The Queer German Cinema

by Alice Kuzniar

Since the Weimar era, German cinema has played a leading role in the innovation of gay and lesbian cinema, with the tantalizing sexual illegibility and gender instability of German films of the 1920s anticipating the queer sensibilities of the 1990s. From such cross-dressing Weimar comedies as Viktor und Victoria to the transgender fantasies of Ulrike Ottinger, Monika Treut, and Hans Scheirl, this filmic tradition explores the unconventional erotic, its directors inventing a visual language that goes beyond the trivialization and sensationalism of mainstream representations of gays and lesbians. This cinema crosses the boundaries between such classifications as male and female, gay and bisexual, normal and pathological, insisting that such transgressions cannot be entirely tamed, regulated, or closeted. Previous scholarship, reading this national cinema as sociopolitical commentary, has tended to ignore what falls outside a realist, hetero-normative paradigm. In this book, the author aims to rectify this neglect by rewriting German cinematic history queerly. She reexamines the Nazi movie star Zarah Leander via her gay fandom, showing how this actress haunts the drag performance of femininity in the films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She argues not only for the persuasiveness of the gay underground in the New German Cinema but also for cinema's pivotal role in German gay liberation. Other topics include the queering of nationality in the films of Monika Treut and Rosa von Praunheim, the fetishistic medium of experimental filmmaking in the works of Michael Brynntrup and Matthias Müller, and the androgynous appeal of "dyke noir animation." In conclusion, The Queer German Cinema juxtaposes the voices of several German filmmakers as they reflect on their art in terms of a counter-politics.

328 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2000

About the author

ALICE A. KUZNIAR is a professor of German and Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is the author of Melancholia's Dog: Reflections on Our Animal Kinship and The Queer German Cinema and editor of Outing Goethe and His Age.

Reviews

[Dylan Kiewel · Rating 3 out of 5]

[glossed some sections]

per usual with random academic film studies books went in skeptical but ending up reading most of this. selectively enjoyed. got the most out of the weimar era primer near start and the section on dandy dust (!!!) at the end (may need to program now). overall good solid proof and documentation that germany by and large historically has the gayest film culture , big round of applause for them good job guys. liked how the author was able to link up the various filmmakers context wise keeping the overall narrative pretty smooth . cool to learn some new influences on fassbinder , some new to me sirks i need to check out. cool to hear how highly he esteemed schroeter.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent analysis of Queer German Cinema. Used in MA Thesis.