Lange Nacht der Museen
August 27th, 2007
Twice a year, Berlin celebrates the “long night of museums,” during which over 100 of the city’s galleries, churches, memorials and other cultural institutions open their doors for eight hours, from six to two a.m., all for the price of a single ticket. Shuttle buses connect several areas around town, and most venues offer special tours, musical acts, installations, and people in period costumes. I was reminded of Bonnaroo by the festival atmosphere and overwhelming amount of stuff on display — there’s enough there for several long weeks of museums.
We began at the Martin-Gropius-Bau with Scythian mummies and an exhilarating Cindy Sherman retrospective, and stopped by the Abgeordnetenhaus where Prussians played the flute and marched into the state parliament. At Potsdamer Platz, we discovered that the Filmmuseum’s “lounge” was awfully misnamed, hopped a bus that took a tortured route to Schloss Charlottenburg, and had Weinschorle in the Ehrenhof. The inside of the Schloss contains awesome splendors, including an incredibly garish collection of Chinese porcelain and a glorious chapel. Unfortunately, an ornery Prussian demanded special tickets for access to the gardens, and we passed.
Back at Museumsinsel, the Altes Museum in front of the Dom was dramatically lit while crowds on the lawn blissed out to amplified classical music. Somehow we found ourselves in the catacombs and made our way to the newly reopened Bode- Museum, which impressed us with a spectacular display of medieval sculptures, many of them in wild color. After a quick run through the Pergamon and the Egyptian collection of the Altes Musem, we were ready to wind down with the festival’s 10th anniversary cake at the Podewil’sche Palais afterparty, where Afri-Cola screened short films and the champagne was free. More photos on flickr.
Bitche
August 21st, 2007
Yeah, we snickered more than a few immature snickers at the name of this town in northeastern France. Bitche, pronounced just like you think, is dominated by a massive citadel that withstood an entire year of siege during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Today, you can take an audio-visual tour through the underground fortifications. As you pass through the bakery, the well, the officer’s quarters and so on, bits and pieces of a movie about the siege are projected on screens slyly installed below the vaulted ceiling.
It’s a peculiar way to see a movie, akin to sitting inside the real Helm’s Deep watching a version of The Two Towers where Gandalf and Éomer never show up. But despite the presence of Virginie Ledoyen as the scheming wife of Napoleon III, the film never takes on a life of its own beyond the cheesy illustration of historical events and some vague points about the futility of war in general. We didn’t feel the need to pick up the full-length DVD in the gift shop. Let me tell you though: there’s a patisserie downtown that serves some truly bitchin’ chocolate cake.
La Forteresse Assiegee. Gerard Mordillat, 2006. **
