From early masterpieces such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and Metropolis (1927) to the post-1945 films of Fassbinder, Herzog, and Wenders, German film constitutes a crucial part of the history of world cinema. It helped to shape Hollywood cinema and had a major impact on other cinemas as well. This tried and tested book, popular in college classrooms and among general-interest readers, is the most comprehensive and readable introduction to the history of German cinema, specifically designed to meet the needs of those who want a comprehensible, accessible introduction to the subject. There is no other book that covers the history of German cinema in the same depth and also explores the genesis and meaning of the most important masterpieces in German film history. It does so in chapters devoted to each of thirty-two individual films and in seven interchapters that provide context for historical periods from early German cinema to postunification. The book now appears in an improved, expanded, and up-to-date second edition that covers five additional films, expands the coverage of women's cinema, and brings the history of filmmaking in Germany up to the present moment. The book is specifically designed to appeal to cinema aficionados and for use in college classrooms, where it has been greeted with acclaim by students and teachers alike.
Stephen Brockmann is Professor of German at Carnegie Mellon University.
Author(s): Professor Stephen Brockmann
Series: Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture, 207
Edition: 2
Publisher: Camden House
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 690
Frontcover
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Critical Film History and German Studies
Part One: Early German Film History 1895–1918
1: Early German Film History 1895–1918: Historical Overview
2: Der Student von Prag (1913) and Learning to Look
Part Two: Weimar Cinema 1919–1933
3: Weimar Cinema 1919–1933: Historical Overview
4: Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920) or Film as Hypnosis
5: Der letzte Mann (1924) or Learning to Move
6: Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (1926): The Birth of the
Feature-Length Animation Film
7: Metropolis (1927) or Technology and Sex
8: Der blaue Engel (1930) and Learning to Talk
9: M (1931) or Sound and Terror
Part Three: Nazi Cinema 1933–1945
10: Nazi Cinema 1933–1945: Historical Overview
11: Triumph des Willens (1935): Documentary and Propaganda
12: Hallo Janine (1939): Dancing and Singing to Happiness
13: Die große Liebe (1942) or Love and War
Part Four: German Cinema at the
Zero Hour 1945–1949
14: German Cinema at the Zero Hour 1945–1949:
Historical Overview
15: Die Mörder sind unter uns (1946): The Rubble Film
Part Five: Postwar East German Cinema 1949–1989
16: Postwar East German Cinema 1949–1989: Historical Overview
17: Sonnensucher (1958) or Searching for the Socialist Sun
18: Spur der Steine (1966) or Traces of Repression
19: Die Legende von Paul und Paula (1973) or East Germany
in the ’70s
20: Solo Sunny (1980) or Even Socialism Can’t Stave
Off Loneliness
Part Six: Postwar West German Cinema 1949–1989
21: Postwar West German Cinema 1949–1989:
Historical Overview
22: Grün ist die Heide (1951) and the Reinvention of the
German Homeland in Living Color
23: Die Brücke (1959): Film and War
24: Der junge Törless (1966) or Recapturing Tradition
25: Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972): Film and the Sublime
26: Deutschland im Herbst (1978) or Film and Politics
27: Die Ehe der Maria Braun (1979) or West Germany Rebuilds
28: Die Blechtrommel (1979) or Coming to Terms with the
Nazi Past
29: Die bleierne Zeit (1981): Film and Terrorism
30: Männer (1985) and the New German Film Comedy
31: Der Himmel über Berlin (1987): Berlin, City of Angels
Part Seven: German Film after Reunification 1990–2019
32: German Film after Reunification 1990–2019:
Historical Overview
33: Der bewegte Mann (1994) or West German Self-Absorption
34: Rossini (1997) or West German Self-Absorption Criticized
35: Lola rennt (1998) or Cool Germania
36: Good Bye Lenin! (2003) or Farewell to the
Socialist Motherland
37: Gegen die Wand (2004) or Germany Goes Multicultural
38: Das Leben der anderen (2006) or the Power of Art
39: Toni Erdmann (2016) and the Passing of a Generation
Conclusion: The Future of German Cinema?
Index
