Review of Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr from my GoodReads account

Berlin Noir: March Violets; The Pale Criminal; A German Requiem by Philip Kerr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Having been introduced to Philip Kerr by a free copy of one of the later books in this same series (The One from the Other) I was impressed enough by Bernie Gunther, Kerr's hard-bitten protagonist, to want to read the earlier books. The appeal is that Bernie has echoes of classic down-at-heel gumshoes like Marlowe and Spade for whom I have a long standing affection. There is a lot in Herr Gunther and his life that makes one reach for the adjective Chandleresque, his way with a bitter simile, his general cynicism concealing a nugget of goodness somehow still shining at his core despite the rotten world he inhabits and a magnetic attraction for things that unexpectedly cause him to wake up with a headache. Like his predecessors he can be very smart but often not as clever as he would like to believe and sometimes finds that actually he has been taken in and used.



The big difference between him and Sam Spade of course is that Bernhard is German and German at a time when Germany is increasingly the focus of world attention. The evocation of place and period (Berlin and Vienna in 1936, 1938 and 1946 respectively in these three novels) is impressively realised. I can only imagine that a huge amount of research has gone into creating such an incredibly detailed portrayal of Germany during the rise of Nazism, the post war ruins of Berlin and the twilight confusion of interests in the Vienna perhaps most familiar from the Third Man. In fact there are a few nods in the direction of the iconic work of Carol Reed and Graham Greene and we are perhaps being encouraged to see Vienna through the lens of Krasner and occasionally hear the sound of Karas' famous zither. Certainly A German Requiem has its Harry Lime, black market penicillin and occasional glimpses of the celebrated wheel. In fact one of the characters seems to have secured a part in the film and at the very end we stroll through a set up for one of the scenes. A more subtle nod perhaps is the name of a cover firm, ostensibly a film company called Drittemann...



Bernie is an ex-bull with a good record in Kripo but for good reason he has turned his back on that world and gone freelance as a classic shamus during the rise of the Nazis in the first novels, however, the world of the criminal police is reluctant to let him go and he is blackmailed back into being a cop, a Kommissar no less, in The Pale Criminal. Between this novel and the third there is a gap of several years occupied by the Second World War, which are sketched in only with a reference here and there, but perhaps more of these lost years of his service in the German army and subsequently as a Russian POW will be returned to in a later episode. Meanwhile in German Requiem he is once more a private investigator but caught up within the shadowy world of espionage and counter-espionage where the struggle for Cold War dominance is beginning in the confusing world of ruined buildings, ruined lives and ex-Nazis attempting to evade justice or finding they have their uses to the more unscrupulous elements of the prevailing powers.



Familiar events such as the Berlin Olympics and much later the Berlin Airlift appear in the background of the novels and some horribly familiar people such as Heydrich and Himmler also cross Bernie's path, but it is in the fine detail of the daily life of Berlin and Vienna that the feeling of total realism is generated. It feels very accurate and solid and it isn't usually a very pleasant reality for long where Bernie is concerned. Kerr evokes a hard, gritty world where people do what they must to survive. He doesn't look away from the everyday immoralities and illegalities that become a necessity in the rubble of Berlin, nor does he flinch from torture and death both horrible and often casual.



Somehow Bernie, like his illustrious forbears, maintains some sort of dignity and integrity in his heart while bending a lot of rules with the best of them. I hope to return to Bernie's world again soon, as I am very impressed with Kerr's work. For the time being though I need to leave these mean streets for a breath of fresh air.



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Montelimar Memoir

 The inaugral hosting of the Thursday games group here last night, owing to my no longer being a car owner, and regular host Crabro having his own problems.

Most of the group had other pressing issues in fact, so initially the group consisted of just myself and The Professor.




After the obligatory cup of tea, we decided on Memoir '44 and chose a scenario by the scientific method of the Professor saying the first number that came into his head.  Accordingly we prepared to fight the battle for southern France around Montelimar (where I sampled some wonderful nougats in happier times). Coincidentally it was the 67th anniversary of the fighting in question.

Initally, The Professor's forces made a lot of ground, pressing forward in the centre with his panzers and elite infantry units in blitzkrieg style. He then found that the point of his advance was surrounded on three sides by my own, allied, infantry though. A couple of useful cards allowed me to double the use of my artillery, safely taking pot shots at range from behind woods and hills, and call in an air strike on his advancing infantry, including two of the elite units.

