Earlier on during the trip, a group of people went to the movies to see Star Trek in German. I had been really excited about going up until the part where we actually needed to go, and then I just felt tired. I ended up taking a nap instead. Everyone seemed really excited about how fun the movie had been, so afterwards, I just felt bummed that I hadn't gone. Ever since that day, I've been determined to go to a movie for the experience myself.
That day came on Friday! Herr Coffman, Kyle, Andrew and I went to see Transformers.
I wasn't really sure how the movie thing worked, so I was glad someone went with me who knew what they were doing.. Going to see a movie in Germany is a lot different that seeing one America. I knew what to say to get a ticket, but the only thing that is the same about theaters in South Carolina and here is that you buy a ticket at a cheaper price if you are a student and the film plays on a large screen in a large room filled with stadium seats.
The first difference was the one that worried me the most: the tickets will cost different prices depending on where you want to sit. The seats that people want more will be more expensive, and the seats that are "less desirable" are cheaper. The more expensive seats were all full, so we got the "cheaper seats." Ironically, the seats were were given, which were towards the back and off to one side, were more where people from America want to sit in the theaters anyway.
The second interesting thing about theaters in Germany is that the seats are assigned. That's right! We had assigned seats, so when you go with a group to buy tickets, you have to buy them together or else you won't get to sit next to each other.
The movie started, and there were 5,000 previews beforehand, but some were movies that had been out and some were new movies yet to be released. None of the previews stated when the movie would be released though, which I found a little confusing. They all said, "Next in the Theater!" If they're all coming out next, this small theater isn't going to have enough screens for everything.
Once the movie began, I realized that this was going to be a lot more difficult to understand. I had seen the first Transformers movie, but seeing the second one without seeing it in English proved to be a little more difficult than I originally thought it would be. One thing that became VERY apparent was that Germans can speak a lot faster than I originally imagine possible.
The Germans would laugh in all the right places, and I laughed too. But I laughed because I had no idea what was going on rather than getting the joke. There was one point, where Sam had a girl in his car (not by his own will) and Bumblebee started playing "You Cheating Heart." The song was in English, and the four of us started laughing. Unfortunately, we were the only ones in the theater that got that joke. I get the feeling it was for the same reason that we weren't getting the German ones.
I would catch certain words and paste them actions and other words and come up with a story in my head. There was one line that stuck out in my head where one character said to another that he would rip the skin off of [Sam's] body, and we also came up with our new catch phrase for the trip, "Kuss das, Schlumpe!" (Kiss that, slut!)
Eventually, the dubbing didn't even bother me anymore. Then, suddenly, in the middle of an action scene, the screen went black and the lights suddenly came up. Across the screen came the word "PAUSE." There was an intermission in the middle of the movie and everyone got up and left the theater to either get more drinks or snacks or use the bathroom. We used the time to recap and figure out what was going on before our eyes, and I was really excited that I was catching most of everything.
The movie began again and finished in what felt like three years. It was really good, the experience was a lot of fun... but there is only so much of clashing robots I can take before I get bored, especially if I'm not 100% sure of what I'm actually seeing.
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