Description
Book Synopsis 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.
Trade Review “…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 stands out." · Paul Cooke, University of Leeds
Table 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
