I cannot recommend this movie enough, but let me at least try to do it some justice. Nordwand (North Face) is a German film directed by Philipp Stölzl. If you watch it, you will be blessed by its enchanting glow and tragic story for 121 minutes.

It is a film about bravery, love, conquest, patriotism, friendship, home, family, death, and much, much more. The movie is based on a true story about two climbers, Toni Kurz and Andreas Hinterstoisser, and their childhood friend. It starts in pre-WWII Germany with a woman who works at a German newspaper and who loves to take photographs. She is a secretary to the newspaper’s executives and overhears them discuss the death of a famous mountain climbing pair who perished on the last unconquered face of the Swiss Alps: the perilous North Face of Eiger Mountain. She then remembers that she has two friends at home who love to climb and returns home to try and convince them to climb the North Face so that she can document their ascension.

Toni Kurz and Andreas Hinterstoisser work for the army, but they climb as often as possible. In an early scene you see them climbing the face of a mountain while cameras are panning all around them, showing you splendid skies and awe-inspiring mountains in the background. In the foreground you see the two climbs struggle to conquer nature as they pave their way up one of Earth’s many sleeping giants. They sweat and toil  to survive on an incredibly steep, crumbly, and rocky slope, sometimes falling and being caught by a rope and at times running across the surface of vertical surfaces. At the top of the mountain, like at the top of every other mountain he has climbed, Toni Kurtz takes out his journal and writes of their ascension as cameras circle the pair and once again show you breathtaking surrounding mountainous region.

Since the climb takes place pre-WWII Europe, patriotism and fame are hot topics. The German’s wanted to be the first to conquer the mountain for the greatness of Germany and her people. However, other nations have their eyes set on such a goal as well: glory for their nation. Thus, the climb turns into a race whose reward is far greater than that of self satisfaction, money, and fame.

Through the climb and everyone assembled to watch the ascent the film tragically portrays the extent of people’s patriotism and what they will do for love and companionship. It explores peoples’ ambitions for themselves and others. It looks at love and jealousy. It searches for meaning in a home, in a country, in a quest. It shows people in their most vulnerable moments and the tough decisions that they must face.

As stated at the beginning: I cannot recommend this movie enough or it enough praise. But now that this article is over, go out and rent Nordwand (North Face) with a loved one or a dear friend and don’t forget to bring at least one box of tissues.

——————-

Here is a link Nordwand (North Face) on IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0844457/

And here is a link to Nordwand (North Face) on Rotten Tomatoes (it got 100%): http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10010612/

Big Bang debuted in 2006 with ”This Love”, a Korean spin on a song by American band Maroon 5. It reached the Korean Top-Ten, and successfully put their name on the map. But it wasn’t 2007 when the song “Lies” came out and became their most well known and breakthrough hit, topping on Korean music charts.

I only heard of Big Bang through my friends and assumed that their popularity was fleeting and would last nothing but a minute- but I was wrong. Although there is a language barrier as most of their songs are in Korean and Japanese and only a few are translated into English, music is not only something that can be heard and listened to, but it can also be felt. Many of their songs, struck me hard, sending chills up and down my spine because coupled with the melody and beats each group member has a unique voice that easily displays emotion. In “Haru Haru (Day by Day)”, a slow ballad mixed with good beats, the quieter vocals that sometimes nearly resemble whispers in the verses mixed with the volume increases in the chorus expresses an almost apologetic sentiment. ”Last Farewell”, a faster hip-hop song,  makes any one listening want to get up and dance.

I knew they were the right band for me. I searched for their songs and got more and more addicted to them.

The rapper of the group, G-Dragon says at the beginning of the song
“Last Farewell” the phrase “Big Bang is back!”. It’s true they came back- But apparent they’re not leaving the music industry scene in a hurry.

These are the facts. Go buy their music. Now!

Recommended Songs: Haru Haru, Lies, Last Farewell, This Love, Remember,  Cheon Gug (Heaven)

Are you a San Francisco High School student who likes to write? Are you, or someone you know, a talented teen artist who deserves to be recognized? Come to our Recruitment Night Open House!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center
3925 Noriega St (at 46th Ave)
San Francisco, CA

A number us are leaving for college soon, we are looking for new blood, preferably freshmen or sophomores. If you are interested in creative and/or critical writing, come to our recruitment night and show us your face!

[RSVP on Facebook]

You can read more about what it means to be a Bamboozled author on our Authors Wanted page, but feel free to leave a comment here or contact us via email if you have any questions. We hope to see or hear from you soon!

When they build up an empire
step over stone, I climb
Counting that clouds will not cover the ground, that my tower will not
Crumble, tip and tumble
My airplanes
My trains and ships and trucked automobiles
My wiggling teeth my
Yellow skies
Will take me where I need to go, they will fill my head
    with perfume fancies fumble

How unfaithful are our memories
They forget
    us
They go out on an errand
Leaving no note

I remember loose teeth
    squelching excitement
Airplanes in peach skies
How the Eastest World was
    to me
One woman, blue silk on the balcony, combing her hair
Knowing her reflection
    Her laugh
How may latitudes away she stood
    from me
Behind the light and quiet curtain
The sleeping air
One moment
Will return on a commando blink

When technology fails
When the words
    trail
    away
When I know the curtain is between me
    light and quiet
How can I trust myself not
to forget?

We do not remember
    that we do not
Remember
There is only knowing that there must be something of
Which we have forgot

Then the enveloping ghosts
Crash in crescendos over from behind
And I know them, they let themselves
    be seen
Be heard with cries of recognition
Before settling
    once more
Into the downy cushioned corners of remembering.