The Professor seemed to have acquired the skill of always rolling hand grenades (wild cards in effect) and with the score about 4 flags each of the six required, Crabro called to say he was on his way and he was a welcome sight as we broke for tea and a chat in the kitchen.

Returning to the fray. I spotted a winning move but it was the Axis turn and unknowingly he thwarted my initial plan. I had no specific cards allowing moves in the centre where his weakest troops were, but then acquired one allowing 2 units to be commanded in each sector. In the centre my remaining unit of Shermans had dashed to the North, ready to take the flag available for holding ground by the Rhone. It only remained to pick up one more flag by destroying an Axis unit. The plan was for the Shermans to fire from their position by the Rhone, at a unit which was down to one piece. In the event all they could do was force it to retreat and it was down to the intact artillary to wipe out what was left of a Panzer unit on the left flank for the winning flag.

Crabro then joined us for two games of Mensa Connections (perhaps better known as Reiner Knizia's Ingenious or even Einfach Genial).

The first went my way, with a not particularly impressive winning score of 8 or 9 and with the others within one or two points. In the second of the, quite agressively played, games I struggled to move orange  and was squeezed out by a rampaging Crabro who went on to win by a convincing margin.

I thought that the Professor and I had tied for second but he was at pains to point out that he had beaten me by virtue of his second lowest scoring colour being higher than mine. I was happy with two wins out of three though. :-)

No need for the new "Spieltisch" this week but I am inviting the group round again next week when I will perhaps be hosting something like a more normal turnout.

Windmills and Whimbrels

A day's birding at Rye Harbour and Pett's level with my mentor and his daughter, another bird (and reptile) expert. The day started warm but fairly grey and as usual in that part of the world there was a fairly strong wind turning the big turbines in the background. Beyond the wind farm, more electricity being generated at the distant nuclear power station.

As the day progressed it became more and more sunny until it was a beautiful late Summer afternoon.

Typical flora

The landscape is open and wild but far from barren with Viper's Bugloss, Sea Kale, Yellow Horned Poppy and many other wild plants growing through the salty soil and shingle and the grassy areas also populated by cows and sheep, including a flock of Herdwicks.

This art project seat plays musical and natural sounds on several preset themes such as "Spring"

Sightings board

We walked up past the various small ponds and along to various hides overlooking pools, paying a visit to the beach itself along the way.

There were no rare birds and indeed a fairly sparse scattering even of the more common ones but among them were two favourites of mine: Oystercatchers and Terns (in this case both Common and Sandwich). We also saw Yellow Wagtails, Turnstones, Dunlin, Little Egrets, Wheatears, Dunnock, Linnets, and a Whimbrel.

The star Tern?

During lunch, in one of the hides, we saw a "stack" of birds of prey with a Marsh Harrier at the lower level, a Sparrowhawk above her and a Kestrel hovering high over the top. Completing our circuit back to the car, we  headed home via a couple of further birding interludes at Pett's Level where we saw Curlew, Gadwall, Lapwings and a Black-tailed Godwit. A Mute Swan, making heavy weather of flying against the wind dropped down onto the water in front of an audience of Greylag Geese.

To the beach

The beach, not quite as deserted as it looks

View from a hide

 

Plenty of bird food about at the moment

On the return journey we found ourselves following one of Google's camera vehicles so I took a photograph: The biter, bit.

Danny and Big Dan

There was another impromptu film night the night before last, which commenced with an unexpected phone call from a friend who was at one of the local fish and chip shops again. I should be getting used to this but this was not Friday nor was it after eight o'clock as the last call had been. Anyway after a day of washing and ironing and with no dinner planning or preparation having taken place, I was delighted to have someone fetching my meal for me.


While we polished off the chips and cups of tea, we watched a double bill of films from favourite directors: The Coen Brothers' O Brother Where Art Thou and Broadway Danny Rose, a mid-period Woody Allen, from 1984.

One Good Tern...

An unplanned day's birding today as my mentor, whose 'phone was not working, arrived unannounced for a trip to a reservoir tucked behind the South Downs.

It was a beautiful day for it, or at least I thought so, but the birds didn't share the enthusiasm.






