóvar started serving up provocative, candy-colored visions fraught with postmodernist insight into everything from sex and violence to religion and the dangers of good gazpacho. Sometimes shocking, sometimes controversial, Almodóvar’s films have always managed to present a new and intriguing view of his native country, shaping the attitudes of both his compatriots and a larger international audience.    See all


[endtext]

Estrella Morente :: Volver

0
[postlink]https://yoursoundtrackfilm.blogspot.com/2012/02/dire-straits-brothers-in-arms.html[/postlink]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqok5m4lqeEendofvid
[starttext]
Brothers In Arms              
by Dire Straits   
                                  
Key: G#m..organ and effects/bass        
Abm / E / Abm / E  / C#m.....(bass/keybd)

                     E       F#
These mist covered mountains
                 B   Bsus4  B
Are home now for me
        Ebm(A)      Abm     Ebm
But my home is the low lands
                E       F#sus4  F#
And always will be
                Abm     Ebm
Someday you'll return to 
                      E      C#m7   F#sus4
Your valley and your farms
           F#        Abm
And you'll no longer burn
      E         F#sus4   F#
To brothers in arms          See all


Genre:  Action, Adventure, Drama -- 705 min
Release Date:  9 September 2001, USA
Filming Locations: Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, England, UK

Synopsis
The Band of Brothers miniseries details, if at times exaggerated or condensed, the real-life exploits of Easy Company during World War II over the course of ten episodes, starting with their jump training at the Currahee training site in Toccoa, Georgia and ending with the capitulation of Germany. The experiences of Major Richard Winters (1918–2011) are a primary focus, as he attempts to keep his men together and safe. While the series stars a large ensemble cast, episodes generally feature one character prominently, following their particular actions during certain events (for example, the Siege of Bastogne and Operation Market Garden). 
See all


I have read virtually all of Ambrose's WWII books, and this mini-series faithfully follows one of his best. The experience of these men of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, was mirrored throughout the many divisions of Army and Marine ground troops in WWII. I feel that this series represents that collective experience in the finest, most forthright manner possible and pays tribute to them all. The acting, mostly by previously unheralded actors, was superb--particularly that of Damien Lewis (Capt.Winters). Winters had to mature along with his increasing command responsibilites, had to learn to turn over his initial company-level responsibilities to others as he was promoted to battalion commander.     See all

Tom Hanks (Cast)
“If you have to have a job in this world, a high-priced movie star is a pretty good gig.”
TOM HANKS


Bio
American leading actor Tom Hanks has become one of the most popular stars in contemporary American cinema. Born July 9, 1956, in Concord, CA, Hanks spent much of his childhood moving about with his father, an itinerant cook, and continually attempting to cope with constantly changing schools, religions, and stepmothers. After settling in Oakland, CA, he began performing in high-school plays. He continued acting while attending Cal State, Sacramento, and left to pursue his vocation full-time. In 1978, Hanks went to find work in New York; while there he married actress/producer Samantha Lewes, whom he later divorced.    See all




[endtext]

Dire Straits :: Brothers In Arms

0
[postlink]https://yoursoundtrackfilm.blogspot.com/2012/02/doors-end.html[/postlink]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRwwUZLV-IEendofvid
[starttext]
the end


Drop D tuning (E B G D A D)
intro
----------------------------------------------------------------|
-3-------------------3-2h3----3-2h3-----3-2-3s5-5h6p5-3-3---3---|
--2---------------------------------2---------------------2-----|
--0-------------0----------0----------0-----------------------0-|
--0-------------------------------------------------------------|
--0---------------0----------0----------------------------------|

---------------------------------------------------------|
-2h3p2p0-3---------------------3s5-5h6p5p3---3-2h3-----3-|
-----------2---------------0-2---------------------2-----|
-------------0-----0h4p0-4-----------------0---------0---|
---------------0h4---------------------------------------|
---------------------------------------------------------|

-----------------------------------------------------------|
---------3-----------3-----2h3-3s5-5-5s6-3---5h6p5p3---3---|
-----------------------------------------------------------|
-----0-----0-----------0-0-----------------0---------0---0-|
-0h4-------------0-----------------------------------------|
-------0-----0h4---0---------------------------------------|

-------------------------------------------------------|
-2h3---3-------------------3-3---2h3---3-2h3---3-2h3---|
-------------------------------------2-------2-------2-|
-----0-------0-----------------0-----------------------|
---------0h4-----------0-------------------------------|
---------------0---0h4---0-----------------------------|

     C         D
-----------------------------------|
------------------3-2h3---3----3---|
-------0----------------2--------2-|
---------------0-------------------|
-0-2-3---3-2-0---------------------|
-----------------------------------|

D               C        D
this is the end beatiful friend
this is the end my only friend the end


C     G     D                C             G                   D
of elabrate plans the end of everything    that    stands the end


C     G         D                   C                          D
no safety or suprise the end ill never look into your eyes again


        C                 D      G7           D
can you picture what will be so limitless and free


C             D            G         D         C        D
desprately in need of some strangers hand in a deperate land


solo
------------------------------------------------------------|
-3----3-3-3s5-5s7-7s8-8s10-10s8-8s10b-10s11-11s12-11-11s10--|
-2----2-2---------------------------------------------------|
-0----0-0---------------------------------------------------|
-0----0-0---------------------------------------------------|
-0----------------------------------------------------------|

-------------------------------------------------------------|
-10s12-12s14-12-10-10s8-7-8s7-10s8-8s7-7-5----5----5s3-3---3-|
--------------------------------------------5b6r5--------2---|
-------------------------------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------------------------------|
-------------------------------------------------------------|

D
lost in a roman wilderness of pain
and all the children are insane
waiting for the summer rain
theres danger on the edge of town
ride the kings highway
weird scenes inside the gold mine
ride the kings highway west baby
ride the snake ride the snake
to the lake the ancient lake
the snake is long seven miles
ride the snake hes old and his skin is cold
the west is the best the west is the best
get here and well do the rest
the blue bus is calling us
the blue bus is calling us
driver where you taking us
(spoken)
the killer awoke before dawn
he put his boots on
he took a face from the ancient gallery
and he walked on down the hall
he went to the room were his sister lived
then he paid a visit to his brother
and then he walked on down the hall
and he came to a door
he looked inside
Father yes son
i want to kill you
mother i want to


come on baby take a chance with us
and meet me at the back of the blue bus
this is the end beatiful friend
this is the end my only friend the end
it hurts to set you free youll never follow me
the end of laughter and soft lies
the end of nights we tried to die
this is the end


heres another way to play the intro
tuning (D A G D A D)

