A Most Wanted Man

Philip Seymour Hoffman's last film, A Most Wanted Man, was showing in the original language at the local artsy theater, so we found an evening to go watch it.

How bizarre to be watching a movie clearly playing in Germany, with American actors speaking American English and German actors speaking English with a German accent and a Canadian actress (Rachel McAdams) speaking English with a German accent. And the film had German subtitles, that you actually needed when the characters were speaking Arabic.

What a chilling story (by John le Carré), most especially after I heard a lecture today on the German data privacy laws as they affect personal privacy rights and how the NSA and the German authorities are actually breaking German constitutional law. This film pitted at least three spy organizations against each other (Verfassungsschutz, CIA, and some third, unnamed entity), and they all are breaking personal privacy rights right and left. But of course, the long-term goal is to make the world a "safer" place, right? Take care of those pesky terrorists.... And as we now know, this is actually not fiction, but happening, all around us. We are paying for their fun & games, and strangely, with a sense of Stockholm Syndrome (as Jochen Koubeck put it in the talk this morning) are even sympathizing with the NSA & Co. listening in on all we are doing.

As WiseMan remarked after the film, if Philip Seymour Hoffman's character would have seen Robin Wright in House of Cards, he would have known that he can't trust her. Spy movies are not normally my cup of tea, but this was great, Hoffman was just such a great actor. The only boring part was the full half an hour of silly advertising and trailers for films I most certainly will not see, and that with the film not starting until 8.30 pm. Oh well, lucky me, I don't have to get up too early tomorrow.