The reservoir had less water in at than last time and there were certainly a lot of birds on the margins and bobbing around in the middle. From a birdwatching point of view though, it was less than exciting as the birds were Mallards, Black-headed Gulls and Canada Geese. There was a Coot or two in the mix and one or two Great-Crested Grebes out on the water. Standing out from the crowd on the shore was a Grey Heron.

A workman who had been clearing brush nearby and spotted something he couldn't identify, noticed the 'scope etc and asked for my friend's expert opinion. The bird in question was a solitary Dunlin apparently snoozing with its head and quite impressive beak tucked in against its body.

A few minutes later a Common Tern appeared and my friend made the inevitable joke seen in the title of this piece. Sadly however deserved, another Tern did not appear but I enjoyed watching the neat agile bird through the binoculars for some time. As someone who lives in an area where Herring Gulls are everywhere, I always enjoy seeing the smaller neater seabirds like the Kittiwake and the various Terns.

A few butterflies (Meadow Browns) and damselflies darted about but it was generally a warm, quiet, sleepy day as we made a complete tour along the open side of the reservoir against the backdrop of the Downs and the Long Man of Wilmington and then, leaving the shore of the lake for a little, up through a patch of woodland.


This time we didn't make the detour over towards the church but turned up through a gate into the wooded area and further with a view over the weald to the North. As we passed through the gate we remembered the place just beyond, where we had somehow failed to find a Turtle Dove despite being one on each side of the bush it could be heard purring in.

Travelling along the North side of the wooded area we soon returned to views of  the reservoir and then the path returned to the waterside and we headed back to the picnic area for lunch.

The Long Man in the distance

Not much planning had gone into my picnic as the trip was unexpected and I had completely forgotten to fill a flask so I was very pleased when my friend disappeared for a moment and returned with two big mugs of tea.

We then sat in the sun for a long time gazing out over the water and occasionally resorting to the binoculars but without much success.

Despite the lack of excitement it was a very pleasant way to spend a sunny afternoon and eventually our patience was rewarded by a spectacular low pass by one of the Buzzards which had been circling high above.

Rise of the Aliens 8

Image via WikipediaHaving realised that I'm way behind on my films seen this year, I decided it was time for one of my "Cinebinges" so I headed for the nearest multiplex, "unlimited" card in hand. The first things that greeted me when I arrived at the not-too-pretty cinema in the bowels of  a concrete multi-storey car park, were queues. A look at the schedule screen showed that most of these frantic cinephiles were deseperately trying to get into Inbetweeners. I'm a fan of the show, so I'll perhaps get to see it later, but for now it made life easier for anyone wanting to get into the Summer blockbusters on other screens. The films I saw, in the order in which I saw them, were: Cowboys and Aliens, Super 8 and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Cowboys and Aliens (cast pictured above) lived up to the promise of its title but didn't exceed it. As is often the case these days, the trailers hadn't left too many surprises but we are now being told that research proves that spoilers are a good thing so I must be happy about that mustn't I? Well no. I don't like spoilers and I'm not a big fan of most of the so-called research quoted in the press either. Are coffee and wine good or bad for you this week?: I can't remember which body sponsored the last desperate post-grad's work.

So aside from the fact I pretty much knew what was going to happen, was it any good? Yes. For someone like me who loves the classic film genres I was always going to go and see this one and it was so high-concept that its whole pitch was in the three words of the title like Snakes on a Plane. There was never any doubt as I first saw the title and drooled that I would be on the side of this one and happy to give it a chance. One problem with such a cross-over though is inevitably there is a danger of it falling between two stools and neither being a good Western or a good SF picture. I think it largely managed to avoid that. The cast, particularly, Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Sam Rockwell, but also many of the smaller grizzled westerner roles, really looked the part and it was a pleasure to be back on the trail once more. Aliens are all beginning to look the same to me I think but the effects were fine and the aliens felt suitably dangerous and difficult to kill.

Leaving aside the more jaw-dropping "with one bound" moments (this is a film called Cowboys and Aliens after all, we didn't go to see it as a gritty documentary) it was good mindless fun and paid homage to both genres pretty well. I was, however, left with a vague feeling of disappointment in the back of my mind which I haven't fully analysed yet. Perhaps it was the lack of real shock or suprise (possibly because of those trailers) or perhaps with a genre-spanning picture there isn't enough space for the character development that would have made for more emotional investment in the people involved. This was done with broad brushstrokes painting in a quick bit of back-story, for example Harrison's war stories and Daniel Craig's flashbacks as his memory returned. The native-americans were also rough sketches and perhaps owed more to Blazing Saddles than say Little Big Man. Nevertheless, any criticism about lack of depth is somewhat unfair. Let's face it you don't go and see something called Cowboys and Aliens expecting subtlety. It did what it said "on the tin" and I enjoyed it. It did make me want to see a good "straight" western again though.