--------0------------0-----------0---------0h2-----2h3p2p0---0---|
-----------------------0-----0-----------------0-----------0---0-|
------------6h7----------6h7---------6-h-7-----------------------|
-0--------0-----0--------------0---0---0---------0-----0---------|
---0---------------0---------------------------------------------|
-----0-----------------------------------------------------------|

-0---------------0-----0-------------------0h2-------2h3p2p0---0---|
-------0-----------0---------------------0-----0-------------0---0-|
-----7---6h7p6p4-----------------------0---------0-----------------|
---0-----------------0---0---------0-4-------------0-----0---------|
-------------------------------0h4---------------------------------|
---------------------------0h4-------------------------------------|

-----0-------0-----------0-------------0---0---------------0h2---2-|
---------0-------------------0-----------------0---0---------------|
-6h7---------------------------------------------------6h7---------|
-------0---0---------0-----0-------------0---0---0---0-------------|
---------------0-0h4---0-------0-----0-------------------------0---|
---------------------------------7p5-------------------------------|

-------2h3---------2h3p2p0---0------------------0---------------0-------|
---0---------5---5---------0----0-------0---0---------------0-----------|
------------------------------------6h7---------------------------------|
-0---0-----0---0---------------0--0-------0---0---------0-----0---0-----|
--------------------------------------------------0-0h4---0-------------|
--------------------------------------------------------------------0h4-|

---------0---0-------0---------------0-------------0-------------0-----|
-----0-----------0-----------0---0-------------0-----------------------|
-------------------------6h7-------------6h7-----------6h7-------------|
-------0---0---0---0---0-------0---0---0-----0---0---0-----0---0-------|
---0---------------------------------------------------------------0-2-|
-0---------------------------------------------------------------------|

---------------0-|
-------3-------0-|
-----0---0-----7-|
---2-----------0-|
-3---------3-2-0-|
-----------------|


Apocalypse Now (1979)


Storyline:
U.S. Army Captain Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen) has returned to Saigon during the Vietnam War. He is in a cheap hotel now, dressed in his underwear, drinking heavily and haunted by memories of battle. Out of control, he bloodies his fist when he punches a mirror. Two officers enter his room, become shocked by the scene, and stick him in a cold shower to help sober him up quickly. They escort him by helicopter for a mission briefing.

A group of intelligence officers (G.D. Spradlin, Harrison Ford, and Jerry Ziesmer) approach him with a special mission: journey up the (fictional) Nung River into the remote Cambodian jungle to find Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a former member of the United States Army Special Forces. It is 1969 and the war is at its height. They state that Kurtz, once considered a model officer and future general, has allegedly gone insane and is commanding a legion of his own Montagnard troops deep inside the forest in neutral Cambodia, at the end of the Nung River. Their claims are supported by very disturbing radio broadcasts and/or recordings made by Kurtz himself, intercepted by military intelligence. Kurtz, with his Montagnard army, has murdered some Vietnamese intelligence agents. He executed them, believing that they were double agents. Willard is ordered to undertake a mission to find Kurtz and terminate the Colonel "with extreme prejudice."

Willard studies the intelligence files during the boat ride to the Nung River entrance and learns that Kurtz, isolated in his compound, has assumed the role of a warlord and is worshiped by the local Montagnards and his own loyal men. Willard also reads that Kurtz had somehow become disillusioned with the United States military effort in Vietnam and considered it largely a failure. Subsequently, his superiors had either disregarded or censored his reports and suggestions to make the campaign more successful. Willard also learns much later that another officer, Colby (Scott Glenn), sent earlier to kill Kurtz in a mission identical to Willard's, may have become one of his lieutenants.

Willard begins his trip up the Nung River on a PBR (Patrol Boat, Riverine), or "plastic patrol boat" as Willard calls it, with an eclectic crew composed of the obstinate and formal captain, "Chief" Phillips (Albert Hall); GM3 Lance B. Johnson (Sam Bottoms), a tanned all-American California surfer; GM3 Tyrone (Laurence Fishburne), a.k.a. "Mr. Clean", a black 17-year-old from "some South Bronx shit-hole"; and the Engineer from New Orleans, Jay "Chef" Hicks (Frederic Forrest), who Willard describes as "wrapped too tight for Vietnam, probably wrapped too tight for New Orleans".

The PBR arrives at a landing zone where Willard and the crew meet up with Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall), the eccentric commander of 1/9cav AirCav, following a massive and hectic mopping-up operation of a conquered enemy village. Kilgore, a keen surfer, recognizes and befriends Johnson. Later, he learns from one of his men, Mike, that the beach down the coast that marks the opening to the Nung River is perfect for surfing, a factor that persuades him to capture it. The problem is, his troops explain, it's "Charlie's point" and heavily fortified. Dismissing this complaint with the explanation that "Charlie don't surf!," Kilgore orders his men to saddle up in the morning to capture the town and the beach. Riding high above the coast in a fleet of Hueys accompanied by H-6s, Kilgore launches an attack on the beach, destroying the village. He orders the helicopters to play Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" on loudspeakers to frighten the Vietnamese. The scene ends with the soldiers surfing the barely claimed beach amid skirmishes between infantry and VC. After helicopters swoop over the village and demolish all visible signs of resistance, a giant napalm strike in the nearby jungle dramatically marks the climax of the battle. Kilgore exults to Willard, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning", which he says smells "like... victory" as he recalls a battle in which a hill was bombarded with napalm for over twelve hours. However, in the Redux version, the heat generated by the napalm disrupts the ocean breeze that controls the waves. Willard uses the moment to steal Kilgore's surfboard. The PBR crew then run away from Kilgore and hide. Kilgore then uses a recorded conversation to get his surfboard back but the crew doesn't respond.

The lighting and mood darken as the boat navigates upstream and Willard's silent obsession with Kurtz deepens. Incidents on the journey include an attack by a tiger while Willard and Chef search for mangoes. The boat then moves up river and watches a USO show featuring Playboy Playmates Miss August Sandra Beatty (Linda Carpenter), Miss May Terri Teray (Colleen Camp), and Playmate of the Year Carrie Foster (Cynthia Wood). The women, dressed in skimpy clothing, dance provocatively to the song, "Suzie Q". The show degenerates into chaos, forcing the Playmates to frantically leave in their helicopter.

