Today was a day for Cinema. Went early out of Office and to my favourite Cinema “Schauburg” in Karlsruhe to see “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” and “Queen to Play” or “Die Schachspielerin” in Germany. Parnassus was quite unusual and you could really see that this was a Terry Gilliam Movie – lots and lots of ideas and visual influences to see and to process and with a really good Heath Ledger and Johnny Depp and many others – but somehow it left me a bit – well – cold ? It didn´t ring a bell inside me as much as I expected to – but maybe my expectations were too high – so let´s just say it was a good movie with some wonderful scenes that I liked but for me a film like “MirrorMask” works much better for me.
Now to a whole different film and another level of delight and satisfaction – “Die Schachspielerin” – a movie about Hélène – a simple housemaid who discovers her love for playing chess since she saw a couple playing it together and sharing intimate moments through the game. I really really enjoyed this movie – even though I was sitting in the smallest cinema of the “Schauburg” – the “Bambi” which has the feeling of seeing a movie in your own private room with in this case a lot of old ladies – a typical film for women you could say but that would be unfair so try it – just try it – this movie is touching, funny and has a fantastic Sandrine Bonnaire as Hélène where you can see how she develops from a woman which is unsure about herself and what she is able to do – to a woman which frees herself with the help of this game called chess and the process of learning it through the help of one of her…ah..hush..nothing more..go and see it – you won´t regret it !
