When I was coming back to Germany after Christmas, I had a few hours to spare in Manchester, so I popped into HMV to see if they had any bargains on DVDs that might just tempt me. I'm not quite sure why I thought I'd buy anything, considering I had absolutely no room left in my bags, and was probably already overweight. (The bags, that is, not me). I blame my brother for very thoughtfully buying me a toaster at Christmas without thinking about how I'd get it back.
In the shop, I ended up browsing the World Cinema section, and spotted A Very Long Engagement. Directed by the same guy that directed Amelie, it's a movie my boss recommended, knowing that I loved that movie.
Somehow then, I ended up looking at the edge of the Gay Interest section without realising. In fact, I'm sure there was some overlap, as I spotted a foreign movie in the middle somewhere - Krampack (aka Nico and Dani) - that looked kind of like a Spanish version of Beautiful Thing.
Then, out of the corner of my eye caught another DVD - Campfire.
As always seems to happen in the high street stores though, I looked at the prices and felt certain I could buy them cheaper with a little searching online. So one night a few weeks back I ordered these DVDs through play.com after realising that they posted to Germany for free, just as they do within the UK. It took a while for them to arrive, and despite ordering them at the same time, I don't think any of them arrived on the same day. I had visions of the German customs people stopping them because I'd bought them from outside the country.
When I was shopping online for them, I was recommended another that Amazon thought I may like. I read it was Wrestler, and when I noticed it was a gay German movie, I thought I ought to check it out. I realised after I bought it that it was actually called Westler, not Wrestler, but still it sounded good.
So, what were they like, I hear you ask. Well, A Very Long Engagement was a great movie, set in the war, telling a very moving story. If you like Amelie, I think you'll enjoy this, but don't expect the beloved Amelie-style humour in this drama. Krampack was a nice coming of age film about two lads growing up and exploring their sexuality. Campfire, a collection of short films, was frankly a little weird. Westler was much less weird, and definitely worth watching.
Then this evening I was just flicking through some channels when, par chance there just happened to be two guys wrestling in a river. It was all in French, but I could understand parts of it, and just about work out what was happening. As it went on it became apparent that it was a movie about forbidden love in a Nazi-occupied France. Un amour à taire kept me engrossed throughout, partly because I was trying to translate, but also because it told a horribly moving story that just kept drawing me in further.