Hit and Miss

In an effort to knock the rust from my ability to speak and understand German, I have recently started renting German movies at the local video store. Thus far, I have rented and viewed two movies. The first movie I rented is called "Vitus". I had never heard of the movie. However, I was working from the end of the alphabet in the foreign movie section and this was the first German movie I came across. The movie may very well be one of the best movies ever produced in any language. The movie focuses on the struggles of a young boy with amazing talents and intellectual abilities to fit in with everyday life. Being a German movie, it is almost too complex to explain the various storylines and how they connect with each other. Amazingly, given that this is a German movie, nobody blows their brains out at the end of the movie (or any other time during the movie). Below is the trailer. One thing worth mentioning about the trailer. When you see the 12 year old Vitus playing the piano, there is no double. The young actor that portrays the 12 year old Vitus is a "wunderkind" when it comes to playing the piano. In fact, when you see him in the clip playing in a concert hall, that is an actual concert featuring the actor. Given that the film had a minimal budget, the producers could not afford to rent a concert hall to film the scene. So, they put on a concert and charged people to attend. They then filmed some scenes during the actual concert!



While "Vitus" was a hit, "Sommersturm" was definitely a miss. This was the next German movie I found while working my way backwards through the alphabet. I won't inlcude a video of the trailer - it is not worth it. The basic story was about a coed rowing team that consisted of several members in their late teens. They were preparing for a mixed team regatta. There was one other coed team. The other teams in the "mixed" regatta included a team of lesbians from Berlin and a team of gay men from Saxony (apparently, while they were all of the same sex, the teams were eligible for a mixed regatta). Anyway, one of the young men on the coed team is struggling with his romantic feelings for another male member of the team. The object of his affections is not gay and is in a relationship with one of the female members of the team. They gay young man is being pursued by a female member of their team. Anyway, when the team of gay men shows up, all you-know-what busts loose.

So, this movie was a miss. However, I did learn some new German words! Here is another amazing connection that I must confess - although I stuggle with trying to figure out what it means! Near the end of the movie,while all the teams were training for the final regatta, there was some background music. Within about 2 seconds of hearing this music, I recognized it as a variation on the melody of the verse of a song made most famous by The Pet Shop Boys in the mid-90s. I mention that The Pet Shop Boys version is the most well-known. However, my recollection of the song relates to a version by........The Village People. I must admit that I recognized the song "Go West". The scary part of this is that "Go West" is an obscure Village People song. Could it be that the German movie hit "too close to home"?!?!

Below is a video clip of The Village People performing "Go West". Of course, I have to provide a few comments. The Village People endure because none of them took anything too seriously. The lead singer, Victor Willis, is the only heterosexual member of the group. If one listens objectively, one has to admit that he has a pretty good voice. The last thought I will leave is this. Please listen to a bit of the song. If you are from the older crowd, you may have a sense that there was something a generation before the Village People that had the same sound (although you need to substitute harmonicas and a march beat for horns and a disco beat). Listen to the sound when all of the Village People are singing. It sounds very much like Mitch Miller and the Gang!