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MA-Arbeit Schmidiger Masterarbeit zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Master of Arts in Filmwissenschaft der Philosophischen Fakultät der Universität Zürich (im Rahmen des universitätsübergreifenden Master-Studiengangs Netzwerk Cinema CH) Vietnamesisches Filmschaffen in der Kriegs- und Nachkriegszeit Die Konstruktion von kultureller Erinnerung über filmische Stereotype Verfasserin: Selina-Felicia Schmidiger Matrikelnummer: 05-713-219 Referentin: Prof. Margrit Tröhler Abgabedatum: 13.01.2012 INHALT VORWORT Bei einer Reise durch Vietnam vor drei Jahren stellte sich mir als Filmwissenschaftsstudentin zum ersten Mal die Frage nach dem vietnamesischen Kino. Da immer noch in vielen Teilen des Landes Spuren des über dreissig Jahre zurückliegenden Vietnamkriegs sichtbar sind, begann mich im Speziellen die Frage zu interessieren, ob der Krieg ebenfalls in Spielfilmen verarbeitet wurde oder immer noch wird, wie dies beim historischen Gegner, den USA, sehr exzessiv geschehen ist. Weil im westlichen Sprachraum allgemein sehr wenig Literatur zum vietnamesischen Kino existiert, erwies es sich zunächst als schwierig, dieser Frage nachzugehen. Damals wusste ich zum Beispiel noch nicht, ob Vietnam eine aktive Filmindustrie hat, wann die vietnamesische Filmgeschichte beginnt und wie viele Filme pro Jahr ungefähr entstehen. Meine Recherchen, die vorwiegend auf Zeitschriftenartikeln und Kurztexten aus Sammelbänden und dem Internet basieren, ergaben, dass Vietnam sehr wohl eine aktive Filmindustrie besitzt. In Nordvietnam entstanden während und nach dem Krieg einige Spielfilme, im Süden erst wieder nach der Wiedervereinigung. Diese gewonnenen Erkenntnisse bedeuteten aber noch nicht, dass ich auch die Gelegenheit haben würde, diese Filme in einer mir verständlichen Sprache zu visionieren. Glücklicherweise erfuhr ich jedoch durch einen Zufall, dass viele der Spielfilme, die während und nach dem Krieg in Vietnam entstanden, für die DDR synchronisiert wurden, da die beiden sozialistischen Staaten engen Kontakt pflegten. Nach langwieriger Suche und Anfragen bei verschiedenen Archiven, Filmhochschulen und Verleihern wurde ich bei Progress (ehemaliger Filmverleih der DDR) und im Bundesarchiv in Deutschland fündig. Im Juni 2011 konnte ich 16 Filme aus der Zeit von 1967 bis 1987 sichten, 12 davon durch die freundliche Unterstützung von Herrn Roland Foitzik und seinen Mitarbeitern im Bundesarchiv in Berlin, die weiteren als VHS- und DVD-Kopien, unter anderem aus dem Archiv des Filmverleihs Progress, zuhause oder in Zürich am Seminar für Filmwissenschaft. Diese Visionierungen machten meine Masterarbeit über das vietnamesische Filmschaffen der Kriegs- und Nachkriegsjahre erst möglich. Mein Dank geht an Roland Foitzik, der meinen Besuch in Berlin organisierte, an seine Kollegen, die mich bei der Sichtung am Schneidetisch oder bei der Recherche nach DDR- Zeitungsartikeln zum Thema unterstützten, an Natalie Böhler, die mir ein paar vietnamesische Werke auslieh, und an Kerstin Lommatzsch, die mich über Filme beim Filmverleih Progress informierte und mir die Kopie von CO GAI TREN SONG (DAS MÄDCHEN AUF DEM FLUSS, Dang Nhat Minh, Vietnam 1987) auf DVD zur Verfügung stellte. Ebenfalls möchte ich mich herzlich bei meiner betreuenden Professorin Margrit Tröhler für ihre hilfreichen Tipps und die Möglichkeit bedanken, meine Masterarbeit auf einem (zumindest in unserem Sprachraum) noch eher unbekannten Gebiet zu schreiben. Mein Dank geht auch an Professor Jörg Schweinitz für seine Ideen und Anregungen zum Thema und an Professorin Barbara Flückiger für ihre Anfragen an Kollegen und Archive bezüglich meiner Recherche. Ausserdem bedanke ich mich bei meinem Freund Patrick Lau, meiner Familie und meinen Freunden, insbesondere Bettina Duschl, Anniken Gut und Jana Heberlein, für die anregenden Diskussionen. EINLEITUNG Das Ziel dieser Masterarbeit ist es, einen Einblick ins vietnamesische Filmschaffen der Kriegs- und Nachkriegsjahre zu bieten. Dabei interessieren vor allem sich wiederholende Bilder und Bildformeln, die zur Konstruktion von „kultureller Erinnerung“1 – hier in Bezug auf den Vietnamkrieg – beitragen. EINGRENZUNG DES THEMAS UND FRAGESTELLUNGEN Die Voraussetzung dieser Arbeit bilden die weltweit bekannten US-amerikanischen Vietnamkriegsfilme. Diese wurden und werden immer noch in den meisten Ländern der Welt vertrieben und gelten, unter anderem in Vietnam selbst, als relativ populär (vgl. Charlot 1994: 112). Bis auf ein paar andere wenige, grösstenteils westliche Filme (zum Beispiel aus Australien oder Frankreich) ist die amerikanische Sichtweise auf den Vietnamkrieg die einzige, die das heutige Publikum von Spielfilmen her kennt. Doch wie sieht der Blick der Gegenseite aus? Wie konstruieren vietnamesische Filmemacher