In the Redux version, Chef says that he has a crush on Playboy's Miss December, but Clean then tells a story about a soldier who got obsessed with a Playmate and how it resulted to him killing a "gook", just because the Vietnamese damaged the picture of his Playboy magazine. Willard also reads one of Kurtz' letters which states that if the U.S. Army and their South Vietnamese allies has the same commitment as do the Vietcong, they could win the war. Another letter also is addressed to Kurtz' son that shows Kurtz' reasoning for killing the double agents. The Redux version also shows the crew harboring at a destroyed medevac station during a rainstorm, where all the soldiers seem to be at odds with each other. The Playboy helicopter has also landed there, having run out of fuel. The adversarial mood in the medevac seems to rub off on the crew, who start to fight with each other, with even Chief getting involved while trying to break up the fight, while Willard trades two barrels of fuel for a couple of hours with the Playmates. Chef decides to spend time with his idol, Miss December (now Miss May) in the helicopter cockpit, making her pose like her centerfold; Lance spends time with the Playmate of the Year in one of the tents; while Clean is kept locked out where these trysts take place, always seeming to interrupt them at key moments. At one point, the Playmate of the Year knocks down a coffin, which reveals a soldier's corpse. She gets frightened and seeks comfort from Lance.

Moving up the river, Phillips spots a sampan and against Willard's advice they make the boat stop and inspect it, suspecting that they are transporting supplies for the VC. As Chef belligerently searches the sampan, one of the civilians makes a sudden movement, causing Clean to open fire on the wooden boat, killing all the civilians save for one badly wounded young woman. They discover that the woman was simply hiding a puppy. An argument breaks out between Willard and Phillips over whether to take the survivor to receive medical attention. Willard ends the argument by shooting the survivor, calmly stating "I told you not to stop." He later remarks in voiceover that the crew will "look" at him differently following the incident. Lance takes the puppy with them.

The boat moves up river to a surreal stop at the American outpost at the Do Long bridge, the last U.S. Army outpost on the river. The boat arrives during a North Vietnamese attack against on the bridge, which is under constant construction after being repeatedly destroyed by the NVA occupying the forest nearby. Upon their arrival, Willard receives the last piece of the dossier from an officer named Lt. Carlson, along with mail for the boat crewmen. Willard and Lance go ashore and they make their way through the trenches where they encounter many panicked, leaderless soldiers. Willard asks a machine gunner who the CO is; the gunner replies, "Ain't you?" As they talk, a North Vietnamese soldier hiding under a pile of his dead comrades screams obscenities at them. The gunner finds his friend, Roach (Herb Rice), who is armed with a tiger-striped M79 grenade launcher and with it promptly dispatches the NVA soldier. Willard decides it's not worth it to find the CO and he and Lance return to the PBR. As the boat departs, the NVA launches an artillery strike on the bridge, destroying it.

The next day the PBR, while its crew is busy reading mail, is ambushed by Viet Cong hiding in the trees by the river, which results in Clean's death as he listens to a tape from his mother. Chief, who had a father-son relationship with Clean, becomes openly hostile to Willard. Lance also loses his puppy.

In the Redux version, the next shows the crew finding a recently destroyed building, filled with thick smoke. As Willard eagerly tries to find out who he is, they realize that they are French plantation dwellers and their allies. Hubert de Marais (Herb Rice) comes forward and says that he has a plantation and that they will bury Clean. At Hubert's house, Hubert has a discussion with his family and Willard during dinner. Willard doesn't understand why they refuse to leave and Hubert says that the plantation was his only home. Hubert also goes further to say about politics and how the Americans had started the war in the first place. All of the family members then leave in disgust. Roxanne Sarrault (Aurore Clément), one of the family members Willard whom she lost and also reminisces on what her husband said, "There are two of you. One that kills and one that loves." She and Willard have sex.

As they approach the outskirts of Kurtz' camp, Montagnard villagers begin firing arrows and spears at them. The crew opens fire until a spear hits Chief. As Willard hovers over the mortally wounded Chief, Chief attempts to pull Willard's face onto the spearhead implanted in his chest. Willard subsequently smothers Chief until he succumbs to his wound. During dusk, Lance lets the Chief's body sink into the river. At the same time, Willard reveals his mission to Chef, who is appalled that they have to continue on with only minimal personnel.

The surviving crew & Willard arrive at Kurtz' outpost & are met by a seemingly crazed American freelance photographer (Dennis Hopper) who explains Kurtz's greatness and philosophical skills, which provoke his people into following him. Willard also encounters Colby, in an apparently shell-shocked state. Returning briefly to the boat, Willard leaves Chef in charge of the radio, ordering him to call in the air strike on Kurtz' compound if he doesn't return in about 8 hours.

Willard returns to the compound & is quickly mauled and captured by the Montagnard people. He is brought before Kurtz, but only sees his face. Kurtz asks Willard where he hails from and asks if Willard has been sent to assassinate him. Willard is then put into a bamboo cage and then bound to bamboo stakes. At night Kurtz appears in camouflage makeup. As Kurtz walks away, he drops Chef's severed head in Willard's lap. Willard screams, reaching his breaking point.

In the Redux version, Willard is locked in a large cargo container for an indeterminate time. One day it opens and Kurtz appears. Before allowing Willard to exit the container, and surrounded by native children, he reads a few articles from American publications discussing the seemingly unattainable victory the United States desires in Vietnam. Kurtz tells Willard he'll be set free but he must remain in the compound. If Willard tries to leave, he'll be shot.

Brought before Kurtz in a darkened temple, Willard's constitution appears to weaken as Kurtz lectures him on his theories of war, humanity, and civilization. Kurtz explains his motives and philosophy in a famous and haunting monologue in which he praises the ruthlessness of the Vietcong he witnessed following one of his own humanitarian missions; Kurtz had been in charge of an Army unit that inoculated the children of a small village. The enemy had come shortly after and severed every child's arm that had been given the vaccine for polio. The photographer also extends Kurtz's credibility early next morning, but is chased off by Kurtz himself.

