German Politician Withdraws Charges Against Wikipedia

According to an article on Reuters and elsewhere, a left-wing German politician filed charges with the Berlin Police against Wikipedia yesterday for promoting the use of Nazi symbols, then withdrew the charges today.

The deputy leader of the Left (Die Linke) party, Katina Schubert, objected to the use of Nazi symbols in a Wikipedia article on the Hitler Youth movement. Nazi symbols, most famously the swastika, are banned in Germany.

Read my commentary at Techyum.

Image: Neo-Nazi protesters in Munich, August 2006. The sign reads: “The 8th of May: Defeated and occupied, we do not celebrate.” The 8th of May is V-E Day — the day the Allies declared victory over Germany in 1945. Via Wikipedia Deutschland. 

Ang Lee’s ‘Lust, Caution’ Gets an NC-17

The new film from Ang Lee, director of Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Ice Storm and Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, has received an NC-17 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.

Starring Tony Leung and Tang Wei, Lust, Caution (Chinese title: Se jie) is set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during World War II, and concerns a Chinese woman recruited in a plot to seduce and kill an enemy collaborator.

From Hollywood Reporter/CNN:

The Motion Picture Assn. of America’s ratings board cited the film’s graphic sexuality for its decision. A source said too many of the film’s sex scenes violated the ratings board’s unwritten rules (like the number of allowable pelvic thrusts, for example) to make an appeal possible.

Sources who have seen the film said it contains at least three scenes — one a long montage — featuring multiple acts of aggressive sexual activity in different positions. There’s no full-frontal male nudity (the source of some NC-17 rulings when shown in sex scenes), but male-on-female oral sex, non-S&M restraints and several nontraditional sexual positions are depicted, conveying the aggression and emotional conflict between the main characters.

When asked if anyone was shown, say, upside down, one viewer said, “It depends on where you’re standing. They’re very flexible.”

The film’s distributor, Flexible Features, er, Focus Features, said they would not appeal the decision or recut the movie. Lust, Caution will screen at the Venice and Toronto film festivals in the next few weeks, then will open in NYC before going to “select cities” on Oct. 5.

Image via Wikipedia.

The First Turbojet Flight: Aug. 27, 1939

 

Happy anniversary, jet power. On August 27, 1939, the Heinkel He 178 became the first aircraft to fly under turbojet power, and for all practical purposes the first jet airplane. It flew just a few days before the German invasion of Poland, which began World War II in Europe.

Photo & info from Wikipedia.

The First Turbojet Flight: Aug. 27, 1939

 

Happy anniversary, jet power. On August 27, 1939, the Heinkel He 178 became the first aircraft to fly under turbojet power, and for all practical purposes the first jet airplane. It flew just a few days before the German invasion of Poland, which began World War II in Europe.

Photo & info from Wikipedia.

Ang Lee’s ‘Lust, Caution’ Gets an NC-17

The new film from Ang Lee, director of Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Ice Storm and Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, has received an NC-17 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.

Starring Tony Leung and Tang Wei, Lust, Caution (Chinese title: Se jie) is set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during World War II, and concerns a Chinese woman recruited in a plot to seduce and kill an enemy collaborator.

From Hollywood Reporter/CNN:

The Motion Picture Assn. of America’s ratings board cited the film’s graphic sexuality for its decision. A source said too many of the film’s sex scenes violated the ratings board’s unwritten rules (like the number of allowable pelvic thrusts, for example) to make an appeal possible.

Sources who have seen the film said it contains at least three scenes — one a long montage — featuring multiple acts of aggressive sexual activity in different positions. There’s no full-frontal male nudity (the source of some NC-17 rulings when shown in sex scenes), but male-on-female oral sex, non-S&M restraints and several nontraditional sexual positions are depicted, conveying the aggression and emotional conflict between the main characters.

When asked if anyone was shown, say, upside down, one viewer said, “It depends on where you’re standing. They’re very flexible.”

The film’s distributor, Flexible Features, er, Focus Features, said they would not appeal the decision or recut the movie. Lust, Caution will screen at the Venice and Toronto film festivals in the next few weeks, then will open in NYC before going to “select cities” on Oct. 5.

Image via Wikipedia.