It's almost time

Approximately fifteen hours remain until my last exam, and then three hours after that my academic year will be over. I'm not very nervous about this exam. It might be a false sense of confidence, but I feel comfortable with the material and my ability to answer even questions for which I haven't explicitly prepared. I'm most nervous about having to write four essays in three hours, particularly because the topics being discussed require thought and nuance. It will all be over soon.

The Prime Meridian of the WORLD!

Two days until my last exam, and four days until I leave London for good. How the year has gone by. I've spent the past few days with a friend who was visiting from Germany. It was a good opportunity to do some final sightseeing. On Friday morning we went to Greenwich, where we visited the Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory, outside of which the Prime Meridian of the World was labeled. That was very cool. Inside the observatory there were lots of cool clocks, information about clocks, and other time-related facts. It also chronicled the quest to find the technology for ships to be able to determine their position in the ocean (in those primitive, pre-GPS days...). It was all incredibly interesting, and now I want to make a cool clock. I'm not sure if that's really plausible, but it's at least worth looking into. I'd like a 'different' sort of clock; for example, one that measures days, or even years, rather than minutes and hours (or some combination thereof).

My friend and I also visited Tate Modern, which I have been to numerous times. Afterwards, we went next-door to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and saw a production of The Winter's Tale, which was wonderfully entertaining. I hope to get back to The Globe to see Pericles, Prince of Tyre, this week before I leave, but I'm not positive that I will have time. On Saturday we went to Camden Market, and did some other random London sightseeing, including both obvious landmarks such as Big Ben and surrounding Westminster, as well as some less-visited but just-as-worthwhile parks and gardens that make London such a wonderful city.

This German friend left this morning, and now I'm back in the library studying for Tuesday's exam.

On a somewhat unrelated front, while surfing the web today I found two things that I want: a voice-recorder attachment for my iPod (Belkin iPod Voice Recorder), and a subscription to Make, a relatively new magazine (Make). I'd be interested to hear opinions about either of these things if anyone knows anything about them, so let me know!

That's about it.

Here lies David St. Hubbins... and why not?

Nothing

Nothing new. Still studying, leisurely, for my last exam. Otherwise I'm just hanging out. Nothing special. I saw Sin City last Saturday. It was excellent. I wasn't at all familiar with the source material (the graphic novels, that is), but still loved every minute of it. It sucked me in from the beginning and I didn't want it to let go. I am already eagerly anticipating the sequels.

French and Dutch reject EU Constitution

The people of both France and the Netherlands have voted against the proposed Constitution of the European Union over the past two days, striking a devastating blow to the European integration project. The proposed constitution would have consolidated a series of treaties which have structured the Union over the past half century. By many estimations, the constitution would have strengthened the Union at the expense of member-state sovereignty, continuing to create the "ever closer union" which was the goal in the establishing Treaty of Rome in 1957. These efforts seem to be thwarted, at least for the time being. There is much uncertainty as to what will happen next. Options include a revised constitution, voting again on the existing document, and leaving the idea to die. Other consequences also abound, including how expansion of the Union will continue from here, with controversial talks of potential Turkish membership scheduled to start next Fall.

Downfall

Monday night I saw the German film Downfall. For those not familiar, it is a film which depicts Hitler's last days, in Berlin during World War II. It broke a long-standing taboo of German cinema by portraying Hitler in as a dynamic, central character, and was very controversial for showing the dictator's kind and loving side. I found this to be a terrific film which displayed extraordinary acting performances, particularly by Bruno Ganz, the Swiss-German actor charged with playing the Fuhrer himself. At two and one-half hours, my movie-going companion claimed to get a bit tired of it towards the end, but I argue that it should not have been a minute shorter. This is not a film that should be rushed, and director Oliver Hirschbiegel should be proud of every scene in this modern-day German cinematic classic.

I was interested to read the reviews of Downfall. About 90% of the English-language media gave the film positive reviews. Two negative reviews, however, caught my attention: those in The New York Times, and The New Yorker. (Those who know me well are aware these are my two favorite publications in the world.)

The main arguments for the negative reviews, in these periodicals and others, were that there should be no interest in seeing Hitler's more humanistic side; that while the film may be important for the German people, North American films have been portraying Hitler for years and Downfall is therefore nothing new; the script was weak and too limiting on Ganz's performance; and the lack of new insights into Hitler's life, death, and impact on the German people that the film brings.

These comments have some basis in truth, but are by no means sufficient reason to write the movie off as inferior. Ganz's performance alone is reason to see this film. And after 60 years, isn't it safe to start exposing who Hitler really was? In his review in The New Yorker, David Denby writes, "Considered as biography, the achievement (if that's the right word) of "Downfall" is to insist that the monster was not invariably monstrous - that he was kind to his cook and his young female secretaries, loved his German shepherd, Blondi, and was surrounded by loyal subordinates. We get the point: Hitler was not a supernatural being; he was common clay raised to power by the desire of his followers. But is this observation a sufficient response to what Hitler actually did?"

Well, yes. Or, perhaps not sufficient, but necessary. Why should we be scared to expose Hitler's human side? To the contrary, it's important to realize that it doesn't take an unqualified monster to orchestrate horrific acts. Indeed, it is important that this makes us wary. Our discomfort with this side of Hitler is the price we pay for vigilance against such a monster rising to power again.

The context in which this film was made - in a Germany still coming to terms with its past - is reason enough to be interested in this film. It is not only an important piece of art in the German context, though. Downfall is a striking, intriguing, and never-dull film, worth seeing as soon as you get the chance.