Coppola makes little explicit, but we come to believe that Willard and Kurtz develop an understanding nonetheless; Kurtz wishes to die at Willard's hands, and Willard, having subsequently granted Kurtz his wish, is offered the chance to succeed him in his warlord-demigod role. Juxtaposed with a ceremonial slaughtering of a water buffalo, Willard enters Kurtz's chamber during one of his message recordings, and kills him with a machete. Playing over the entire sequence is "The End" by The Doors, as is the sequence at the very beginning of the film. Lying bloody and dying on the ground, Kurtz whispers "The horror... the horror," a line taken directly from Conrad's novella. Willard finds a manuscript written by Kurtz; one page has a scrawled note from Kurtz that reads: "Drop the bomb, exterminate them all!" Willard walks through the now-silent crowd of natives and takes Johnson (who has willingly joined the native society) by the hand. He leads Johnson to the PBR, and floats away as Kurtz's final words echo in the wind as the screen fades to black. In an alternate ending, the air strike hits the village and it burns for several minutes (Coppola have said clearly in the DVD and Blu-ray edition of the film that the air strike is not an alternative ending, and should not be in the same context with the rest of the movie. by ma-rotmo 

Review:
In my opinion, Coppola's best work
My favourite movie of all time. This was a flawed piece of work by Coppola and seeing the documentary 'Heart of Darkness' made it even more compelling. Coppola at this point was king of Hollywood after making 'the Godfather' and 'GodfatherII' and had developed the ego necessary to even dare try to make a movie like 'Apocalypse Now'. Through sheer arrogance he went to the Phillipines with a partial script and thought he would know what he would do when he got there. Just as Captain Willard thought he would know what to do once he got to Col. Kurtz's compound. And just like Willard, he DIDN'T know what he was going to do once he got there. This is such a masterpiece of American cinema, beautifully photographed and the river is such a perfect metaphor and backdrop for the story. What I like most about 'Apocalypse Now' is that it offers no answers or conclusions. Consequently, because of this open-endedness, it infuriates some viewers who like their movies to be much more obvious. 

This movie defies categorization. Some call it a war movie which it isn't at all, really it is more of a personal study of man. The best pic about Vietnam is 'Platoon' in my opinion and if a viewer is seeking a retelling of the Vietnam War go there first for answers. 

Coppola should be commended for his take on the bureaucracy of war which he conveys quite effectively with the meeting with Gen.Corman and Lucas (Harrison Ford) and the Playmate review. The sheer audacity of Kilgore makes him an unforgettable character and the dawn attack will always be a Hollywood classic.

It is an almost psychedelic cruise to a very surreal ending which makes it a movie not accessible to everyone. Very challenging to watch but rewarding as well. I could offer my explanations on each scene but that would be totally pointless. This movie is intended for interpretation and contemplation as opposed to immediate gratification.

A little footnote, definitely if your a first-time viewer of Apocalypse Now, watch the original version first, the 'Redux' version is, I think, more intended for the hardcore fan and is more of a curiosity than a 'new and improved' version of the movie. by John Cochrane, Virden, MB, Canada

My All Time Favourite Movie 
I first saw APOCALYPSE NOW in 1985 when it was broadcast on British television for the first time . I was shell shocked after seeing this masterpiece and despite some close competition from the likes of FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING this movie still remains my all time favourite nearly 20 years after I first saw it. 

This leads to the problem of how I can even begin to comment on the movie . I could praise the technical aspects especially the sound, editing and cinematography but everyone else seems to have praised (Rightly too) these achievements to high heaven while the performances in general and Robert Duvall in particular have also been noted , and everyone else has mentioned the stark imagery of the Dou Long bridge and the montage of the boat traveling upriver after passing through the border. 

How about the script? Francis Ford Coppola is best known as a director but he's everyway a genius as a screenwriter as he was as a director, I said " was " in the past tense because making this movie seems to have burned out every creative brain cell in his head, but his sacrifice was worth it. In John Milius original solo draft we have a script that's just as insane and disturbing as the one on screen, but Coppola's involvement in the screenplay has injected a narrative that exactly mirrors that of war. Check how the screenplay starts off all jingoistic and macho with a star turn by Bill Kilgore who wouldn't have looked out of place in THE GREEN BERETS but the more the story progresses the more shocking and insane everything becomes, so much so that by the time reaches Kurtz outpost the audience are watching another film in much the same way as the characters have sailed into another dimension. When Coppola states "This movie isn't about Vietnam - It is Vietnam" he's right . What started off as a patriotic war to defeat communist aggression in the mid 1960s had by the film's setting (The Manson trial suggests it's 1970) had changed America's view of both the world and itself and of the world's view of America.

It's the insane beauty of APOCALYPSE NOW that makes it a masterwork of cinema and says more in its running time about the brutality of conflict and the hypocrisy of politicians ( What did you do in the Vietnam War Mr President? ) than Michael Moore could hope to say in a lifetime . I've not seen the REDUX version but watching the original print I didn't feel there was anything missing from the story which like all truly great films is very basic . In fact the premise can lend itself to many other genres like a western where an army officer has to track down and kill a renegade colonel who's leading an injun war party , or a sci-fi movie where a UN assassin is to eliminate a fellow UN soldier who's leading a resistance movement on Mars, though this is probably down to Joseph Conrad's original source novel. by Theo Robertson, Isle Of Bute, Scotland

You love it, or you hate it.... 
As I peruse through the hundreds of comments that loyal readers of the IMDB have posted on this film, I find it very interesting how few ,"middle of the road" comments there are. Everyone either loves it, or they hate it. Having seen Apocalypse Now approximately 30 times, and having recently dissected it on DVD (how did we ever live without those magical digital machines?????), I can say without hesitation that I am one of those who have a very special place in my heart for this film. "Why would you like a film that's so confusing?" ask many of my associates. The answer is this: Forget the war, forget the brutality....This is a classic story of society protecting itself from those that refuse to fall in line with the status quo. Brando represents the individual that has his own way of getting the job done. They (Big Brother) sent him out to do the job, he does it too well, without adhering to the accepted "standards" of death and destruction (Am I the only one who's troubled by the fact that we have 'standards' for death and destruction????), so they send the "Conformity Police" out to eliminate the individual. Hmmmmmm....Draw any parallels between this and things you see every day? With the deepest respect to Mr. Coppola, whom I believe is one of the best directors of all time, I think he transcended his original intent of the movie, and probably didn't even realize it until after the movie was released. The subtle sub-text that permeates the entire movie has way too much to it to have been planned and portrayed; instead, it seems to have 'grown' itself, like some wild flower in the middle of a vegetable garden. Again I must reiterate: I think FF Coppola did a bang-up job on this entire production, as did the cast and crew, but the sum of the movie exceeds the individual efforts ten-fold. 

So if you haven't seen the movie, rent it, watch it, then watch it again, and maybe a few more times, and look for all the generic parallels to everyday life. Only then make a judgment on the quality of the film. Those of you that have seen it, watch it again with the mindset previously described. I think you may just have a whole new appreciation for the film. Or maybe not! No matter whether you love it or hate it, be sure and give credit to Coppola for his masterful story-telling style! by Cinema_Hound, Salt Lake City, Utah

Director

“I'm in a unique situation. I'm like now an elderly retired guy who made a lot of money, and now I can just, instead of playing golf, I can make art films.”