“Fuck spidergoats,” I thought I saw Marvin mouth outside of my window. I could not hear him, but I could see his lips move. “Yeah, they are going to take over Planet Earth with a kind of spidersilk that flows from their udders; how utterly wonderful,” I responded.

Love,

Jacob, James, Kyle, Willo

P.S. Kyle got a call from someone in Manhattan today.

To live in the city was a gamble. Wealth and fame, the true gold rush, was rarely achieved. Poverty and obscurity was the more common prize. Throngs of immigrants swarmed the city to find a better life. Some came because they had nothing. Others came to escape their dull lives in the suburbs. Everyone came with a purpose to achieve or attain what he or she did not have before. Many were disappointed.

• • •

An anonymous old man, humbled by his greying hair and slouched shoulders and missing the middle button of his blazer, walked into a café. The café was full of the noise of the self-isolation that comes from reading newspapers alone. Cardboard coffee cups were picked up, sipped, and put down. Noses were sniffled and effectively wiped. Yet throughout all of this, everyone kept to him or herself, never interacting with another person if they could help it.

Confusedly, the old man paced up and down next to the counter. Lost in thought and seemingly trapped in his own mind, he snapped, came to, and stared up at the array of foods and beverages offered for consumption. His modest stare scanned the blackboard, picking up its every detail.

He ordered green tea and a slice of lemon poppy seed cake, topped with cream cheese frosting. As in concordance with the rest of the city, the order was taken somberly and finished with a melancholic “Thank you” from the barista as he handed the old man his warm pastry and steaming beverage.

Taking his new found treats, the old man once again fell into a trance. Searching for a place to sit and enjoy his meal, he saw a young man seated at a table that would splinter at every touch. The young man was either a student or a recent university graduate with a conceited and arrogant aura surrounding him. He held a newspaper in one hand and tapped a pen against the table with the other. In front of him was a cup of coffee and a blueberry scone, both of them barely touched.

The old man walked over to the table, politely asking its current inhabitant whether he could sit down and enjoy his meal at the other end. Obsessed with himself, the young man agreed with a wave of his hand, never looking up from the newspaper.

As the old man sat down, he started to talk. The student or recent graduate thought that like the usual crazy person, the old man was talking to himself. He realized more and more that the words were aimed at him. Annoyed by the distraction, he shooed the old man away with his free hand. After thirty seconds of his chatter, the young man put down his paper to talk face to face to the old man. But the old man was too intent on expressing himself; the young man had no choice but to listen.

“… And then she was born. We were so happy in those times. Everyone was happy then. Not like today where everyone thinks only of himself, never smiling to a stranger, or even to a friend for that matter.

“My poor wife could not take the strain of childbirth and died shortly after delivering the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. Betsy was her name…

“We were content to live outside of this accursed city. I was a teacher at the local school, a math teacher. But my mind is wandering and is no longer held on a leash now that I am old.

“I did my best to raise her. And oh how gorgeous and cheerful she was. At age seven I took her to see her first movie in the theaters. It was an old animated one. The heroine was very brave and beautiful. She ventured the four corners of the Earth in search for her lost husband. He was a blind, young, handsome, and humble man whom she loved very much. He was kidnapped the day after their wedding. I cannot remember her name, the name of the protagonist, but she was very heroic.

“After the movie, Betsy was so infatuated with her that for weeks afterward we would wander around the neighboring forest trying and find the heroine of the movie. We wanted to help her with her quest. You see, this was a two-part movie, the sequel was supposed to come out a month later, but the studio stopped its funding. Well, they left off the first movie with the heroine in the forest, approaching the evil castle of the bad man, hence our adventures.

“Well, as luck would have it, or in our case not have it, we had to leave our little heaven. Everyone else left, searching for a better life in the city. They were all seeking its promises. Left with no one to teach and no food to eat, we were forced to move as well. And that’s when our problems began.

“Sure, it was fine at the beginning. We had a small apartment and I was lucky to be a teacher again. Though this time at a large school where no one cares like they do in the country. Betsy went there and made some good friends. But this foul city eventually consumes everything good.

“As she grew, so did the city’s influence on her. It began to consume her soul and life. She would go out every night, sometimes not returning until well after dark. And as you can imagine, I would worry for her. Well, time went by and we began to argue. That seemed the natural thing to do then, to argue, but now I know that it is not and I regret every argument that we had with every fiber of my being.

“She grew up even more and moved away for her studies. This was good for us because I was proud of her. We had no more arguments. I could not, in fact, be more proud of her. My only daughter, my beautiful little girl, took her life into her hands. She wanted to make the most of it, so she went to college.

“College was a different place then her old school and her old life. It was a caring and nourishing environment. She had beautiful friends there. She studied hard, and because of the time consumed by her schoolwork, we talked less and less.

“She graduated and wanted nothing more to do with her washed up father. She moved on to bigger, better, and grander things in life. She left her past and myself in the dust, only to have memories of us resurface on rare occasions when she feels nostalgic. She may have a career. She may have a husband. I may have grandchildren. I don’t know, I just don’t know…”

Finishing the last drop of his tea and the last bite of his cake, the old man slowly rose from the table. He wiped the crumbs from his facial hair with a brown paper napkin and reached for the coat that he placed on the back of his chair. Putting it on, he sauntered to the barista, said another thank you, and disappeared into the despondent and somber city.

The young man continued to sit as his old neighbor rose and left. After watching the door for a few more minutes, he picked up his newspaper and continued to read.