Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rothemund's Oscar-nominated
Sophie Scholl - The Final Days
(2005) and Tom Twyker's
Perfume: Story of a Murderer
(2006).
The studio pegs its pedigree back to 1919 and has lured many well-known directors, in-
cluding Alfred Hitchcock (
Pleasure Garden;
1925), Billy Wilder (
Fedora
; 1978), Rain-
er Werner Fassbinder (
Bolwieser;
1977) and, most famously, Wolfgang Petersen (
Boat,
1979, and
Neverending Story,
1984). Many made-for-German-TV features, detective
series such as
Polizeiruf 110
and popular soaps such as
Marienhof,
are also produced in
Munich. Part of the studio complex is Bavaria Filmstadt, a movie-themed film park with
original sets and props from
Das Boot
and other famous flicks.
HEIMATFILM
Southern Germany's dreamy Alpine landscapes help spawn the
Heimatfilm
(homeland film), the
only film genre to have been created in Germany. It reached its zenith in the 1950s and helped
spread many of today's cosy clichés about Bavaria.
Most
Heimatfilms
show a world at peace with itself, focusing on basic themes such as love,
family and the delights of traditional rural life. An interloper, such as a priest, creates some kind
of conflict for the main characters - perhaps a milkmaid and her boyfriend or a poacher fighting
local laws - who then invoke traditional values to solve the problem. Stories are set in the moun-
tains of Austria, Bavaria or Switzerland, with predictable plots and schmaltzy film scores.
If you'd like to experience the
Heimatfilm
genre, titles to look out for include
Die Fischerin
vom Bodensee
(
The Fisher Girl of Lake Constance
; 1956),
Hoch Droben auf dem Berg
(
High
Up On the Mountain
; 1957) and
Die Landärztin von Tegernsee
(
Lady Country Doctor
; 1958)
though these often cheap flicks were made by the dozen.
Music
Ironically, the composer most commonly asso-
ciated with Bavaria wasn't Bavarian at all.
Richard Wagner (1813-83) was born in
Leipzig and died in Venice but his career took
a dramatic turn when King Ludwig II became
his patron in 1864 and financed the
Festspiel-
haus
(opera house) in Bayreuth, which was
completed in 1872. Strongly influenced by Beethoven and Mozart, Wagner is most fam-
ous for his operas, many of which dealt with mythological themes (eg
Lohengrin
or
In Anna Rosmus'
Against the Stream: Growing Up
Where Hitler Used to Live,
a teenage girl writes an
essay and uncovers shocking crimes in prewar Pas-
sau.