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA

He was born in 1939 in Detroit, USA, but he grew up in a New York suburb in a creative, supportive Italian-American family. His father, Carmine Coppola, was a composer and musician. His mother, Italia Coppola, had been an actress. Francis Ford Coppola graduated with a degree in drama from Hofstra University, and did graduate work at UCLA in filmmaking. He was training as assistant with filmmaker Roger Corman, working in such capacities as sound-man, dialogue director, associate producer and, eventually, director of Dementia 13 (1963), Coppola's first feature film. During the next four years, Coppola was involved in a variety of script collaborations, including writing an adaptation of "This Property is Condemned" by Tennessee Williams (with Fred Coe and Edith Sommer), and screenplays for Is Paris Burning? (1966) and Patton (1970), the film for which Coppola won a Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award. In 1966, Coppola's 2nd film brought him critical acclaim and a Master of Fine Arts degree. 

In 1969, Coppola and George Lucas established American Zoetrope, an independent film production company based in San Francisco. The company's first project was THX 1138 (1971), produced by Coppola and directed by Lucas. Coppola also produced the second film that Lucas directed, American Graffiti (1973), in 1973. This movie got five Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. In 1971, Coppola's film The Godfather (1972) became one of the highest-grossing movies in history and brought him an Oscar for writing the screenplay with Mario Puzo The film was a Best Picture Academy Award-winner, and also brought Coppola a Best Director Oscar nomination. Following his work on the screenplay for The Great Gatsby (1974), Coppola's next film was The Conversation (1974), which was honored with the Golden Palm Award at the Cannes Film Festival, and brought Coppola Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay Oscar nominations. Also released that year, The Godfather: Part II (1974), rivaled the success of The Godfather (1972), and won six Academy Awards, bringing Coppola Oscars as a producer, director and writer. 

Coppola then began work on his most ambitious film, Apocalypse Now (1979), a Vietnam War epic that was inspired by Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1993) (TV). Released in 1979, the acclaimed film won a Golden Palm Award at the Cannes Film Festival, and two Academy Awards. Also that year, Coppola executive produced the hit The Black Stallion (1979). With George Lucas, Coppola executive produced Kagemusha (1980), directed by Akira Kurosawa, and Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), directed by Paul Schrader and based on the life and writings of Yukio Mishima. Coppola also executive produced such films as The Escape Artist (1982), Hammett (1982) The Black Stallion Returns (1983), Barfly (1987), Wind (1992), The Secret Garden (1993), etc.

He helped to make a star of his nephew, Nicolas Cage. Personal tragedy hit in 1986 when his son Gio died in a boating accident. Francis Ford Coppola is one of America's most erratic, energetic and controversial filmmakers.

[endtext]

The Doors :: The End

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[postlink]https://yoursoundtrackfilm.blogspot.com/2012/02/yann-tiersen-father-mother.html[/postlink]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DveYGhdaBBQendofvid
[starttext]
Goodbye Lenin! 
(Berlin, Germany, 2003)
Storyline: 
The film opens with old footage from summer 1978 at our old weekend cabin. A boy pushes a girl in a cart while the father films. The boy and girl play in the back yard and around the house.

After the titles, a television reporter speaks about a space program while the boy and girl watch. The boy points an astronaut out to his sister. A voice-over says that an East German citizen, Sigmund Jähn, was the first German in space. After that day, their life started going downhill. Mrs. Kerner is questioned by officials about her marriage. They are concerned that her husband has visited a capitalist country three times. The officials leave after Mrs. Kerner gets angry. The voiceover explains that while Jähn was in space representing East Germany, his father was having an affair with his new enemy of the state girlfriend and that he never came back.

The voiceover explains that his mother was so depressed that she stopped talking. She is shown in a mental hospital, staring off into the distance while her son colors with crayons and her daughter plays a wind instrument. The son tries to get her to come back to them, saying that its boring at Mrs. Schäfers. He tells her he loves her and starts to cry but his mother is unmoved.

The boy looks upset as he watches television and the astronauts are on again talking about a cosmic marriage between two television characters.

The voiceover explains that eight weeks later Mrs. Kerner came back home and was back to normal. They surprise her when she comes back home. Alex is wearing a cardboard space ship and his sister has a painted sign that says, Hello Mama. Mrs. Kerner packs up her husbands clothes and sends them to Mozambique.

Old footage from spring 1979 shows the family at a train station and then on the train. The voiceover informs that they never mentioned their father again and that from then on their mother was married to their socialist fatherland. She is shown directing a choir of children and being involved with various youth activities. The voiceover says that she has become a social crusader and activist for the concerns of common people and tiny injustices.

The family watches television in their home and a news report about special government awards is on. Alex points out that his mother is on screen. Mrs. Kerner is shown receiving her award and shaking hands with the presenter.

More aged footage is shown, with a group of kids standing in front of a space ship in astronaut gear. The voiceover explains that after many hard days of work he would be the second German to venture into space. He is shown with other children riding on a bus labeled, Young Rocket Builders. He is then shown standing with a group of kids, all holding small air powered rockets. The voiceover explains that he had imagined exploring the secrets of space for the benefit of mankind. When he launches his rocket, it flies off into space.

Alex is shown ten years later, October 7th, 1989, sitting on a bench drinking a beer. The voiceover explains that it was the 40th anniversary of East Germany and he had the day off from his job at a TV repair firm. He says he feels at the height of his masculine allure as he burps and slouches on the bench. Flags and posters celebrating the anniversary are everywhere. At a parade soldiers march and tanks ceremoniously dive down the street. Inside his apartment, Alex sleeps on his bed fully dressed. A woman informs him theres a girl there to see him. The girl turns out to be the baby she is holding and the woman is revealed to be his sister. The baby begins to wail due to the vibrations the parade is causing in the apartment. Alex joins two other older women in an adjacent room, who are writing a complaint about womens clothing. Alex turns on the TV and sees news coverage of the ceremonies and voices his disapproval. One woman remarks that nothing will change is everyone emigrates.

In the evening, citizens march in the streets holding protest signs. The voiceover explains that they are marching for the right to take a walk without the Wall getting in their way. Alex walks with them, eating an apple and repeating Freedom of the press, at one point nearly choking on the apple. The East German military arrives and forms, with arms locked, a human wall around the protesters. A girl helps Alex spit out the piece of apple he was choking on. A man and a woman are shown driving and getting stopped by the cops. The man tells the woman that she might still make it if she takes the subway. Military vehicles with large metal plates on the front arrive and push the protesters back. Alex tries to get the girls name but she gets taken away before she can tell him. As some protesters break through the police line the police turn violent. The woman observes protesters being treated violently and beaten and then notices that Alex is being taken away by the police. She faints and Alex rushes to help her, revealing that the woman is his mother. The police regain control of him and take him away in a truck.

