Deutschland, Deutschland

Off to see a foreign film at our local -- literally, just 5 minutes away -- cinema. We can now take advantage of having French, Korean, and even Dutch films subtitled in English. Hurrah! I was a little nervous, as our chosen film was German and therefore didn't have the giant time-traveling robots that PJ usually deems essential for a successful cinema outing. The Lives of Others instead is set in a 1980s GDR and portrays a sympathetic Stasi agent who spies and falls in love with a potentially dissident playwright and his actress girlfriend. Very gripping, very moving, and with lots of rather appealing 1970s vintage Commie furniture and wallpaper. And, you can now take beer and wine into the cinema -- a civilized progression since my days as an usher at Cinema City in Norwich, where I had to ask people to down the remains of their (real ale) pint before entering the movie theater.

So, a successful outing and one we will repeat to see Paul Verhoeven's Black Book in May. Yes, it turns out you have to leave the Netherlands in order to see a decent film about the Netherlands.