Allegorical Images: Tableau, Time and Gesture in the Cinema of Werner Schroeter

by Michelle Langford

Werner Schroeter is one of the most important and influential directors of the New German Cinema, yet discussion of his films within film theory has been intermittent and un-sustained. This book provides a long-overdue introduction to Schroeter’s visually lavish, idiosyncratic and conceptually rich cinema, situating its emergence within the context of the West German television and film subsidy system during the 1970s, then moving on to engage with some of the most pertinent and important arguments in contemporary film theory. Drawing upon the work of Gilles Deleuze, Walter Benjamin, and Bertolt Brecht, the author negotiates her way through the complex allegorical terrain of Schroeter’s films by focusing on their insistent and original use of the cinematic tableaux, allegorical montage, temporal layering and gestural expression. In doing so, this book also makes a valuable contribution to developing a theory of cinematic allegory by locating Schroeter’s films in the context of a wider “allegorical turn” in contemporary European and post-colonial filmmaking.

'Allegorical Images' serves not only as a compelling and sophisticated introduction to Schroeter’s cinema, but also makes a major contribution to a range of debates in contemporary film theory around allegory, tableaux, time and gesture.

215 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2006

Reviews

[Matthew W · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good place to start for understanding New German cinema dandy auteur Werner Schroeter and his films, but unfortunately the book has little in the way of biographical material and relies too much on other people's theories (trendy scholars like Walter Benjamin, Gilles Deleuze). It seem like at least half of the book was about Benjamin and Deleuze's theories alone.

The book also has interesting info on how German filmmakers from 1970s had greater artistic freedom when producing films for TV, hence why Schroeter oftentimes utilized this medium in the 1970s. Schroeter had a lot of trouble attempting to get films made in Germany (hence why he oftentimes worked abroad), mostly because his films were too 'avant-garde' to make money and also in part due to his lack of determination and procrastination. Needless to say, Schroeter was no Fassbinder when it came to churning out movies.

Any ways, a worthy read (and the only one on Schroeter in English), but surely not the definitive work on the impenetrable filmmaker. Then again, I don't see a new book coming out on Schroeter any time soon.