Product Description:
#30331 German Language Instruction - Guten Tag! And Then What? (Run time 16 min.) DVD $89.95
This program covers how to greet friends, introduce oneself to strangers, talk about where one comes from, and say what languages one speaks. Settings include a Munich art gallery featuring contemporary art, a renowned violin-making school in the ancient town of Mittenwald, and Munich's annual arts and music festival. In addition, a whirlwind tour of Germany reveals the country's regional diversity. Original BBC broadcast title: Talk German, Program 1. (German and English, 16 minutes)
#30332 German Language Instruction - Kaffee und Kuchen: Having a Chat (Run time 16 min.) DVD $89.95
This program, filmed at the Cafe Tambosi and Rischart's Backhaus, the Englischer Garten, a christening, a beer garden, and the unique Corpus Christi boat procession in Seeburg, shows how to order and pay for food and beverages and how to express familial relationships and marital status. Commentary provides insights into Kaffee und Kuchen culture and other social events in Germany. Original BBC broadcast title: Talk German, Program 2. (German and English, 16 minutes)
#30333 German Language Instruction - Going Places and Buying Things-the German Way (Run time 16 min.) DVD $89.95
Whether shopping or sightseeing, going to work or going to college, travel and conversation are both a part of everyday life. This program demonstrates how to say where one lives and works and what one does for a living, how to ask for and give directions, and how to ask what the costs of things are. The BMW factory, an all-organic supermarket, the renowned Borstei apartments, and Neuschwanstein Castle are featured. Original BBC broadcast title: Talk German, Program 3. (German and English, 16 minutes)
#30334 German Language Instruction - On Holiday in Germany (Run time 16 min.) DVD $89.95
When the time comes for getting away from it all, Bavaria offers a wide range of options. This program introduces questions and answers related to shopping for vacation supplies and arranging for lodgings. Settings include a department store, a country hotel, a hostel in the Ammergauer Alps, and an ancient Benedictine convent located on Frauen Island, in the Chiemsee. Original BBC broadcast title: Talk German, Program 4. (German and English, 16 minutes)
#30335 German Language Instruction - Essen und Fahren: German Food and Fun (Run time 16 min.) DVD $89.95
In Germany, trains, subways, and trams provide convenient ways to get around. This program looks at how to buy train and cable car tickets and how to order meals. Featured activities include sightseeing in the Bavarian Alps, lunching at the award-winning Paulaner Imtal restaurant in Munich, eating Kaiserschmarren in Oberammergau, and dining on Japanese cuisine at Munich's No Mi Ya restaurant. Original BBC broadcast title: Talk German, Program 5. (German and English, 16 minutes)
#30336 German Language Instruction - When in Germany... Machen Sie Spass? (Run time 16 min.) DVD $89.95
This program puts the focus on leisure activities, including visiting Rischart's Backhaus, to learn how salt-topped pretzels were invented, and Ettal Abbey, to see how its famed liqueur is made; taking a hot-air balloon excursion; buying high-fashion sunglasses; unwinding at the legendary Schumann's American Bar; and dancing the night away at The Atomic Cafe, a 1970s-style disco. "Was machst du gern in deiner Freizeit?" Original BBC broadcast title: Talk German, Program 5. (German and English, 16 minutes)
#7772 German Literature & Drama - Bertolt Brecht (Run time 53 min.) DVD $89.95
The German poet, playwright, and theatrical reformer who developed the drama as a social and ideological forum is the subject of this program, in which those who knew him discuss his life and many works. Excerpts from plays such as Mother Courage and Her Children, The Life of Galileo, The Good Woman of Setzuan, and Antigone highlight the development of Brecht's austere form of irregular verse. A later work, A Little Orgnum for the Theater, is the embodiment of Brecht's idea of true Marxist drama. It also showcases his theory of Epic Theater, which encourages spectators to view performances as scientific analyses of human behavior, rather than illusions of reality. A BBC Production. (53 minutes)
#7781 German Literature & Drama - Goethe in Weimar (Run time 28 min.) DVD $89.95
This program pays lyrical homage to the enigmatic relationship between the poet/dramatist Goethe and the Baroness Charlotte von Stein and explores its influence on his work. Excerpts from a selection of the more than 2,000 letters exchanged by Goethe, Charlotte, and their friends bear testimony to the intensity and intimacy of the relationship-one which most experts believe was platonic, despite the often passionate tone of the letters. Dramatized vignettes, sketches, and actual footage provide a historical glimpse into the German courts of the period, and into the life of this revered German figure and the woman he considered "mother, sister, and one true love." A Deutsche Welle production. (28 minutes)
#7811 German Literature & Drama - Thomas Mann: His Life and Work (Run time 45 min.) DVD $89.95
