I recently watched 'The Dark Knight' at the English cinema called Turm Palast in Frankfurt am Main.
Maybe you didn't know, but in Germany subtitles are not common. On TV and in cinemas all English films are simply dubbed into German. So you get Bruce Willis, Nicole Kidman etc. speaking German. Of course, it doesn't make much difference for Arnold Schwarzenegger...
The new Batman film was released in August in Germany, so of course I saw it on one of the cinema's smaller screens. It was not a good cinematic experience.
The volume was lower than on my TV set. The seats were falling apart and the faded red upholstery was rotting off before my eyes. I doubt that this cinema has been refurbished since the end of the Second World War.
Just after the bit where the Joker gets put behind bars, there was the sharp 'clack' of a fuse blowing and the screen went black. Apart from disgruntled murmers from the small audience that was that. Film over. The cash machine was closed, but I got my money back the next day.
Obviously, this does not make me the best judge of the film. But what the hell was it actually about?!
The plot was, indeed, bat-like: erratic in flight and virtually blind. Would Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker really have attracted so much attention if he hadn't died shortly after filming?
The Joker was enjoyably psychopathic. But if you really want to be thrilled by a bunch of maniacs, try going to a Slipknot concert.
Christian Bale's performance as Batman was as stiff as his hard rubber suit. In fact, even the action scenes were boring.
I probably would have demanded my money back even if the projector hadn't blown up!
Why did so many people think this film was the best thing since sliced bread?
Maybe you didn't know, but in Germany subtitles are not common. On TV and in cinemas all English films are simply dubbed into German. So you get Bruce Willis, Nicole Kidman etc. speaking German. Of course, it doesn't make much difference for Arnold Schwarzenegger...
The new Batman film was released in August in Germany, so of course I saw it on one of the cinema's smaller screens. It was not a good cinematic experience.
The volume was lower than on my TV set. The seats were falling apart and the faded red upholstery was rotting off before my eyes. I doubt that this cinema has been refurbished since the end of the Second World War.
Just after the bit where the Joker gets put behind bars, there was the sharp 'clack' of a fuse blowing and the screen went black. Apart from disgruntled murmers from the small audience that was that. Film over. The cash machine was closed, but I got my money back the next day.
Obviously, this does not make me the best judge of the film. But what the hell was it actually about?!
The plot was, indeed, bat-like: erratic in flight and virtually blind. Would Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker really have attracted so much attention if he hadn't died shortly after filming?
The Joker was enjoyably psychopathic. But if you really want to be thrilled by a bunch of maniacs, try going to a Slipknot concert.
Christian Bale's performance as Batman was as stiff as his hard rubber suit. In fact, even the action scenes were boring.
I probably would have demanded my money back even if the projector hadn't blown up!
Why did so many people think this film was the best thing since sliced bread?
I guess for most people (including me), the Joker's impressive presence was enough to grow fond of The Dark Knight.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, in this month's issue of the UK film magazine Empire, the allegedly "500 greatest movies of all time" are listed - and The Dark Knight is #15!
I thought the film was only so-so. While the acting was good, the movie really dragged on (my ass friggin fell asleep). In a way, you're lucky that the Turmpalast is such a crappy, crappy theater-- saved you the uncomfortableness of trying to walk with your gluteus maximus asleep! ;-)
ReplyDeletePS: we English speakers in Frankfurt should start our own OF movie theater!
I watched 'The Dark Knight' a few months ago at Cineworld in Nottingham City Centre. I thought the film was too long and the plot was harder to follow than 'The Maltese Falcon', but the mayhem and destruction of life and of the city came over very effectively on a large screen with brilliant audio. It was so-so but my mind kept drifting to the thought of a nice pint of bitter (Duchers for example) at Langtry's next door.
ReplyDeleteAnyway I'm suprised that the financial hub of the EU allows a 'flea pit' class cinema to do business.