die Erinnerung an den Krieg? Sind die Filme vorwiegend von Kampfhandlungen geprägt, geht es um individuelle 1 Alle in Anführungszeichen gesetzten Begriffe werden im Verlaufe der Arbeit ausführlich erklärt. Kriegserfahrungen, wird die Gemeinschaft betont, oder dominieren die sozialen Probleme nach dem Krieg? Gibt es wiederkehrende Merkmale, Bilder, Bildformeln, die die Konstruktion von kultureller Erinnerung stützen? Die Fragen beziehen sich auf den Schwerpunkt dieser Masterarbeit, der auf der Konstruktion von kultureller (Kriegs- und Nachkriegs-)Erinnerung in den vietnamesischen Filmen beruht. Dazu analysiere ich mit Hilfe von theoretischen Konzepten zur „kulturellen Erinnerung“ (Aleida und Jan Assmann), zur „Erinnerung im Film“ (Astrid Erll, Katharina Görtz, Stephanie Wodianka, Julia Zutavern), zur „Diffusion“ (Margrit Tröhler) und zum „filmischen Stereotyp“ (Jörg Schweinitz) vietnamesische Kriegs- und Nachkriegsfilme, um wiederkehrende und differierende Merkmale in diesen beiden filmhistorischen Zeitabschnitten herauszuarbeiten. Da sich „Erinnerungen“ über die Zeit hinweg verändern, ist anzunehmen, dass Filme, die während des Krieges entstanden sind, diesen noch anders erinnern als Filmproduktionen der Nachkriegszeit. Deshalb liegt der Fokus insbesondere auf den sich verändernden Verarbeitungsprozessen und Sichtweisen auf den Krieg im vietnamesischen Kino, wobei spezifische Merkmale und wiederkehrende Bilder in den Kriegsfilmen, aber auch in den Nachkriegsproduktionen herausgearbeitet werden. Hierbei sind Begriffe wie „subjektive“ und „objektive Erinnerung“ sowie „gegenwärtige“ und „reine Vergangenheit“ (A. Assmann 1999: 14; Koselleck 1994: 117) von Bedeutung. Des Weiteren interessiert mich, ob in den vietnamesischen Kriegs- und Nachkriegsfilmen ähnliche oder gar gleiche narrative Muster wie in den amerikanischen Vietnamkriegsfilmen auszumachen sind. Zur Beantwortung dieser Frage ist eine vorsichtige Gegenüberstellung der vietnamesischen Kriegs- und Nachkriegsfilme mit den sogenannten 'Vietnamfilmen' aus Amerika nötig. Als Rahmung der Arbeit finde ich dies sinnvoll, um das, was der Leser kennt, von dem, was er (noch) nicht kennt, abzugrenzen. Wenn ich ideologische Tendenzen und allfällige Gemeinsamkeiten der vietnamesischen und amerikanischen Filme hinsichtlich der Narration herausarbeite, spielt die Frage, ob der Sieger des Konflikts den Krieg anders erinnert als der Verlierer, eine entscheidende Rolle. Ein allzu enger, differenzierter Vergleich von amerikanischen und vietnamesischen Filmen erscheint jedoch nicht sinnvoll, weil es sich dabei um zwei völlig unterschiedliche Nationen handelt, deren Filmindustrien sich weder ähnlich entwickelt haben, noch auf dem gleichen technologischen Stand sind, und weil anzunehmen ist, dass die Erinnerungskulturen – inner- und ausserhalb des Kinos – in den beiden Ländern sehr unterschiedlich funktionieren. Deshalb fokussiere ich in erster Linie auf das vietnamesische Filmschaffen in der Kriegs- und Nachkriegszeit, bevor ich auf allfällige gemeinsame Tendenzen zu sprechen komme. Um allen erwähnten Fragestellungen gerecht zu werden, ist es zuerst einmal wichtig, zwischen Kriegs- und Nachkriegsfilmen zu unterscheiden. Vietnam war über Jahrhunderte hinweg in Auseinandersetzungen mit verschiedensten Völkern, Besatzern, Staaten und Eindringlingen verwickelt. Obschon auch über diese Kriege Filme entstanden, beschränkt sich diese Arbeit auf die fiktionale Verarbeitung des bekanntesten aller Vietnamkonflikte im Spielfilm: des Krieges zwischen den amerikanischen Truppen und der vietnamesischen Befreiungsfront. Wenn ich von 'vietnamesischen Kriegsfilmen' spreche, meine ich Filme, die direkt während dieses Krieges (1954 bis 1974) entstanden sind. 'Nachkriegsfilme' datiere ich ab 1975, wodurch sowohl Werke, die vor, als auch Werke, die nach der Wiedervereinigung produziert wurden, in diese Gruppe fallen. 2 Der Fokus liegt auf Filmen, die auf vietnamesischem Boden mit eigenen Geldern, Filmschaffenden und Schauspielern realisiert wurden. Ko-Produktionen werden aus Gründen, die ich in Kapitel 2 näher beschreibe, ausser Acht gelassen. Bezogen auf die amerikanischen Filme schreibe ich häufig von 'Vietnamkriegsfilmen'. Unter diesem Begriff sind alle US-amerikanischen Spielfilmproduktionen zusammengefasst, in denen in irgendeiner Weise das Thema 'Vietnamkrieg' vorkommt. Möchte ich hier zwischen Werken unterscheiden, die während des Krieges oder erst nach dem Krieg entstanden sind, weise ich explizit darauf hin. Der Grund, weshalb ich mich nur mit Spielfilmen befasse, ist zum einen persönliches Interesse, zum anderen die Tatsache, dass es schon einige veröffentlichte Studien zu Dokumentarfilmen über den Vietnamkrieg von östlichen und westlichen Autoren gibt. Dabei handelt es
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