In a prison, the protesters stand in lines with their hands on their heads. One guard approaches Alex and removes him from the line. He hands him a piece of paper about his mother. Alex leaves and catches a train to the hospital. His sister is already there and explains that their mother had a heart attack. The doctor steps in and tells him shes in a coma and that they dont know if she will ever wake up again. Alex goes into her hospital room where she is hooked up to various machines that keep her alive. He tries to get her to wake up but the voiceover explains that she kept on sleeping.

At his TV repair job Alex watches the news as they discuss the resignation of Erich Honecker for health reasons. As Alex takes down a poster of Honecker and leaves it outside in the rain, the voiceover says that Mrs. Kerners sleep kept her in the dark during the resignation of Honecker, protests in West Germany (euphemistically called a classical concert), and the tearing down of the Wall (a recycling campaign).

With his mother still in a coma, Alex takes his first outing to the West. She misses the first free elections, her daughter Ariane quitting college and starting work at Burger King, Arianes manager and boyfriend moving in with her, the subsequent westernization of the apartment, the arrival of Lara, the girl who had kept Alex from choking at the protest (now a nurse at the hospital), the triumph of capitalism (a tiny group of guards is shown doing military maneuvers in front of a museum while a car branded with Coca-Cola drives by in the foreground and then a giant Coca Cola truck blocks them entirely from view), and Alexs regular visits to the hospital at strategic times made to coincide with Laras works shifts. As she sleeps, Alex talks to her about Lara. In her sleep she also misses working-class job loss, including the TV repair business Alex works at. Alex gets a job as whats described a part of a reunification crew selling satellite TV. With his new job occupying his time, he leaves a tape with his voice on it to talk to his mother. Believing that the doctors and Lara will not be there when it plays, he mentions his like of Lara, who is in the room tending to his mother. Soon he is dating Lara and they go to a club together. After, Lara remarks that its too bad Alexs mother is missing the transformation of Berlin. Alex doesnt think so because what she believed in had toppled in a moment. She asks about his father and Alex says that he was a doctor who escaped to the West and that they never heard from him again.

Alex and his partner Denis go door to door selling satellite TV. At one apartment complex, Alex and his partner leave having installed ten new satellites. Afterwards, they go back to his apartment, where Denis shows Alex his family and wedding film business videos. Explaining his ambition to one day make feature films, he shows Alex that he has edited a wedding video to match the famous bone and spaceship match-cut from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

In a voiceover, Alex explains the by June 1990 the border separating East Germany was meaningless. One day while visiting his mother Alex and Lara begin to kiss. As they do, Alexs mother wakes up from her coma. The doctor explains that even though she has woken from her coma, her life is still in danger as she could have memory loss, amnesia, or other conditions. He tells Alex and Ariane that she may not survive the next weeks. They are not allowed to take her home because any sort of excitement could lead to another heart attack. Alex tells the doctor that he thinks the newspaper discussing German reunification would be too exciting to her.

Now awake, Mrs. Kerner is visited by her children. Ariane shows her mother her new granddaughter and Alex tells her that she had a heart attack because of a long line at the store on a hot day. As they leave the hospital Alex resolves to bring his mother home because of how easy it would be for her to find out about the fall of the Wall in the hospital.

Back at home he surveys whats too new at the apartment and has to be replaced with the old. Denis and Alex remodel the room, resetting it to a condition from before the fall of the Wall. Alex purposefully breaks the radio antenna off.

Alex returns to the hospital where a new doctor replaces the old doctor, who has moved to the West. On the ride home, Alex asks the ambulance drivers to turn down the radio because its talking about East Germans exchanging their currency for Western currency. They bring her in on a stretcher and Alex tries to avoid his mothers old friend, now Westernized in dress. Upon arrival, his mother remarks that it seems like nothing has changed. Alex offers tapes for her to listen to, saying that the radio is broken. His mother confides that she contemplated suicide after her husband left but didnt go through with it because Alex visited her every day in the hospital and talked to her about Sigmund Jähn and other things. As Alex leaves to go shopping, his mother requests some Spreewald pickles and Alex agrees to get some for her.

In voiceover, Alex explains that by July 1990, East German stores were emptied and real money was coming in from the West. The Deutschmark was double the rate of Eastern currency and the corner store no longer carried the traditional Eastern foods such as the pickles his mother had requested. Alex buys a different kind of pickle and pulls jars out of the garbage, disinfects them, and relabels them. He puts the new goods he bought into the old, relabeled jars.

In an effort to gain power of attorney, Alex and Ariane find out that their mother didnt keep her money in a bank. She hid it, but she cant remember where. She then lapses, remarking that her husband is running late in getting home. An upstairs neighbor, Ganske turns on his television and the sound carries down into the room. Their mother is surprised that he watches Western TV. Alex makes up a story about Ganske falling in love with a Western woman.

With everyone leaving for the West, Alex and Lara find it easy to secure an apartment. Lara is enthusiastic about the working phone the apartment has while Alex is happy to find the old East German foods hes been looking for. They spend the night and Alex leaves in the morning for work. He stops by his house first and his mother asks about TV again.

At work he asks Denis what to do about the TV situation. Denis suggests showing old news programs on video. Meanwhile, Germany enters the finals in soccer. In a voiceover, Alex says that soccer helped reunify the country. At a marketplace he buys a whole series of old East German newspapers.

Alex talks to neighbors and friends of his mother about her birthday party, inviting them but also explain that shes unaware of the fall of the Wall. Many of her teaching colleagues have retired. Alex talks to the principal, who explains why his mother was demoted. Alex reasons that with the demotion the principal owes her something. He hires someone to act as an East German dispatcher and buyer for a restaurant. Denis gets Alex many different video tapes of East German TV.

Alex hooks up a VCR to the TV and pretends to attach the TV to an antenna. Denis apparently has recorded over a tape and the first part of the tape talks about getting East Germans satellite TV and the effect of German soccer on reunification but soon returns to the intended East German programming, nearly ruining the illusion. His mother remarks that she would like to work from bed and write petitions but Alex says he doesnt want her to work too hard.

On his mothers birthday, Alex goes to retrieve the principal and finds him drunk. Alex gives him a quick shower and dresses him, then takes him to his apartment. At the apartment, everyone he has hired or invited is there and two children sing for her exactly as they used to. The principal presents her with a basket of old food items found in Alex and Laras new apartment. As Alex speaks to her about how much things havent changed and how much he loves her, she notices a giant Coca-Cola ad being rolled out on the building adjacent. As everyone tries to cover for the irregularity, the party starts to unravel. Lara is dissatisfied with how they are tricking Alexs mother and with Alex telling his mother that Laras father is a teacher when hes really a cook. The children stop singing and Lara leaves.