My Top Five

Image via WikipediaMy own top five films of the year so far would be slightly different from those of the good doctor, probably in part because I haven't seen a couple of those he mentioned. I have a feeling the silent goat film would be up there if I hadn't missed it.

I shared Mark Kermode's liking of Source Code but it was something of a straightforward job for Mr Jones rather than a film with his authorial stamp on it, like Moon. I am very much looking forward to his future projects though.

I have also reluctantly left out some films which I have seen this year on the big screen but not on their first release: Sunrise, Un Chien Andalou and Meek's Crossing.

Bubbling under my top five were a number of popular favourites this year like The King's Speech and the Potter finale and also Tangled which, despite its 3d version, was a bit of a throwback to a Disney of old. The actual top five at present though, are:

NEDs
True Grit
13 Assassins
Senna
Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Like Mark's list, it includes a couple of documentaries: One of them, Senna, on his own list and the other unashamedly influenced by seeing it at Brixton Ritzy in the presence of Werner Herzog himself (above) and being infected by his own enthusiasm. Senna was one of two on the list which I saw twice, the other, the Coens' Western, was very much looked forward to being a combination of favourite director(s), star and genre and it didn't disappoint.

Perhaps more surprising is the classic Samurai film by Takashi Miike but it is wonderfully cinematic, and anyway this list is subjective and purely based on my enjoyment of the film at the time.

The final entry could have been Anuvahood which was a quirky low budget film I was expecting nothing of, and which seems to be generally disliked, but which I thoroughly enjoyed, however, another film of gang violence and youth culture pipped it: NEDs, written and directed by Peter Mullan, creator of Magdelene Sisters. One of the pleasures of both films was the rich patois spoken by the main characters, in this case Glaswegian.

Mark Kermode's Top Five Films of the Year...so far

In a Better Cinema

To my home town for a change. Always a nice place to be on a sunny Sunday when the residents have a smile on their face and time for the finer things.

A pleasant rail journey took me past Little Egrets in the ooze on the Ouse and the folorn last chunk of my old school, in the final stages of demolition, and now surrounded by modern buildings including the new home of the "Seagulls", the Amex Stadium.

The reason for the visit was a member's preview of a film at one of the best, and oldest, cinemas in the country: The wonderful Duke of York's. 

I can recall less happy times for the 100 year old when it was a very shabby "second run" cinema in a town with a number of far more imposing film theatres. It was known then, with good reason, as a "flea pit", while the glorious Regent (since demolished) and the, now derelict, Astoria with its bar, stereo sound and penchant for "Now for a season in 70mm" epics, gave the discerning Brightonian cinema-goer much more attracive alternatives. While those, together with the Academy, ABC, Curzon, Classic, Brighton Film Theatre, Gaiety, Continental, the old Odeon and many others, have fallen by the wayside, the dear old Duke's has soldiered on and after a period as a cinema club (membership well worth its £1 annual sub) it is these days part of the Picturehouse group, and a very enjoyable place to spend a couple of hours.

It has lots of leg room, a bar, balcony, etc and an interesting programme. More populist and less "art-house" than in its club days and even catering for the current 3d fad, it is still likely to show some less mainstream films such as yesterday's Danish drama, Haevnen or In a Better World

 The film was very Scandinavian which is to say, perhaps with an unkind degree of stereotyping, that it isn't a bundle of laughs. It is on the other hand, gripping and well acted.

This feels much more familiar in a period when Scandinavian books, films and television series are riding a wave of popularity. I have enjoyed the "Dragon Tattoo" films, from the Stieg Larsson books, and more recently caught up with the first two series of Henning Mankell's "Wallander" and  Danish hit series "The Killing"

The story of In a Better World concerns two rather battered and disfunctional families. It largely takes place in Denmark though some of the characters are Swedish and newly arrived from England and one of the two fathers divides his time between Denmark and an un-named but dangerous African country where he is a doctor and surgeon in a bush hospital with few facilities and some very unpleasant patients.

