This will bring giant tears to your eyes.

October 7, 2009 10:56 AM

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, this week marked the unveiling of French marionette troupe Royal de Luxe's latest open-air theatre work, The Berlin Reunion. The story is of a young giantess and her uncle, attempting to reunite in the city of Berlin after the uncle destroyed a great sea wall that was thrown up by monsters.
posted by WinnipegDragon (19 comments total)

If you can speak German, there is more information here.
posted by WinnipegDragon at 10:59 AM on October 7, 2009

The uncle would be the USA?
posted by Ironmouth at 11:00 AM on October 7, 2009

Dolls are creepy.
posted by ZaneJ. at 11:02 AM on October 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

This is beautiful. Thank you.
posted by Lutoslawski at 11:09 AM on October 7, 2009

Nope, I'm just not seeing the metaphor. Perhaps it isn't obvious enough.
posted by MuffinMan at 11:12 AM on October 7, 2009

One of their previous performances, for anyone who hasn't seen it.
posted by fire&wings at 11:13 AM on October 7, 2009

Stunning. Thank you.
posted by Kinbote at 11:24 AM on October 7, 2009

All right already! Where the hell are the DVDs and documentaries about these things? I appreciate the fractured, breathless internet reportage that we consume as the performances unfold. However, I would be only too happy to pay for the mediative skill of a filmmaker's immersive art to convey the immensity and awe of these remarkable events.

Also, cher Europe, please send giant puppets to the New World. Your friend,


Todd Lokken.
posted by mwhybark at 11:26 AM on October 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

I was just about to post this! Anyone else see some... other parallels to the characters?
posted by FatherDagon at 11:52 AM on October 7, 2009

Personally, I'm reminded of that "50-foot tall puppet of Emily Dickinson" they had briefly in Being John Malkovich.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:05 PM on October 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

Oh, thanks for this! I was there when the giant emerged from the water, but because of the riesen-crowd, I didn't actually see him emerging... only caught a glimpse once he was well above the water, and then walking past the Hauptbahnhof.

There was also some great under-watery ambient music, which became rather triumphant once the giant began to emerge.

I know I kept trying to figure out which one was East and which one was West, and how this was potentially problematic, but that's just me taking allegories too literally. It was a lovely show, and the pictures don't communicate the whole experience of the crowd and the music and the people snapping pictures. Lovely stuff.
posted by besonders at 12:20 PM on October 7, 2009

Previous Royal de Luxe FPPs/threads: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4.
posted by ericb at 12:53 PM on October 7, 2009

I can't be the only one that thought "Wtf, Bioshock?"
posted by bouchacha at 12:54 PM on October 7, 2009

I saw the girl, not the dude, walking down Unter den Linden. I'm relatively immune to such spectacles, among other reasons that my soul is dead and always has been, but my wife loves this sort of shit and she was really disappointed. She thought the people driving the puppet (all the guys in red) were too conspicuous and clashed with the street environment. Also they were chanting "left, right" in various European languages and she thought that the puppet should've been speaking if anyone were to speak at all. In short she the thought the whole machinery was too present. Also, it looked a lot smaller in real life. Oh yeah, and it was raining that whole week-end. Sorry if I've killed anyone's buzz. A lot of nice shit happens in Berlin, but this was pretty mediocre, in my humble opinion. We got tired of it and ducked into the German Historical Museum, which happened to be free that day to celebrate German unity. The museum is always fantastic.
posted by creasy boy at 1:54 PM on October 7, 2009

EmpressCallipygos: "Personally, I'm reminded of that "50-foot tall puppet of Emily Dickinson" they had briefly in Being John Malkovich."

I'm glad I wasn't the only one.
posted by Joe Beese at 7:11 PM on October 7, 2009

I love love love the image of the girl sleeping in the lap of her uncle before the Brandenburg Gate. I'm not particularly sentimental about the reunification, but that image got my affect all up in my throat.
posted by LMGM at 9:12 PM on October 7, 2009

creasy boy: "this was pretty mediocre, in my humble opinion. We got tired of it and ducked into the German Historical Museum, which happened to be free that day to celebrate German unity. The museum is always fantastic."

HA! I highlight this neither to dispute nor shame but to CELEBRATE that my MeFi homies have fucking well been there, done that, seen it, and know you can do better. creasy boy I both appreciate and am amused by your take. More, please!
posted by mwhybark at 10:33 PM on October 7, 2009

The stories behind these performances always seem to be basically nonsensical - or perhaps 'fantastical' would be more the word. The spectacle is the thing - and personally I say; more of this kind of thing, please.
posted by Phanx at 1:39 AM on October 8, 2009

The doll look like Michael Jackson.
posted by stormpooper at 9:09 AM on October 8, 2009