This rare documentary examines the life and work of German literary icon Thomas Mann, beginning with Mann's nomination for the 1949 Goethe Prize. His symbolic representation of Germany in exile after the war, and his status as a representative of the liberal, humanist tradition, are juxtaposed against Mann's private life. The program discusses how his works, such as Death in Venice, explore the disparity between the life of bourgeois convention and desire, a disparity present in Mann's own life. From the suicide of his eldest son, to his own homosexuality, the program explores the dual identity of Mann as representative of post-war Germany and also as private citizen. (45 minutes)English
#7812 German Literature & Drama - Thomas Mann: His Life and Work (Run time 45 min.) DVD $89.95
This rare documentary examines the life and work of German literary icon Thomas Mann, beginning with Mann's nomination for the 1949 Goethe Prize. His symbolic representation of Germany in exile after the war, and his status as a representative of the liberal, humanist tradition, are juxtaposed against Mann's private life. The program discusses how his works, such as Death in Venice, explore the disparity between the life of bourgeois convention and desire, a disparity present in Mann's own life. From the suicide of his eldest son, to his own homosexuality, the program explores the dual identity of Mann as representative of post-war Germany and also as private citizen. (45 minutes)German
#10035 German Literature & Drama - Franz Kafka: The Trial (Run time 59 min.) DVD $99.95
A suppressor of his own writings, Franz Kafka even requested that upon his death all his extant works be destroyed-yet those very works accurately prefigured the anxieties and alienation so commonly associated with the latter part of the 20th century. This program delves into Kafka's fictional world, primarily through a gripping dramatization of The Trial, a combination of simple tale and complex parable describing Joseph K.'s bizarre arrest and execution. Professor George Steiner, of Geneva University, sheds light on the wellsprings of Kafka's disturbingly prescient vision. (59 minutes)
#10036 German Literature & Drama - Thomas Mann: The Magic Mountain (Run time 60 min.) DVD $99.95
A novel of ideas at once serious and comic, The Magic Mountain offers a bird's-eye view of the political, philosophical, and social landscapes of pre-World War I Europe. This program uses provocative dramatizations of key scenes from Thomas Mann's grotesque bildungsroman and employs the character of Mann himself, in a re-creation of a 1939 lecture, as a guide to the story's heights and depths. In addition, Mann's biographer, Nigel Hamilton, inquires into the story's manipulation of time and the effects of environment on identity. (60 minutes)
#8923 German Literature & Drama - Annette von Droste-Hulshoff (Run time 30 min.) DVD $129.95
Although her most important writings came late in life, Annette von Droste-Hulshoff's poetry and prose-often compared to Goethe's-have assured her a place among Germany's great 19th-century writers. This program visits Castle Hulshoff, her Westphalian birthplace; the Ruchhaus; and Meersburg Castle on Lake Constance, where she experienced her period of greatest productivity. Aspects of her life, such as her need for solitude amid nature, and the qualities of isolation, melancholy, reverie, and longing inherent in her writing are discussed. A Deutsche Welle production. (30 minutes)
#32486 German Literature & Drama - The Young Goethe: 1749-1775 (Run time 31 min.) DVD $129.95
A newly qualified doctor of law, Goethe views his invitation to the Weimar court in 1775 as a chance to leave the past behind-a past that has already seen two literary triumphs. This documentary traces Goethe's early years, looking at his education, legal training, love affairs, and formative experiences. Using diary accounts, original manuscripts, location footage, period paintings, and readings from his works, the program highlights the writing of his popular play, Gotz von Berlichingen, and his wildly successful novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther. The Sturm und Drang movement is discussed, as well as Goethe's friendship with writer and philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder. A Deutsche Welle Production. (30 minutes)
#32487 German Literature & Drama - From Weimar to Rome: 1775-1789 (Run time 30 min.) DVD $129.95
"In Rome I found myself, and in harmony with myself I have become happy and sensible." Filmed entirely on location, this program explores a period in Goethe's life of increasing fame, achievement, and happiness, crowned by his trip to Rome. Personal accounts, letters, paintings, sketches, and excerpts of his poems and plays help capture the vibrancy of Goethe's far-ranging mind. Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, Iphigenie auf Tauris, and Torquato Tasso are closely examined. His scientific studies during this time, as well as his friendships with the Duke of Weimar, Karl August, Charlotte von Stein, and painter Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, are also detailed. A Deutsche Welle Production. (30 minutes)
#32488 German Literature & Drama - Into a New Century: 1789-1832 (Run time 30 min.) DVD $129.95
