German Actresses of the 2000S – a Study of Female Representation, Acting and Stardom
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German Actresses of the 2000s – A Study of Female Representation, Acting and Stardom Verena von Eicken Doctor of Philosophy University of York Theatre, Film and Television September 2014 Abstract This thesis centres on four German actresses active from the year 2000: Nina Hoss, Sandra Hüller, Sibel Kekilli and Diane Kruger. These performers have embodied a range of multifaceted female characters, as well as offering insightful representations of ‛Germanness’ at home and abroad. Their films are emblematic of the revival of German cinema in the 2000s, which has seen the proliferation of commercially successful historical dramas and the emergence of the critically lauded Berlin School art film movement. This research seeks to contribute to German film studies by considering the role actresses have played in the context of the resurging German cinema of the new millennium. The four actresses are discussed both in terms of the female representations offered by their films, and as performers and stars. The films of Nina Hoss, Sandra Hüller and Sibel Kekilli explore the particular social, political and cultural circumstances of women in contemporary Germany, such as the ramifications of reunification and a changing economic order, the persistent female inequality in the workplace and the family, and the nationally specific conception of the mother role. Contributing to the study of film acting and performance, analyses of the four actresses’ performances are conducted to demonstrate how they enhance the films. Analysing and comparing the work of actresses from the 1920s until the present day, a German screen acting tradition is identified that is characterised by the actresses’ maintenance of a critical distance to the character they portray: female performers working across different decades share a stilted, non-naturalistic acting style, which imbues their characters with a sense of mastery and counteracts their frequent experience of oppression or objectification. The four performers studied also function as representations of national identity, with Diane Kruger, who acts in French and US films, contributing to the formulation and reflection of national identity both in Germany and abroad. Drawing on the findings of star studies, the media representations of the four actresses are analysed to illustrate how they reflect dominant social discourses about femininity, ethnicity and film stardom in Germany. Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................. 1 List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. 17 Author’s Declaration ............................................................................................................... 19 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 21 Charting Female Performers in the History of German Cinema ......................................... 24 German Cinema in the New Millennium: Sweeping Historical Dramas and Astute Social Commentary................................................................................................... 29 Studying Contemporary German Actresses as Performers and Stars................................... 34 Part I: Actresses in the History of German Film .................................................... 41 Chapter One Actresses in the History of German Film I: Weimar Cinema and the New German Cinema ..................................................... 43 Weimar Cinema – Creativity and Anxiety at a Time of Momentous Social Change ......... 43 Exploring Feminine Identities in the Weimar Street Film .................................................... 45 Marlene Dietrich in The Blue Angel (1930): Challenging Female Objectification, Defining Cinematic Spectacle .................................... 47 Dietrich, Stardom, and National Identity ................................................................................ 53 The New German Cinema: Confronting the Past, Capturing the Present ......................... 57 Feminist Filmmaking within the New German Cinema – The Nation as a ‛Pale Mother’ ................................................................................................... 59 Hanna Schygulla: Female Representation and the Agency of the Actor in the New German Cinema ....................................................................................................... 62 Embodying the Nation: The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978) .................................................. 67 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 71 Chapter Two Actresses in the History of German Film II: Third Reich Cinema and Post-war Cinema .............................................................. 75 Cinema in the Third Reich: Orchestrating Entertainment and Propaganda ...................... 75 Reconciling Contradictions: Wholesome Mothers and Exotic Divas ................................. 77 Zarah Leander: Negotiating Female Subjectivity and Stardom in Nazi Germany ............. 80 Rebuilding National Identity in the Aftermath of the War: Hildegard Knef and the ‛Rubble Film’ ..................................................................................... 86 The Genre Cinema of the 1950s: Reformulating National Identity ..................................... 91 Redeeming Germany: Romy Schneider as Sissi ...................................................................... 94 Conclusion...................................................................................................................................... 99 Part II: Case Studies of Contemporary German Actresses ............................ 103 Chapter Three Nina Hoss: The First Lady of German Arthouse Film .................................... 105 The Face of Social Critique: Career Trajectory and Screen Persona ................................. 105 Mise-en-scène and Performance in A Girl Called Rosemarie (1996) ..................................... 108 The ‛Star-as-Performer’: Reflecting Attitudes towards Stardom in Germany .................. 111 Yella (2007) and The Heart is a Dark Forest (2007): Exploring Working Women and Motherhood in Reunified Germany ........................................................................................ 114 A Woman in Berlin (2008): Representing Germany’s Past in Mainstream Historical Films ................................................................................................ 133 Barbara (2012) and Gold (2013): Transplanting Social Critique to a Historical Setting .... 137 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 148 Chapter Four Sandra Hüller: Performing Female Subjectivity in Contemporary German Art Film .............................................................................. 155 ‛The One for the Tough Parts’: Role Choices and Approach to Acting ........................... 155 Foregrounding Performance: Sandra Hüller in Requiem (2006) .......................................... 161 Madonnas (2007): A Counterintuitive Performance ............................................................... 172 Brownian Movement (2010): Performing Female Sexual Agency ............................................ 179 Above Us Only Sky (2011): The Self-conscious Performance and the Long Shadow of Vertigo (1958) .................................................................................. 190 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 199 Chapter Five Sibel Kekilli: Between Otherness and Normalcy – Turkish-German Identity on Film ................................................................................ 207 Kekilli’s Public Persona: Embodying ‛Otherness’? ............................................................... 207 Turkish-German Cinema: Negotiating Questions of Home and Belonging .................... 209 Turkish-German Femininity in Head-On: Transgressing Cultural and Gender Boundaries ................................................................... 213 Conflating Actress and Character: from Head-On to When We Leave (2010) ..................... 228 Moving Beyond Ethnic Stereotyping? – Kekilli in What a Man (2011) ............................. 237 Femininities in What a Man: the ‛Businesswoman’, the ‛Bimbo’ and the ‛Manic Pixie Dream Girl’ ............................................................................................ 242 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 248 Chapter Six Diane Kruger: International Stardom and the Diffusion of National Identity ....................................................................... 255 Career Trajectory: From Ex-model to International Film Star ........................................... 255 Kruger’s Star Image: Beauty, Fashion, and the American Dream ...................................... 258 Star Discourse in the USA and Britain, France and