This was a special showing of Serenity, the German premiere isn't for ages (I think).

Simon | October 09, 17:49 CET

Ah, cool. The movie opens there this month, so I presumed it would be the premiere.

gossi | October 09, 17:56 CET

Hey, isn't Buffy really popular in Germany? I'm figuring their marketing campaign would take advantage of that...

Ronald_SF | October 09, 18:05 CET

Yep it was a special screening, i was there too, and the Q and A was pretty funny. We wont get a real premiere here, and the movie wont open until November 24 th.

And yes Buffy was more or less popular in Germany but most people here still thinks its a kids show *sighs*

Kessie | October 09, 18:33 CET

Hmm, this review sounds kinda weird to me. I'm not German (I'm Dutch, so I'm right next to Germany), but to me it seems like this person is overstating any cultural differences.

Serenity's themes are universal in my opinion, and it seems weird to say that some things would have less of an impact because of Germany's cultural heritage. Hell, if nothing else, German culture, like every other European culture, is heavily influenced by american pop-culture anyway (though not exclusively), so there should be no cultural gap whatsoever. At least that's how it seems to me.

There is a difference as far as dubbing is concerned (here in Holland it's subtitles only) and seeing as Joss' writing would be extra hard to translate, I can see problems there. But there are some German theatres who will also play original language versions, right?

Anyway, I'm glad the German browncoats got their premiere (or whatever one would like to call it). Hell, they got Joss, and us Dutch missed out on him, so they've got one up on us (*waves to Kessie who was also at the Dutch premiere*) :-p

GVH | October 09, 19:28 CET

If you want to see for yourself how tired Summer, Joss and Nathan were, go here.
I saw the film at the pre-screening in Neuss last Sunday: lots of fans and the audience got it. The translation didn't work all the time, but that's to be expected. (They made Kaylee's filthy line way too obvious.) Now I'm waiting for the original version to hit our screens.

sister_ray | October 09, 19:44 CET

I don't think there is a cultural difference problem in getting Serenity. Though I guess it helps to have an idea about the current political atmosphere in the States to appreciate some of its statements. It is despite its relieving comedic bits a movie that hits you square between the eyes.

I was at the special screening in Hamburg an it was the first time I saw it (and I was unspoilered - if that's a word).
I was pretty ... I don't know, hit by the movie but Joss was (despite his obvious exhaustion) in high form and made me laugh even though I was still emotionally upset. The Q&A was not very long and Summer and Nathan didn't give as much to do as Joss. (I didn't get to ask Summer how often she had to *accidentally repeat the scene where she got to kick Jayne's ass* and grab his balls.)

Unfortunately Firefly is mostly unknown in Germany and Joss Whedon isn't someone much better known even though Buffy and Angel were actually shown here and have been reasonably successful.

The terribly uninformed and less than eloquent studio goon who was there to greet and moderate for Joss, Nathan and Summer afterwards, doesn't bode well in my eyes about how the studio will address its marketing efforts here.
So far I haven't seen much at all to market the movie though I hope that's because it won't officially come out here till Nov. 24.
Oh, and I do hope there'll be some cinemas that'll be showing it in the English original. The dubbing wasn't bad though it couldn't really transport the language Joss made up but the voices felt rather strange.

beans | October 09, 21:10 CET

24th November, that seems like an eternity still! Gaaah ... guess I'm not the patient type. And no prescreenings around here, at least so far. I've been living in Toronto for a year, and 2 months ago I moved back to this ass end of the gal-, well, this planet and now I don't get to see Serenity till the end of November. (Btw, during the prescreening in Toronto, I was on vacation in BC... I hate my life sometimes.)

Ariane | October 09, 21:39 CET

The terribly uninformed and less than eloquent studio goon who was there to greet and moderate for Joss, Nathan and Summer afterwards, doesn't bode well in my eyes about how the studio will address its marketing efforts here.

As far as I heard he must have been a lot better than those at certain other screenings. At least he wasn't too up tight to kiss Nathans hand (unless it just looked like that from where I sat).

Trienco | October 09, 22:12 CET

I second that, trienco. The guy did well. I was more embarrassed by some of the fans' questions....... At some point I put my hand up just to prevent the next terrible question.

and re: cultural differences vs dubbing
I've seen the movie now 4 times in english, once with dutch undertitling, and Friday in german. A lot of stuff was highlighted differently through the translations, (even though it was altogether a good synchronization, I've seen far far far far worse), and this highlighning (is that a word at all?) put sometimes a different slant on some of the issues germans have issues with, i.e. totalitarian government, authority, war.

Sorry I'm not terribly eloquent right now. Just got back and am very tired.....

Harpy | October 10, 00:46 CET

oh yes ..some of the questions were pretty bad.. esp. the first one gets the worst question ever award! Some guys of the german firefly board videotaped the whole Q and A ... i will post it once it is online!

*Waves back at GVH, Harpy and trienco and the others who i know*

Also, yes there some cultural diffrences, but they are not as big as the guy in the review makes them seem to be. And honestly i doubt they will matter in the way the movie will be received.

Kessie | October 10, 01:07 CET

Sister_ray, your link says that we have to log in.

Lioness | October 10, 01:28 CET

Sorry Lioness, try this link, type in Serenity as the search item and it should give you the pictures. If that doesn't work, go to their main page and log in as a guest or Gast. The pictures are small and not very good though, so I'm not sure it's worth the hassle.
And I found a small article with some gossip about the visit to Hamburg. Apparently lots of interviews in the hotel and they had pumpkin soup the evening before the premiere - now that's useful information!

[ edited by sister_ray on 2005-10-10 15:29 ]

sister_ray | October 10, 16:12 CET