Both families are fractured, one by the recent death of the wife/mother and the other because a past affair had resulted in separation and impending divorce. The young sons of the two families end up as friends in adversity, both misfits, one very badly bullied, they meet at school and become constant companions as their impotent rage at their circumstances finds increasingly desperate expression.

There are a number of themes and explorations, thoughtfully and sensitively approached and both the fathers and sons give excellent performances. A recurring and underlying theme in the film is use, or misuse, of power up to and including the power of life and death.

Both the adults and the children have to decide how to react to "bullying" from those who have assumed power over them. This is not a new theme, Shane is one version of its exploration for example, but this film does add some very contemporary references.  Is the use of violence to oppose brutality justified? The film does not entirely answer this in a comfortable or predictable way as death and violence demonstrate some positive results. We are, however, also allowed to take away from this some powerful ideas of what might have been the results of this strategy.

There are some things in the film that, on reflection work less well and probably a lot more that would benefit from a careful second viewing. For me, possibly the biggest problem was the disconnect between the African scenes and the Danish. I fully appreciate the point of the scenes in illustrating another aspect of the main theme, as well as illuminating the character of the doctor, but they were less involving because they appeared more...well...fictional...as plot and character appeared drawn with broader strokes.

I have no major criticisms overall as I was engrossed and continued to ponder the messages long after I'd begun the journey home. I and my ever-increasing dislike of heights do wish that not every film would have scenes filmed from the top of ridiculously high buildings though. Stop it. It's not big (well it is I suppose...) and it's not clever. If I wanted to make myself feel ill I'd watch Man on Wire again.

Carless Caylus

Despite my lack of a car at present I was still able to enjoy a Saturday meal and game with the Goldstone Gamers thanks to one of them kindly giving me a lift and returning me home in the early hours.

This week's game was Caylus, a game I have played three times before but not for a year or two. Some of it quickly came back to me but ideas for a coherent strategy did not. With the advent of Caylus Magna Carta this had been ignored for some time and I had forgotten that I do actually like it.

The reason for its re-appearance was probably two-fold: Recent games of Carson City had definite echoes of Caylus in the game play and Paultro had acquired one of the limited edition sets with its mini expansion, "landscape" board and nice bits. He had "pimped" it still further with some parts from elsewhere so that the wood, stone and gold tokens all looked more like the commodity they represented.

We all agreed that it would be too confusing to replace the blocks used to represent cloth and food particularly as the food for some reason is normally represented by pink cubes which is a bit of a step from a wooden fish, loaf or wheatsheaf. All this made it very pleasant to play with and I particularly liked the weighty metal money in this edition (pictured above).

The game started with some fast and aggressive play making use of the provost to thwart acquisition of materials. Inevitably as there became more things to do, play became slower and more prone to A.P. In the end the game took considerably longer than we had anticipated and the planned filler (Diamant) never reached the table.

I pulled out a small lead early on and was surprised to not only stretch it but stay far enough ahead to take the win, despite my opponents beginning to make much better scores at the end. Having been blocked out of green building for several rounds I was unable in the end to place any blue buildings and stone buildings had also become impossible by the last couple of turns.

My only chance to keep the narrowing gap until the end came through favours, and my strong presence in the VP lane was enough to stay ahead. It was a close game: Paultro and his partner were second and third with one point between them and my chauffeur brought up the rear despite a strong performance in the early game. I think we all enjoyed the game and will give it another run out before too long.

Finch and Chips

Just to backtrack a bit, Friday was a sort of Film Night.

Owing to the car problems blighting my life at present, it was held here rather than at my fellow Friday Film Club member's home, although he was overdue to host. In view of this I was allowed not to cook etc and supplied only the beer (a rather strange one called "Banana Bread Beer"), and part of the programme.

As can be seen in the photograph, the main feature was Kubrick's cold war black comedy masterpiece "Dr Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" (to give it its full title). My friend brought with him the "B film" which was "No Love for Johnnie" which we watched with the fish and chip supper he had collected on the way. The war-room antics of Peter Sellers and George C. Scott were accompanied by strawberries and cream.

Part of the signage still in place from a more elaborate film night

Although it didn't have the feel of our proper film nights here at the "Rialto" or the "Roxy", with their more elaborate meals and other niceties, we were both very happy with the choice of food and the 1960s black and white programme.