Full Metal Village

April 28, 2007 9:22 AM

Every year, the quiet northern German farming village of Wacken becomes the site of the largest metal festival in Europe. South Korean documentary maker, Sung Myung Cho, recently went along to see how the locals deal with this annual weekend of metal mayhem. Here's the trailer of the film that resulted.
posted by jodrell banksmeadow (14 comments total)

This looks wonderful.
posted by vporter at 10:01 AM on April 28, 2007

"This metallic music... it's not really our thing, is it?" Man, this looks like it's going to be pretty great. Thanks for posting this.
posted by sleepy pete at 10:20 AM on April 28, 2007

This village was highlighted briefly in Metal, a Headbanger's Journey, which was far from perfect, but an okay film.
posted by piratebowling at 10:51 AM on April 28, 2007

This is so Wacken.
posted by dirigibleman at 10:53 AM on April 28, 2007

Gotta love those nice calm villagers. They have a bit more substance to them than the silly headbangers.
posted by Iron Rat at 11:36 AM on April 28, 2007

That looks like a great film. Being one of the substanceless "silly headbangers" fuck you, Iron Rat who regularly attends Wacken Open Air, my experience is that the locals enjoy the freak show. They can get free passes to the site, and they can cycle through, clucking in dismay at the drunken barbarian antics. Many turn a few easy Euros by setting up beer stores on their lawns or competing with the taxi firms ferrying headbangers to and from the local station. And the ones who don't like it can take consolation in the fact that it's only once a year.
The local firefighter's band always plays a few sets in the festival Biergarten, to rapturous applause, and occasionally make it on to the main stage.
posted by nowonmai at 11:48 AM on April 28, 2007

Saw it last week and I liked it a lot. For the most parts it's a very slow film about village life, milk farmers and old couples, the festival itself is only a short interruption.

The local firefightes are featured, also co-founder Norbert who doesn't like all the Ukrainians and White-Russians and 16 year-old Kathrin who want's to visit the nazi times to see her grandfather cheering with the Hitler Youth. But I guess it's a honest documentary to show this face of german provincial backwaters too.
posted by kolophon at 12:53 PM on April 28, 2007

by the way: the funniest thing is the probably non-german speaking metalheads buying tons of alcohol free malt-beer in the supermarket (you can see it in the trailer too). I bet they were so pissed when they found out.
posted by kolophon at 12:59 PM on April 28, 2007

Cool, thanks for the links. A few of my friends are going to Wacken this year again, I'll forward them the sites!
posted by sebas at 3:23 PM on April 28, 2007

Gotta love those nice calm villagers. They have a bit more substance to them than the silly headbangers.

I know this may surprise those of you whose post-post-modern lives contain about as much Dionysian joy as your average late-night pancake restaurant, but some people actually enjoy music. As in, when they hear it they don't just stand in the corner nursing an oh-so-ironic can of PBR and nodding vaguely along, lest they seem "silly" in their honest enjoyment of something.
posted by vorfeed at 3:45 PM on April 28, 2007 [1 favorite]

Iron Rat : "They have a bit more substance to them than the silly headbangers."

No need to make fun of the villagers' weight problems.
posted by Bugbread at 5:45 PM on April 28, 2007

about as much Dionysian joy as your average late-night pancake restaurant

vorfeed, you're just going to the wrong late-night pancake restaurants. Try visiting “Intoxicated Hedonistic Orgy Pancakes” next time you're out late.
posted by hattifattener at 5:53 PM on April 28, 2007

vorfeed, I just figured that Iron Rat had never read that heavy metal was a comfort for the bright child, but now that I know that there's an "Intoxicated Hedonistic Orgy Pancakes" house, I'm wondering if the Rat should just go there instead? And really, PBR hasn't been the same since, what, 2001? Trust me, dude, anyone with half a brain knows that those people in the corner drinking PBR are just into horrible beer and white belts.

Thanks for the info kolophon. Being from a slow American village, I still think this movie looks awesome.
posted by sleepy pete at 8:35 PM on April 28, 2007

I just got back from seeing this film in Lüneburg. It is really charming. The director, Sung Myung Cho, was there and did a little Q&A session at the end. It was great.
posted by chillmost at 3:28 PM on May 17, 2007