Postwall German Cinema - History, Film History and Cinephilia

"...a highly inspirational and very readable book." · H-Soz-u-Kult

"...his highly original contribution to historiography reconsiders the "historical turn" in recent German cinema, framing it as also indicative of a cinephilic reworking of the history of the cinema, effectively remediating previous filmic representations of history." · Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies

"This book will make an important contribution to the growing body of literature on contemporary German film. ... The discussion of Das Wunder von Bern, Baader and Die Unberührbare in particular stand out." · Paul Cooke, University of Leeds

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, there has been a proliferation of German historical films. These productions have earned prestigious awards and scored at box offices both at home and abroad, where they count among the most popular German films of all time. Suddenly, however, a significant departure has been made from the country's prominent cinematic take on history: the radical style, content, and politics of the New German Cinema. With in-depth analyses of the major trends and films, this book represents a comprehensive assessment of the historical film in postwall Germany. Challenging previous paradigms, it takes account of a postwall cinema of retro-flection as a complex engagement with various historiographical forms and, above all, with film history itself.

Mattias Frey is Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Kent. His research revolves around German and Austrian cinema, historiography, matters of media reception and consumption, the history of classical and contemporary film theory, movie criticism, and cinephilia. His work appears in Cinema Journal, Screen, New German Critique, Quarterly Review of Film & Video, Framework, Film International, and Senses of Cinema, as well as numerous anthologies and reference works. He is the co-editor of Cine-Ethics: Ethical Dimensions of Film Theory, Practice, and Spectatorship.

List of contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1. Rebirth of a Nation: Das Wunder von Bern, the 1950s, and the Reactions to the New German Cinema

Chapter 2. Pop Retro-vision: Baader, Der Baader Meinhof Komplex, and the RAF Film

Chapter 3. The Ambivalent View: 23, Historical Paranoia, and the 1980s

Chapter 4. “Ostalgie,” Historical Ownership, and Material Authenticity: Good Bye, Lenin! and Das Leben der Anderen

Chapter 5. Unification, Spatial Anxiety, and the Recuperation of Material Culture: Die Unberührbare

Chapter 6. The Future of the German Past

Bibliography

Index

About the author

Mattias Frey is a Reader in Film Studies at the University of Kent. His research revolves around historical filmmaking, arthouse cinema cultures, film criticism and theory, as well as German and Austrian media. His books include Cine-Ethics: Ethical Dimensions of Film Theory, Practice, and Spectatorship; The Permanent Crisis of Film Criticism: The Anxiety of Authority; Film Criticism in the Digital Age; and Extreme Cinema: The Transgressive Rhetoric of Today's Art Film Culture.

Summary

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, there has been a proliferation of German historical films. These productions have earned prestigious awards and succeeded at box offices both at home and abroad, where they count among the most popular German films of all time. Recently, however, the country’s cinematic take on history has seen a significant new development: the radical style, content, and politics of the New German Cinema. With in-depth analyses of the major trends and films, this book represents a comprehensive assessment of the historical film in today’s Germany. Challenging previous paradigms, it takes account of a postwall cinema that complexly engages with various historiographical forms and, above all, with film history itself.

Additional text

�"...a highly inspirational and very readable book."�����H-Soz-u-Kult

"...his highly original contribution to historiography reconsiders the 'historical turn' in recent German cinema, framing it as also indicative of a cinephilic reworking of the history of the cinema, effectively remediating previous filmic representations of history."�����Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies

"This book will make an important contribution to the growing body of literature on contemporary German film. The discussion of�Das Wunder von Bern, Baader�and�Die Unber�hrbare�in particular stands out."�����Paul Cooke, University of Leeds

Product details

• Authors: Mattias Frey, Frey Mattias
• Publisher: BERGHAHN BOOKS, INC
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.06.2015
• EAN: 9781782389026
• ISBN: 978-1-78238-902-6
• No. of pages: 218
• Series: Film Europa; Film Europa; Film Europa, 14
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Photography, film, video, TV; Germany, PERFORMING ARTS / Film / History & Criticism, Film Theory & Criticism, Film history, theory or criticism