Afternoon pleasures at the
Hansa Club
This German Club on the outskirts of Toronto, right on
the cusp between Mississauga and Brampton, also elected a new
board of directors and for the first time in a long while a new
president was elected. Reiner Walter who was at the helm for
many years can now enjoy his club as a visitor. Robert Gutwein
is taking over from him, we just heard.
On the first Sunday in April we went to the club to test a pilot
program that if successful, will become regular Sunday fair at
the Hansa Club. We certainly hope so, because we feel it is a
great idea to have an afternoon in good company with “Eintopf”
and a movie for very little money.
$10 dollars bought a visitor a plate of goulash soup with a bun
and butter, a piece of apple or cherry “Streusselkuchen” and a
cup of coffee. What a deal! The goulash soup should probably
have cost a bit more than say pea soup, after all, meat is
expansive and there was no shortage of it in the soup.
The backroom of the club was packed with people who loved the
idea. The movie was “The white Ribbon” a grippingly dark story
of pre-WWI life in Germany, when authoritarian ideas ruled
families and communities and democracy was still far off. A lot
of people remembered that in their family too it was customary
to address the parents in a formal way: “Frau Mutter” or “Herr
Vater”, children were seen but not heard, woman were treated
like objects and possessions as were the labourers that had to
work for the Baron and his farm (“Landgut”). The children abused
and terrorized by their elders appear to become a sullen group
of kids that takes action against such a world. They become as
cruel as they have been treated.
This multi award winning movie (several European film prizes and
a Golden Globe in the US) was in true Michael Haneke fashion,
(he was the writer and director of the film) in contrast to
Hollywood movies, a dark and psychologically deep scraping film,
that tells a story which aims to educate, not entertain.
I do not know if this is the kind of movie the people will
favour. I however was surprised, because often only the oldies
but goodies are being shown.
There is another worthwhile cause we should mention: On a table
donated books are on display which can be bought for 2 bucks a
piece. I always find something I want to read. The donated money
goes towards a chairlift for the club, which we think is a
marvellous idea, since building an elevator would not be
practical for obvious reasons.
Until next time
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
Sybille reports as a German-Canadian about culture, arts,
entertainment, community events from her unique perspective as an artist.
