Favorites of the week: recommendations from the SZ editorial team – culture

Love film art in the drive version: “The old monkey fear”

Around the turn of the millennium, when German cinema was finally declared brain dead because it almost exclusively produced films by idiots for idiots, Oskar Roehler entered the scene – and German cinema suddenly had a violent pulse again. He showed people hating, loving, shagging like people, not jelly breakfast ad avatars. A prime example of his work is “The Old Monkey Fear”, which premiered at the Berlinale in 2003. Shortly before its 20th anniversary, the film will be released again on DVD and in a digitally restored 4K version. How the theater director Robert (André Hennicke) and the pediatrician Marie (Marie Bäumer) maneuver through their relationship life is great love film art in the instinctive version. David Steinitz

Very thoughtful: Inken and Hinrich Baller

Mint green and squiggly, for some that is the distinguishing mark of the buildings by Inken and Hinrich Baller – and at the same time the reason why they do not necessarily appreciate the work of the extraordinary architect duo, which was mainly built in the seventies and eighties in the west of the city, to put it politely. In fact, their fondness for that particular shade of green obscures what makes their architecture stand out and admirable. To understand what that is, one should visit the exhibition at the German Architecture Center (DAZ) in Berlin by the Berlin collective urban fragment observatory about the Berlin architects. Because this not only allows the residents and users of their buildings to have their say, but also the two themselves. Which is not only in view of the age of the two – Inken Baller, her former office and life partner, will be 80 in May Hinrich Baller is almost six years older – a great document of the time. Because as you listen to the two, their agenda becomes clear. So they have always struggled to accommodate spatial qualities in the strict corset of social housing with its many rules and high cost pressure. Inken Baller calls it “smuggled goods”, which, according to one tenant, has paid off for the residents in a “loft-like feeling”. The Ballers’ apartments are often extraordinarily bright, precisely because the positioning of the windows was “terribly well thought out,” says Hinrich Baller. People like to look out into the countryside, even though the houses are in Kreuzberg or Charlottenburg. Strongly planted inner courtyards, which today, in times of climate change, create a pleasant indoor climate, were a must for the Ballers. How do you save material? How do you incorporate nature? Decades ago, the two tried to answer considerations that are urgently needed today with their buildings. The exhibition illustrates statements about the architecture with large photos, short texts and excerpts from historical reports. She does it very filigree, everything hangs on cords, has as little contact with the ground as possible. This fits with the Ballers’ desire to make their designs appear “light as a feather”. Laura Weissmuller

Opera of Madness: “Lunea”

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The poet Nikolaus Lenau died in 1850 after six years of insanity, which made him interesting for the Swiss composer Heinz Holliger. His opera “Lunea” about the one missing from the world was released in 2018 at the Zurich Opera House, Holliger conducted himself, artistic director Andreas Homoki staged. Now you can listen to the production, the excellently made CD is now being released by the Munich label ECM. Lenau wrote constantly, on lots of pieces of paper. The dramatist Händl Klaus created his very own collection of motifs from this, while Holliger invented disparate, harsh, rough sounds that highlighted an existence that couldn’t cope with the world. He relies on impact, which is enormous. A diverse world of sound, in the middle of which is the ludicrously colorful character of Lenau, sung by Christian Gerhaher. Egbert Tholl

Be Loud, Old Man: Jack White

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The colleague was very strict when exchanging text messages a few days ago: “Aging rock stars who absolutely want to keep making hard music, try a little too hard and forget what used to make their music special.” That’s true. A little at least. Jack White, once the mastermind of white stripes, On his new solo album “Fear of the Dawn” (Third Man Records/Membrane), he actually brings together everything that has characterized his work so far: Delta blues overdriven very low in the gain range, medium-low in the gain range overdriven singer-songwriter-folk and a few other genres overdriven in varying degrees of gain, which also bring in more colorful colors. Everything just a bit louder, more distorted, more strained and yes, maybe a bit more cramping. On the one hand. On the other hand, a lot of what Jack White has done so far has been extremely good. And who, please, can claim that a little too much of a good thing doesn’t sometimes work wonders? Just. So, at least for the moment: be loud, old man! By the way, an album is supposed to be released in July. Jacob Biazza

Revolutionary Genius: Molière Documentary

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Even the great Molière, born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, started out small. But that is not the issue here. The Arte documentation “Moliere and the Young King”, written by Priscilla Pizzato for his 400th birthday this year, completely omits the beginnings of the famous French comedy writer. It begins in 1663, when Molière was already 41 years old and everyone was talking about his plays in Paris – and then jumps back four years to tell how the relationship that was to become decisive for his further life as a dramatist began: the to the 16 years younger King Louis XIV, his admirer, client and patron. The absolute monarch, a music lover and dancer, who (also) expanded Versailles into the palatial palace of the muses at the time, and the artistic genius who was dependent on him, cultivated mockery and revolutionized the theater of his time: both exploited each other for their own purposes. A parasitic relationship that is as fascinating as it is dangerous. She is the focus of this revealing, lavishly filmed documentary about the Sun King’s darling.

Molière’s troupe had previously won the favor of Louis’s younger brother, the Duke of Orléans, and caused a sensation with the plays “The Ridiculous Precious” and “Sganarelle, or The Supposed Cuckold”. What was shockingly new about these comedies was that they brought the present to the stage for the first time. They reflected – within the value system of the salon culture of the time – the behavior, vices and topics of conversation of society. Molière was therefore also called “the painter”. A great actor himself, he drove his people out of the exaggeratedly pathetic style of acting and demanded “naturalness”, using elements such as pantomime and grimaces from the Commedia dell’arte. The ballet comedies that he created together with the court composer Jean-Baptiste Lully in Versailles can be seen as a forerunner of today’s musicals.

The film brings out all these innovations, as well as dealing with Molière’s most important plays and themes, such as the education and emancipation of women (“The School of Women”) or the accusation of piety and hypocrisy (“Tartuffe”). The film is enriched with game scenes, production excerpts and interviews with French directors and theater makers, including the great Ariane Mnouchkine. Their legendary historical film “Moliere” from 1978 can currently also be seen in the Arte media library. Then you get the whole Molière, from the cradle to the grave, for four hours. Magnificent! Christine Dossel