New German Cinema: Images of a Generation

by Julia Knight

"New German Cinema: The Images of a Generation" explores the context from which the films made by Fassbinder, Wenders, Herzog, von Trotta and others emerged during the late 1960s through to the mid-1980s. It examines the American dominance of the German market place, the development of a film subsidy system, the notion and politics of an Autorenkino, the framework of European art cinema, and distribution and exhibition initiatives that helped facilitate the birth of and shape a new national cinema. The author discusses the way in which the New German Cinema films engaged with contemporary West German reality and how the films can be read as raising important questions about West Germany's self understanding in the postwar era. Although the new cinema was internationally acclaimed, critics were virtually unanimous in declaring its demise in the early 1980s and this study concludes with a consideration of a number of factors that contributed to such a perception.

Genres: Germany, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2004

About the author

Julia Knight is a Reader in Moving Image at the Centre for Research in Media and Cultural Studies of the University of Sunderland and a co-editor of the journal Convergence.

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Reviews

[Vince · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knight's analysis of the cultural, political, and economic context of New German Cinema is lucid and informative (I don't normally have the patience for paragraphs of discussion about economics myself, but she manages to keep it interesting).

However, her analysis of the films themselves can be a little lacking. One major omission is the significance of Antigone to Germany in Autumn: the latter was partly prompted by public outcry against the provision of funeral services for murdered RAF members; the latter is significant not just for being "politically inflammatory" but because it is explicitly about Antigone burying her brother (a Theban who turned against his homeland) despite a public order against burying the enemies of Thebes. In other places, there's too much plot summary and too little actual analysis.

Knight's writing also lacks confidence. Many assertions (it felt like most of them, but that's probably wrong) are preceded by phrases like "might be argued as...", "could imply...", "possibly shows that...", etc. I understand the impulse (I'm constantly taking phrases like that out of my own writing), but an unwillingness to commit to your own points undermines your argument.

Don't get me wrong - imperfect as this is, it's a good introduction to the contexts and tendencies of the New German Cinema, and on that level there's plenty to be gained from this book by academics and laymen alike.

[Yves Cao]

great, easy to read intro to the subject.

key ideas:

new german cinema (mid 1960s – early 1980s) a generational and national product
1950s german heimatfilme (homeland films) escapist and controlled by former nazi directors
oberhausen manifesto (1962) declared new era for german cinema spearheaded by alexander kluge
kuratorium (1965) state funded film subsidy agency
kluge brechtian cinema
young german film -(oberhausen & kuratorium & politicization & autorenkino)-> new german cinema
1974 film and television agreement = increasing reliance on television funding
autorenkino = cinema of auteurs
filmautoren = directors w high authorial control
cottage industry reality vs autorenkino ideal
concept of “art cinema” (self consciousness of the modern condition)
filmverlag der autoren production and distribution company formed by directors including wenders and fassbinder
gastarbeiter “guest workers” & anti turkish racism
baader meinhof films esp germany in autumn collective experimental film including fassbinder and kluge
grappling w nazi past
ambivalence toward america
feminist film
censorship in 70s due to conservative government
literature adaptation crisis
“entertainment” oriented cinema
fassbinders death (1982) reverberated and other directors turned to non german subject matter

[Richard Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely vital and lucid primer on a movement deserving of more study

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julia Knight gives a nice introduction to the New German Cinema movement. Aware that for a long time scholars, when talking about the NGC, have concentrated on but a few male directors (Fassbinder, Herzog, and Wenders), neglecting a great many other directors whose work heavily impacted German cinema during the 70s and early 80s. Her section on the women's movement is very interesting, but when focusing on specific directors and films, she picks the women everyone talks about (Sanders, von Trotta and Sanders-Brahms). Other significant women filmmakers, like Jeanine Meerapfel and Ulrike Ottinger, only get listed as having contributed to the movement. While this might be because the book is a short intro to the whole NGC movement and not an in depth study of the women in the movement (for that, see Knight's book Women and the New German Cinema), it is still a little frustrating.

Overall, this is a good introduction. Lots of references and additional reading suggestions, useful to anyone wanting to learn more. The book successfully gives you basic knowledge of the movement's origins and evolution, what it was trying to accomplish, its relevance at the time, and why those directors are still important today. A worthwhile read.