Im Kino

What to do on a rainy Saturday? Why, go to the movies, of course! Two colleagues and I set off for Graz's one multiplex on Saturday afternoon to catch a showing of "Harry Potter und der Halbblutprinz". I would have preferred to see it with the original soundtrack, but that wasn't possible (only one showing and that is at 11 PM). Okay, it's not Shakespeare, but when you know what the actors actually sound like (the voices of the unmistakable Alan Rickman or Maggie Smith, for example) it is a bit irritating to hear some totally different voice come out of their mouths, not to mention the fact that they would be speaking in German! Whatever. It's all about the special effects anyway. I haven't been to the cinema in Europe for decades and forgot what a totally different cultural experience it is. First of all, there are various ticket prices according to where you sit (middle of the theater being the most expensive) and the seats are assigned. How ridiculous is that?! I said to my friend Penny that I thought that was sooo European. No, she said, it was sooo Germanic. There is also a surcharge of one euro if the film is unusually long. Needless to say, with all these options just buying your ticket can take a while. Every film has a fifteen minute intermission. They just stop the film wherever and off you go the restroom or to replenish popcorn. The Cineplexx (as it is called here) was built on the edge of town, at the end of a tram line, in a not very attractive district. It not only houses a multiple screen movie house, but several restaurants and a lovely cafe as well. All of them have table service. There is no on-the-run junk food here. It is all very civilized. (Popcorn, candy and soda are available in the theater itself, of course -- but they're not food!) The complex itself was not very well designed; restrooms were off in some obscure corner and the lobby was too small to accommodate the number of people in the theaters. I may rail against the impersonal, charmless atmosphere of American movie houses these days, but they really are well planned. After the film we treated ourselves to a feast in the Chinese/Japanese restaurant next door. It was some of the best oriental food I've had anywhere. It was a fun afternoon.