Alex and Denis go to the Coca-Cola Company to film a fake news report about the giant advertisement. They are hassled by a company employee. They are about to start but Denis suggests waiting for better light. Staring at the clouds, Alex realizes that faking his mothers reality is as easy as studying the old news tapes and feeding Deniss desire to be a director. At home, Alex and his mother watch the fake news segment about Coca-Cola. They construct the segment as a visit to a West Berlin factory and say that Coca-Cola is angry about losing a lawsuit because the formula for Coca-Cola was invented by East German workers. As they watch TV, his mother remembers that she stored her money in the chest of drawers Ariane threw out when her boyfriend Rainer moved in.

Alex finds the money in the drawers still outside and takes it to the bank to exchange it for Western currency. The banker informs him he is two days beyond the deadline and that they dont take cash anyways. Alex gets angry and tells him that the money was their money for forty years until the Western money came in. He is forced to leave the bank.

On the roof of his mothers apartment he throws all of her Eastern money into a Western-facing wind. Lara tells him to yell to let off some steam. When he does, fireworks go off as Germany wins the world soccer championship.

In her apartment, Alexs mother dictates another letter of complaint about womens clothes to Mrs. Schäfer. Two more former students show up unannounced and sing songs for her. Alex discreetly kicks them out as they explain that their friends told them they would get 20 marks for showing up and singing. Rainer and Ariane say they are tired of pretending they are still in the East. Ariane then tells Alex that she saw their father while at work. She sees him driving through Burger King with two kids in the back seat. In a voiceover, Alex says that he imagines his father as a fat man stuffing his face with cheeseburgers and that they live entirely separate lives.

At their apartment, Lara practices cast-wrapping on Alex and then expresses her desire for Alex to tell his mother the truth. In the house, Alex notices a jar labeled Spreewald pickles. He races home on his motorbike and in a voiceover notes that while life around his was accelerating, he could always go to his mothers to live in a slower time and sleep.

At her house, Alex sleeps while his mother eats her Spreewald pickles. Arianes daughter Paula notices a blimp that says West on it and begins to walk toward it. Alexs mother gets up out of bed to see what Paula is looking at but by the time she gets to the window the blimp is behind a building. She leaves the room, takes an elevator down (and notices a Nazi symbol and lewd graffiti on the wall), and leaves the building. A group of young Western men are moving in, perplexing her. She wanders further away from the building and notices IKEA branding and ads for bras and cars. A helicopter carries a statue of Lenin away. Alex wakes up and finds that shes gone and rushes out to find her. Alex and Ariane find her at the same time and rush her home. She asks them whats going on.

Denis has not build a sort of makeshift television studio and he and Alex work to create more explanatory fake news segments. They frame the situation as Hoenecker allowing West German refugees to enter the East as a token of generosity, promising 200 marks for every refugee entering the country. In a voiceover, Alex realizes that the GDR he is creating in his TV segments is the GDR he might have wished for. His mother suggests helping the Western refugees, offering the summer cabin.

Rainer reveals that he and Ariane are getting their own place and will soon be leaving because she is pregnant. Ariane again says that she is tired of pretending for her mother.

The whole family drives out to the cabin with the mother blindfolded to keep the new car and the cabin a surprise. As Alex is about to reveal that he has been lying to his mother, his mother reveals that she has been lying to him about his father. He wasnt in West Germany with a woman and he did write letters. He decided to leave because he wasnt in the Party and so they made his life miserable. There was a conference in West Berlin and he decided to stay. She was supposed to follow and bring her children but she feared getting her kids taken away from her so she stayed in East Germany. Now she regards it as the biggest mistake of her life. Alex gets upset and goes to sit by the lake.

That night his mothers condition gets worse and she is rushed back to the hospital. Ariane meanwhile finds all of the old letters from her father and cries as she reads them. The doctor says that shes had another heart attack and that they should expect the worst. Ariane gives Alex a letter from his father and says that she wont go out to his new address. In the morning, their mother wakes up and suggests that now they take in a Western refugee with her out of the house.

Alex leaves the hospital in a taxi driven by who he thinks is Sigmund Jähn, although the driver denies it is him. He asks the taxi driver to take him to Wansee where his father lives. At his fathers house there is a party and Alex is treated as an invited guest. He wanders into a room where two kids are watching the Sandman and he asks to join them. The little boy in the room says that the character on TV is an astronaut and Alex says that where hes from they say Cosmonaut. The little girl asks where hes from and he tells her hes from another country. The father of the children walks in and it is revealed that he is Robert Kerner, Alexs father. He has to give a speech and then returns to talk with Alex. He asks why Alex is there and Alex tells him that his mother wanted to see him one more time and that she is dying.

On the ride home, Alex asks the taxi driver what it was like in space. This time he doesnt deny being Jähn and says that it was beautiful but far from home.

Alex brings his father to the hospital and as hes walking to his mothers room Lara is explaining that Germany is reunified, although she stops before Alex can see this. While Robert is waiting outside, Ariane shows up but leaves when she sees her father there.

Alex decides to tell his mother the truth but first wants to celebrate East Germany one last time, giving it the send-off it deserves. At the library, they enlist the help of Jähn and record him addressing the GDR. Since his mother can hardly wait he moves the celebration from October 7th to October 2nd, the day before reunification. In the film they show to his mother at the hospital, Honecker resigns from all positions and Jähn becomes the new leader of East Germany. By now, only Alex is unaware of his mothers up-to-date understanding of Germany and his sister can barely conceal her laughter. Jähn states in the video that he has decided to reach out to West Germany to make it better and has opened up the borders. After the video, fireworks start.

Alexs mother dies three days later. Alex still believes that she never learned the truth and that this is a good thing because she died happy. She asked that her ashes be scattered in the wind, something prohibited in both East and West Germany. Alex puts her ashes into a rocket and shoots them into the sky, resulting in two fireworks.

In a voiceover laid over archival footage, Alex says that the country his mother left behind was one she believed in. He says he will always in his memory associate that country with his mother. by butler360

Review:
The charming social construction of history 
I found this movie to be a charming film and very engaging on both a personal and a social level. The story is drawn from the lives of an East Berlin family struggling to cope with the changing world as their way of life is challenged. The father, having reportedly left the family for the West years before, is not present and the mother replaces her spousal needs with the love of her country and its way of life.


The premise of the film centers on the frail mother, who falls into a coma mere weeks before the fall of the Berlin wall. Eight months later, she regains consciousness, and her children are told not to excite her, lest she have another episode.


