German Culture Through Film an Introduction to German Cinema
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GERMAN CULTURE THROUGH FILM An Introduction to German Cinema Second Edition GERMAN CULTURE THROUGH FILM An Introduction to German Cinema Second Edition Robert Reimer Reinhard Zachau with contributions by Margit Sinka an imprint of Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Indianapolis/Cambridge Focus A Focus book an imprint of Hackett Publishing Company Copyright © 2017 by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. AllFocus rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 20 19 18 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 For further information, please address Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. P.O. Box 44937 Indianapolis, Indiana 46244-0937 www.hackettpublishing.com Cover design by <B>INSERT<B> Composition by Integrated Composition Services Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Reimer, Robert C. (Robert Charles), 1943– author. | Zachau, Reinhard K. (Reinhard Konrad) co-author. | Sinka, Margit M. author. Title: German culture through film : an introduction to German cinema / Robert Reimer, Reinhard Zachau with contributions by Margit Sinka. Description: Second edition. | Indianapolis : Focus, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2017003853 | ISBN 9781585108565 (pbk.) Subjects: LCSH: Motion pictures—Germany—History and criticism. Classification: LCC PN1993.5.G3 R415 2017 | DDC 791.430943—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017003853 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1984. ∞ CONTENTS Preface to the Second Edition .......................................................................vii I. Weimar Film 1919–1933 ............................................................................... 1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920) .............................. 9 Nosferatu (F. W. Murnau, 1922) ............................................................ 17 Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927) ................................................................ 27 Berlin: die Sinfonie der Großstadt (Walter Ruttmann, 1927) ............ 37 II. Weimar Sound Film 1929–1933 ............................................................... 45 Introduction ............................................................................................. 45 Der blaue Engel (Josef von Sternberg, 1930) ....................................... 51 M (Fritz Lang, 1931) ................................................................................ 61 III. Nazi Film 1933–1945 ................................................................................ 69 Introduction ............................................................................................. 69 Triumph des Willens (Leni Riefenstahl, 1935) ..................................... 79 Olympia (Leni Riefenstahl, 1938) .......................................................... 89 Münchhausen (Josef von Báky, 1943) ................................................... 97 IV. Postwar Film 1945–1949 ........................................................................ 105 Introduction ........................................................................................... 105 Die Mörder sind unter uns (Wolfgang Staudte, 1946) ......................115 V. East German Film 1949–1989 ................................................................. 127 Introduction ........................................................................................... 127 Berlin: Ecke Schönhauser (Gerhard Klein, 1957) .............................. 137 Die Legende von Paul und Paula (Heiner Carow, 1973) ................. 147 v vi Contents VI. West German Film 1950–1989 .............................................................. 155 Introduction ........................................................................................... 155 Die Brücke (Bernhard Wicki, 1959) ..................................................... 165 Aguirre: Der Zorn Gottes (Werner Herzog, 1972) ............................ 171 Angst essen Seele auf (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974)................. 179 Die Ehe der Maria Braun (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1979) .......... 187 Deutschland bleiche Mutter (Helma Sanders-Brahms, 1980) ......... 197 Die Blechtrommel (Volker Schlöndorff, 1979) ................................... 205 Die bleierne Zeit (Margarethe von Trotta, 1981) ............................... 215 Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen, 1981) ................................................... 225 Der Himmel über Berlin (Wim Wenders, 1987) ................................ 233 VII. German Film after 1989 ....................................................................... 241 Introduction ........................................................................................... 241 Stilles Land (Andreas Dresen, 1992) ................................................... 249 Lola rennt (Tom Tykwer, 1998) ............................................................ 259 Nirgendwo in Afrika (Caroline Link, 2001) ....................................... 269 Good Bye Lenin! (Wolfgang Becker, 2003) ......................................... 279 Der Untergang (Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2004) ....................................... 287 Sophie Scholl: Die letzten Tage (Marc Rothemund, 2005) ............... 297 Das Leben der Anderen (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006) ................................................................ 305 Auf der anderen Seite (Fatih Akin, 2007) ........................................... 315 Die Fälscher (Stefan Ruzowitzky, 2007) ............................................. 323 Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (Bernd Eichinger, 2008) ................... 329 Barbara (Christian Petzold, 2012) ....................................................... 339 Oh Boy (Jan Ole Gerster, 2012) ............................................................ 349 Photo Credits ................................................................................................ 359 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION This book, consisting of seven chapters spanning German film history from the silent era to the present, is meant as an introductory text for undergraduate courses on German film. These are frequently taught in English—not only, for example, in history departments or in international film studies curricula but also in interdis- ciplinary German studies programs and even in German departments seeking to draw students from a variety of disciplines to the study of German. Since German film courses are offered across such a broad academic spec- trum, it seemed judicious to write the text in English. Its chapters were conceived and written by Margit Sinka of Clemson University (MS), Robert Reimer of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (RCR), and Reinhard Zachau of the Uni- versity of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee (RZ).1 Throughout the writing process, the authors tried their best to avoid the excessively theoretical language often encountered in academic film publications. To stress the importance of contextualizing films, each of the seven chapters starts with an introduction focused on the history and culture of its particular time period. In most cases, the introductions also include information and observations on other notable German films produced during the same time span. The introduc- tions are followed by the main section of each chapter: analyses of the individual films. These provide a summary of each film (the section labeled “The Story”), the background necessary for understanding it, and an interpretation under the rubric “Evaluation.” Three additional sections round off each chapter: one with ques- tions and activities to encourage further film interpretation, another on “Related Films,” and a third one with the DVD information and pertinent bibliographical references. Why should American viewers be interested in German movies that seem cumbersome to watch, especially when viewers not accustomed to subtitles find them less informative than distracting? Though there are of course no subtitles in the films of the silent era, at the outset uninitiated students are not particularly eager to watch them either. But the unusual cinematography and the indisputable artistry of movies such as Nosferatu (1922), one of the first horror movies, and the science-fiction filmMetropolis (1927) soon turn skeptics into devotees. No partic- ular powers of persuasion are necessary, however, to draw students to the block- buster German movies that made it to American screens, such as Das Boot (The Boat, 1981), Der Untergang (Downfall, 2004), and Lore (2012)—all movies adding German perspectives to the Nazi era. But, films involving East Germany’s Communist 1. In the first edition the chapter on Der Himmel über Berlin was written by three students at the University of the South, Amy Hill, Andrew Doak, and Adnan Dzumhur, and edited by Reinhard Zachau. The chapter has been revised for this edition. vii viii Preface to the Second Edition history—for instance, Good Bye Lenin! (2003) and the foreign film–Oscar winnerDas Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others, 2006)—have been similarly popular in the United States. As a whole, though, it has been more difficult in the United States to popularize German films that do not deal with German history—only Lola rennt (Run Lola Run, 1998) is a notable exception. And regardless of topic, the films of Werner