Twenty-five years after his cult TV series, Kir Royal, director Helmut Dietl has now come released a sort of ?sequel? for the big screen. Zettl focuses on the high-flying career of a ruthless media man in Berlin. As satire, however, the frigid figures in Zettl fail to warm up to viewers. ...
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The New York Times meets a friendly young humanoid named Merz. Tygodnik Powszechny mourns the loss of Warsaw's most international location, the Jarmark Europa. The Gazeta Wyborcza celebrates the imperfect white knights of Europe. Nepszabadsag examines a disembowelled Eastern Europe. Elet es Irodalom looks at a post-colonial Eastern Europe. In the Nouvel Obs, Marshall Sahlins describes the war in Iraq as the most irrational idiocy since the Athenian invasion of Sicily. And the Weltwoche features a lengthy interview with people collector, Walter Kempowski.
In the New York Times, Bernhard-Henri Levy portrays Nicolas Sarkozy as a plunderer of national identities. Magyar Hirlap understands the Kaczynskis' fury over Europe. In Der Spiegel, Alexander Solzhenitsyn defends Vladimir Putin. Nepszabadsag detects fermenting at the roots in Hungary. The New Yorker portrays Abraham Burg, the herald of Zionism and its end. And Timothy Garton Ash gives Günter Grass half a point in the New York Review of Books.
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The Economist checks out the digital conversion of cinemas. Islamists are influencing children in Turkish classrooms, reports Die Weltwoche. Nepszabadsag reports that the Hungarian left has simply disappeared. In the New Yorker, William Dalrymple describes the dilemma of popular opposition in Pakistan. Reset.doc explains the struggle between the old and new elites in Turkey. Hungarian democracy is in serious danger, warns writer Peter Nadas in Elet es Irodalom.
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Osteuropa devoted an entire issue to Varlam Shalamov and his tales from the Gulag. Michail Ryklin describes the long-standing connection between Russian politics and professional crime. Outlook India watches the changing images of South Indians. Nepszabadsag is delighted by the sexual excess with which the EU is advertising Europe. And in Revista de Libros, Alberto Fuguet conjures up the perfect critic.
Il Foglio gets a strong whiff of priest. Merkur analyses China's nationalism of victimhood. The London Review of Books remembers the event in China whose name is forbidden to mention. The New Yorker writes about the question that Jean Sibelius asked himself once too often. Outlook India criticises Salman Rushdie for his exaggerated interest in kissing. Gazeta Wyborcza tries to fathom the limits of anti-German phobia. The New York Review of Books describes Putin's weapons of choice for the press. Nepszabadsag worries about the ageing of Eastern Europe. Al Ahram despairs at the Arab world. And Die Weltwoche credits Hillary Clinton with the emotionality of a parking meter.
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In Lettre International, Mircea Cartarescu tells of the first woman he had sex with. The TLS sees a very dark future for Russia. Przekroj presents computer scientist Lukasz Foltyn, who is now entering politics. Outlook India shows the limits of Habermas' concept of public sphere in the Indian context. The New Yorker thinks it knows why Murdoch wants to buy the Wall Street Journal. Elet es Irodalom considers what is still the West European public. And Die Weltwoche finds documenta too elitist.
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American general Antonio M. Tabuga explains to Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker that the USA violated the Geneva Convention at Abu Ghraib. Il Foglio succumbs to the charm of Romanian minimalism at the Venice Biennale. The London Review of Books presents a history of the Berlin Wall. In Asharq al-Awsat, journalist Al-Sayed Yassin tells why he joined - then left - the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s. Elet es Iroladom denies that Clemenceau's Hungarian daughter-in-law was to blame for Hungary's losing major parts of its territory. Christopher Hitchens goes to bat for Marx in The Guardian. And The New Criterion investigates why the art world is a disaster.
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Two Polands are clashing, writes Adam Michnik in The New York Review of Books. In Elet es Irodalom, Peter Esterhazy is in awe of Poland's Catholic liberal intellectuals. Outlook India meets the Bhuttos, a Shakespearean royal family. Downright naive! writes historian Henri Beunders about Al Gore's book, "Assault on Reason" in Trouw. Umberto Eco separates the Piedmontese from the Neapolitans in the Nouvel Obs. Al Ahram introduces the Arab magic realist Ibrahim Farghali. And The New York Times takes a look inside the income gap.
