AMD-? Dean Chenensky

For this AMD I watched the movie Metropolis by Fritz Lang. The movie is an expressionist science fiction film published in 1927. The movie was very ahead of its time, featuring vastly advanced methods of cinematography and special effects. However, initial response was mixed. In later years, full cuts of the film were impossible to find, and many began to realize the films achievements. It was only in 2008 that a full cut of the film was found, and even then there are two small sections missing.

The film is silent, but includes German screens. If you want to see the film you can find it here, with German and English subtitles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TraX8i6a_UY

AMD-5

For this AMD I found a small documentary regarding the creation of artisan candles in Germany. The documentary itself was in German, with instructions shown both on screen and in narration. I tried to pair the instructions narrated with those shown on screen. Even so, it was incredibly difficult, and I referred to the english subtitles often. It seems that there are many verbs and nouns that we are unlikely to run into during normal studying.

AMD 5, Chloe Nolingberg

For AMD 5 I watched the last clip of Lola Rennt. It definitely was the most different, the most strange, and the happiest of clips 2,3, and 4. It was different because in clips 2 and 3 similar things happened, just played out only a little differently and led to semi-different conclusions. In this clip almost nothing is similar to the previous alternative endings. Lola does not see her father with his mistress, she does not obtain the necessary money illegally, her father nearly dies, and most surprising and different of all. Manni lives. Although this clip is still not necessarily happy, for people are injured and strange things happen, Manni lives and we assume he lives happily ever after with Lola, is what most would call a happy ending in alternative to Manni dying. The clip was just strange, though. Well, the entire movie is strange, but this clip seemed a little more strange in a different way. The blind woman is able to make Manni wait and causes him to see the homeless man with his money on a bike that he had bought from the man who had previously tried to sell his bike to Lola in the prior clips. Manni is able to use the gun he has not to rob a bank or store, but to obtain the money that was originally his to carry. Lola does not see her father's mistress but somehow enters the exact ambulance that he is in and ends up saving his life by just being there. In past clips one could see the tension and strain on Lola's relationship with her father, but in this clip their relationship seems pretty good, life-saving even. Finally, Manni is able to save his life by returning the money to its rightful owner and not only walks away with his life, but with Lola and the money she won, by some random, lucky chance, in the casino. Again, the clip is a little more strange in a coincidental way. From the first clip we could see how everyone's encounters affected each other, but in this clip the encounters seem more effective and more coincidental. However, it ends happily and over all I enjoyed this film!

AMD-5

For this weeks AMD, I decided to read through the Grimm's Fairy Tales in german. I was able to find a copy in the library that was presented in German with a translation in English on the opposing page. What I began noticing that the stories are much darker than what I would normally expect. There were chopped up feet and some necrophilia. I am not sure if this is a general theme in german literature or if the Brother's Grimm were simply quite dark.

Willkommen!!

Welcome to our class blog!

We will be using this blog throughout the semester for two kinds of assignments:

1. Once per chapter, the homework plan will direct you to post a response to the culture readings for the chapter on the blog.

2. Roughly every other week, the homework plan will direct you to post here for your Abenteuer mit Deutsch (AMD) assignment. First you do a fun activity that involves German, then you post about it. You should spend an hour total on this (maybe 45-55 minutes doing something, 5-15 minutes posting about it). See Was ist ein AMD, AMD Ideen and Beispiele for ideas. This should get you excited about the kinds of things you can do!

Whenever you post something, please include your name and the name of the assignment (e.g. AMD2, Kultur5) as labels. See "Blog: How To" for more details!