Lilly, learning

"Unverfänglich" in German means "harmless, innocuous, inoffensive". I learned that word at our German group's viewing of the film Lilly unter den Linden earlier this month. Our hostess paused the film so that those in the know could explain what was going on in the scene where one of the main characters, Lilly's aunt, sings in a cabaret, in the 1980s, in Jena. It was strictly forbidden by the governing regime in the DDR to perform anything of a politically subversive nature, so the cabaret artists became past masters in the use of double meanings. They sang what were ironically known as "unverfängliche Texte", so Barbara told us, but their hidden meanings were not lost on their audiences (which usually included one or two Stasi spies). The film conveyed this very well.

Another moment worth remembering was when the 13 year old, recently bereaved Lilly asks her aunt if she believes in God.

"Glaubst du an Gott?

"Ich glaube an die Sehnsucht nach Gott," the aunt replies, "und an die oder den, der die Sehnsucht in unser Herz liegt. Ich weiss nicht, ob das Gott ist."

(Freely translated: I believe in the longing for God and in whatever it is that puts that longing into our hearts. Whether or not that is God, I don't know. An appropriate thought for Christmas Eve?)