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DU magazine travels down the Danube from the Black Forest to the Black Sea. The New York Review of Books is delighted that at last France is once more an exciting place. For the London Review of Books, Fritz Stern is perfect - for the Germans. Boudewijn Chabot defends "good death" in De Groene Amsterdammer. Tony Blair warns in The Economist against the sophistication of Islamic terrorism. Elet es Irodalom tells of Hungarian writers in Berlin. And The New York Times knows what Jesus ate at the Last Supper: shrooms.
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In The New Republic, Paul Berman looks at public debate surrounding Tariq Ramadan and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and identifies a reactionary turn in the world of ideas. Painter Neo Rauch gives The New Yorker a sting of the contemporary. In Trouw, sociologist Jolande Withuis says women make the better desperadoes. Literaturen travels to Naples. Al Ahram asks: what - aside from a dress code - does the Islamic party Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya want? Die Weltwoche investigages the education of the creme de la creme in Swiss boarding schools. Peter Esterhazy beats his head against the wall in Tygodnik Powszechny. And The New York Times is astonished at the German ethics of repentance.
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In the Spectator, Rian Malan asks why such an incompetent and corrupt politician like Robert Mugabe has so many fans outside Zimbabwe. Ayaan Hirsi Ali asks in ResetDoc what's left-wing about forced marriages. Il Foglio describes how the Agnelli family added class to their wealth. In Europa, director Agnieszka Holland fears the eviction of the Polish elite. Georges-Arthur Goldschmidt says in Le Point what he doesn't like about Günter Grass' autobiography. For The Guardian, Pankaj Mishra criticises the West's moral wasteland post September 11. And Asharq al-Awsat looks into the "Women's intifada" in Turkey.
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In the Gazeta Wyborcza, Adam Michnik demands that Polish secret service files be thrown open to the public. In Nepszabadsag, Bela Tarr talks about his new film "Homme de Londres". In the New York Review of Books, Timothy Garton Ash is inspired by "The Life of Others" to wax lyrical about Germany's brilliant strategies of dealing with its past. Al-Hayat has noticed a sharp left turn in Islamist groups. In Letras Libras, Dariush Shayegan promises that Iran is about to become a brave new world. In Elet es Irodalom, Japanese businessman Morita Tsuneo complains about the post-socialist mentality of Hungarian conservatives. The New Statesman portrays the movement of "militant customers" and New York Times, the Artist 2.0.
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The Nation would prefer a more sophisticated culture of debate among American politicians. In the Nouvel Obs, Bernard-Henri Levy and Andre Glucksmann clash over Royal and Sarkozy. Outlook India investigates the situation of women in Pakistan. Elet es Irodalom asks why the EU should be responsible for mousetraps but not missile defense systems. Gazeta Wyborcza reflects on the biggest difference between Europeans and Americans. In Die Weltwoche, Lawrence Wright wants to know just what Al Qaeda has to offer politically. And The New Statesman takes a depressed look at Tony Blair's legacy.
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The problems in the Middle East are simply overestimated, suggests Edward Luttwak in Prospect. Al Hayat simply won't hear of imposed head scarves. Tygodnik Powszechny foresees technological messianism, in light of the European Soccer Cup 2012 in Poland. The Economist checks out the results of climate change at the Murray-Darling River. Russian opposition politician Irina Chakamada writes in the Hungarian magazine HVG that she fears a Chinese-style dictatorship in her homeland. Outlook India wonders if the denial of sex should really be a grounds for divorce.
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In Espresso, Andrzej Stasiuk describes the tribal cult of the Kaczynski brothers. In the London Review of Books, Colm Toibin makes some manly assertions in reviewing Ian McEwan's new novel. In the New York Review of Books, Vaclav Havel explains why as president one is better off not following the example of the Queen. In Revista de Libros, Mexican writer Juan Villoro reflects on what McLuhan would have made of a cyber cafe. The TLS celebrates Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and De Groene Amsterdammer reports on nascent student protests in Russia.
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