Bound by their love of their mother, the son and daughter seek to shield her from the changes in her culture. In their apartment, they recreate the conditions of the world she remembers, right down to the labels on the food they serve her. As the mother comes into contact with the inevitable disparities between her new world and the one she remembers, the son compounds the deception, eventually creating false newscasts to explain the phenomena she witnesses in a manner more consistent with her core assumptions of life.


The film is touching, tender, funny and dramatic. However, the elements that really drew me in were the historical construction and the plot device of deception. 


The historical construction was the way in which the son, through his efforts to explain the increasingly Westernized elements of German society his mother observes, recreates East Germany as the country he could have faith in. As he recreates history to incorporate current events, he softens the harshness of the party rhetoric, reforming the socialistic ideal closer to the compassion for the masses and the acceptance of the 'enemy' capitalists. The film makes ample use of actual news footage in his narrative, footage that adds sharp contrast to Alex's version.


This contrast is a striking reminder about how much of our social conscience is constructed through the lenses we choose to observe reality and recall history. Alex had quickly come to give up his socialist devotion (though the film does make it clear form the beginning that the adult Alex was already disenchanted with it). But as Alex fabricates news reports and artifacts for the illusion he's providing his mother, he actually appears to be inventing a system of socialism that he can feel proud of. It's almost as if in trying to console his mother, he connects to her by reinterpreting her world into something he can interface with, building common ground.


How much of our own social history is constructed in this manner? We champion our own system of free market democracy as the 'city on the hill' for other nations. We raise up the virtues of our freedom and individuality (and there are indisputably many virtues), while ignoring some of the more sorted historical results it has yielded. We choose which portions of our history we celebrate, and which portions we condemn to academic obscurity.


Americans use history to construct our national mythology. Like Homer and Virgil before us, we compose idealized stories of virtue and create narratives that resound with the language of legendary epics. And because of this mythology building exercise, we often fail to see our own cultural reality for the flawed imperfect collection of group effort that it is. That's why we feel so betrayed when our leaders make simple human mistakes or we see representatives of our culture participating in a manner that runs counter to our values.


No where is this phenomenon so pronounced as when it comes to our national leaders. We look back on our founding fathers and through our myth building, elevate them to superhuman stature. Our high school students may not remember what wars Washington fought in or what political initiatives he took but they remember that he cut down a (fictional) cherry tree and refused to lie about it.


We remember the elegant words that our predecessors crafted without remembering the pain and suffering their efforts exacted from other people. We remember that Thomas Jefferson advocated 'Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political …' while conveniently forgetting that he was ambivalent at best to the degree that freedom extended to those in a state of slavery. We forget that founding father quarreled, that at times they misrepresented each other's interest to foreign leaders and that on occasion may have even tried to kill one another.


The founding fathers we remembered were well educated, civil and wise.


Against this tapestry of myth we watch contemporary politics play out, trying desperately to spin events into frameworks that reinforce our desires for justice and virtue.


We are all Alex, trying to reconstruct a new view of history that makes us more proud of where we come from. We invent and reinvent history to suit our needs and like Alex, do so in the name of providing a safe environment (or better way of life) for others. by J. Richard Stevens, Austin, TX

Explanation 
Today there is no more die Deutsche Demokratische Republik, there's no People's Republic of Bulgaria, no Yugoslavia, no Czeskoslovenska Socialisticka Republika, no USSR... The entire "Progressive World", apparently having reached the final stage of political and social self-actualization, decided there's no more place for it to develop into the material existence, and went altogether into Nirvana. They left a political vacuum, a socio-economic crisis, wars, misery, and all else that many of you remember, while others have just seen on TV.


I am born during the last years of communism, but don't remember much of it. What I clearly remember was the downfall of the system. The crowds, the demonstrations, the blue flags, people crying, singing "Freedom! Freedom! Time is ours! 45 years is enough!". My grandmother took me into her hands, so that two polish photographers took a picture of us (she later on told me), and yes, the day after tomorrow we would live like in a wonderful Hollywood film. We didn't. And my entire generation passed its childhood into a lingering crisis, which broke down the society, the values, the morals, people fled the country, as if it was infected with plague.


Today in the place of die Deutsche Demokratische Republik is Ost-Deutschland. A country, where entire buildings are empty, people having moved to the West. Investors don't chose the Ost for their capitals, they'd rather invest into Czech or Poland, where the workers are as qualified and several times cheaper. Today Bulgaria is slowly improving, and maybe in the next 200 years it will catch up the economic standard of the EU. Yugoslavia was torn by war after war, the Soviet Union collapsed into different countries, which had never been independent, Slovakia broke off from the Czech Republc, in search of its own Moravian identity.


And a dream that came to replace the slavery of oppression and Nazism, and that was meant to continue for a thousand years at least, collapsed under its corruption.


But the memory was fresh. The evils of corruption and concentration camps for political prisoners faded away, and only romanticism remained. Memories of a past that never was, or never should have been, or was, and had to be. Red t-shirts with yellow CCCP written on them became fashionable, referring to communism became a sort of a common identity for Eastern European students in western universities, nostalgia filled the hearts of many, and this was also expressed into the arts.


It was a very sad film. I recommend it to all of you, who remember, and don't remember, who know, and don't know, or would like to know, or don't care about, or whatever. It is not a Hollywood high-budgeted blockbuster. It's far from that, but it's touching, true, amusing, and sad. by shmirgel, Montreal, Canada; Sofia, Bulgaria

Director:
“The film is a symbolic funeral in dignity to all that, I think. It hit a nerve.” [about "Good Bye Lenin!"]
WOLFGANG BECKER

Wolfgang Becker was born in 1954 in Hemer/Westphalia and studied German, History and American Studies at the Free University in Berlin. He followed this with a job at a sound studio in 1980 and then began studies at the German Film & Television Academy (dffb). He started working as a freelance cameraman in 1983 and graduated from the dffb in 1986 with “Butterflies” (“Schmetterlinge”), which won the Student Academy Award in 1988, the Golden Leopard at Locarno and the Saarland Prime-Minister’s Award at the 1988 Ophuels Festival Saarbruecken. He directed the "Tator"t-episode, “Blutwurstwalzer”, before making his second feature “Children’s Games” (“Kinderspiele”, 1992), the documentary “Celibidache” (1992), and the Berlinale competition features “Life is All You Get” (“Das Leben ist eine Baustelle”, 1997), and “Good Bye, Lenin!” (2003). He was a member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 2004.

*http://mubi.com/cast_members/54487
[endtext]

Yann Tiersen :: Father & Mother

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