This program chronicles the second half of Goethe's life, covering his ongoing literary achievements, his friendship and collaboration with Schiller, and his introspection. Excerpts from his letters and autobiography, Poetry and Truth, reveal his reactions to growing older and the larger events of his day, such as the French Revolution and Napoleon's rise. With dramatizations, readings, original editions, and scenes from stage productions, the program looks at his verse epic Hermann and Dorothea, his novel Elective Affinities, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, the "Marienbad elegy," and his life's project, Faust. A Deutsche Welle Production. (30 minutes)
#32490 German Literature & Drama - Blighted Is My Song: 1797-1822 (Run time 29 min.) DVD $129.95
Growing up under French occupation in the era of Napoleon made a lifelong Francophile of Heine. This documentary looks at Heine's early years, tracing his experiences as a student, failed businessman, and unrequited lover, as well as the influences that would steer him toward his true calling as a poet. Filmed in Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Bonn, and Berlin, the program blends original manuscripts and paintings with readings from Heine's letters and first published poems. A Deutsche Welle Production. (30 minutes)
#32491 German Literature & Drama - Cast by the Storm on the Banks of the Seine: 1822-1831 (Run time 29 min.) DVD $129.95
This program chronicles the years when Heine comes into his own as a poet, writing his most famous poem, "The Lorelei," meeting Goethe, and publishing his very popular Book of Songs. The program also looks at how he champions the dual causes of Jewish rights and democratic freedoms. Heine's tour of the Harz Mountains and his ascent of The Brocken, immortalized in Die Harzreise, is portrayed using location footage and readings from his letters and poems. The July Revolution in France draws Heine to Paris, where new successes await-and new sorrows. A Deutsche Welle Production. (30 minutes)
#32492 German Literature & Drama - Hear My Pleas and My Laments: 1831-1856 (Run time 30 min.) DVD $129.95
While embracing Paris, Heine wages a campaign to educate the French about German culture-railing all the while against his native land's repression of the Young Germany movement. This documentary examines the last major era of Heine's life, his years in Paris. Paintings, manuscripts, and location footage are combined with excerpts from a variety of the poet's works, including "Germany: A Winter's Tale," "The Silesian Weavers," Lutece, and his unfinished, prophetic novella about anti-Semitism, The Rabbi of Bacharach. A Deutsche Welle Production. (30 minutes)
#32493 German Literature & Drama - Hermann Hesse: Champion of the Individual (Run time 26 min.) DVD $129.95
In an age of the masses, Hermann Hesse always espoused the cause of the individual. This program traces the career of the Nobel prize-winning author, combining beautiful location footage, readings, photographs, and Hesse's own paintings, letters, and first editions. Hesse's publisher, Siegfried Unseld, discusses the great success of his works and the reasons for their appeal. Works discussed include Peter Camenzind, Demian, Klingsor's Last Summer, Siddhartha, Steppenwolf, and Das Glasperlenspiel. A Deutsche Welle Production. (27 minutes)
#10456 German Literature & Drama - Rainer Maria Rilke: A Poet's Cosmology (Run time 42 min.) DVD $149.95
Rainer Maria Rilke's supreme mastery of the German language, which he manipulated with an unprecedented subtlety and plasticity, forms the bedrock upon which his reputation as one of the 20th century's finest and most influential poets is built. This program interweaves biographical details of Rilke's restless and emotionally troubled life, extracts from his letters, and readings from the Duino Elegies-his culminating literary achievement. Imbued with the most minute shades of meaning, Rilke's intensely personalized elegies stand as a monument to his great technical ability and his complex poetic vision. (42 minutes)
#32485 German Literature & Drama - The Life of Goethe: Light, More Light! (Run time min.) DVD $389.85
Filmed entirely on location in Germany and Italy, this three-part series profiles the life and works of a giant of Western literature: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Each program blends original manuscripts, readings, scenes from dramatic productions, and paintings and drawings to help chronicle Goethe's prolific career. A Deutsche Welle Production. 3-part series, 30 minutes each.
#32489 German Literature & Drama - Heinrich Heine: Alchemist of Suffering (Run time min.) DVD $389.85
Who was Heinrich Heine? A vulnerable dreamer, calculating cynic, revolutionary, or bon vivant? One thing is certain: his ability to transform personal suffering into poetry makes him a literary master. Filmed entirely on location, this three-part series explores the major experiences and artistic influences in the life of one of Germany's greatest lyric poets. A Deutsche Welle Production. 3-part series, 30 minutes each.
#30330 German Language Instruction - Talk German (Run time min.) DVD $539.7
"Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" Filmed in and around the Bavarian city of Munich, this energetic six-part series introduces all of the necessary components of contemporary conversational German while spotlighting cultural aspects of the country. Each program uses a lively group of speakers talking in a wide range of real-world surroundings to motivate beginners to make themselves heard-loud and clear. A BBC Production. German and English, 6-part series, 16 minutes each.
