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A Critical History of German Film (Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture)
A history of German film dealing with individual films as works of art has long been needed. Existing histories tend to treat cinema as an economic rather than an aesthetic phenomenon; earlier surveys that do engage with individual films do not include films of recent decades. This book treats representative films from the beginnings of German film to the present. Providing historical context through an introduction and interchapters preceding the treatments of each era's films, the volume is suitable for semester- or year-long survey courses and for anyone with an interest in German cinema.BR> The films: The Student of Prague - The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - The Last Laugh - Metropolis - The Blue Angel - M - Triumph of the Will - The Great Love - The Murderers Are among Us - Sun Seekers - Trace of Stones - The Legend of Paul and Paula - Solo Sunny - The Bridge - Young Torless - Aguirre, The Wrath of God - Germany in Autumn - The Marriage of Maria Braun - The Tin Drum - Marianne and Juliane - Wings of Desire - Maybe, Maybe Not - Rossini - Run Lola Run - Good Bye Lenin! - Head On - The Lives of Others Stephen Brockmann is Professor of German at Carnegie Mellon University and past President of the German Studies Assocation.
532 pages, Paperback
First published January 11, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 18, 2019
Textbook for my German Film history college class.
While we didn't read everything in the book, we read quite a bit of it and I enjoyed what the author wrote about the films we watched for class. I especially liked reading about the ones I had already watched for fun prior to class. If you are interested in film history I recommend reading this and finding the films mentioned.
Favorites I watched and read about
Nosferatu
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Metropolis
M
Murderers Are Among Us
Trace of Stones
Goodbye Lenin!
Wings of Desire
Lives of Others
While we didn't read everything in the book, we read quite a bit of it and I enjoyed what the author wrote about the films we watched for class. I especially liked reading about the ones I had already watched for fun prior to class. If you are interested in film history I recommend reading this and finding the films mentioned.
Favorites I watched and read about
Nosferatu
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Metropolis
M
Murderers Are Among Us
Trace of Stones
Goodbye Lenin!
Wings of Desire
Lives of Others
July 15, 2013
It can be a bit tricky to review these kinds of books, because each little part is essentially an independent piece whose quality of analysis depends on the film.
However, as a student of the relevant subject, this book basically does what it intends to. It provides a great overview of the history of German film and some of the films, particularly the interwar expressionist films, have a quite good and very useful analysis.
If there's one thing that perhaps bothered me a bit, it's that some films are regarded from an overly contemporary context and focus less on the more formal aspects of the film. Granted, this is "A Critical History" of German Film, but particularly the East German films are simply regarded as pieces of history that are placed in a certain order rather than works of art that can be discussed. Most crucially, there isn't a lot of talk about the mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound, etc. to support the role of the film - a film like Spur der Steine is only considered in terms of the film-making process and how it was received by East Germany.
Still, this is pretty damn essential for studying German film, and it's not written in an uninteresting manner, either.
However, as a student of the relevant subject, this book basically does what it intends to. It provides a great overview of the history of German film and some of the films, particularly the interwar expressionist films, have a quite good and very useful analysis.
If there's one thing that perhaps bothered me a bit, it's that some films are regarded from an overly contemporary context and focus less on the more formal aspects of the film. Granted, this is "A Critical History" of German Film, but particularly the East German films are simply regarded as pieces of history that are placed in a certain order rather than works of art that can be discussed. Most crucially, there isn't a lot of talk about the mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound, etc. to support the role of the film - a film like Spur der Steine is only considered in terms of the film-making process and how it was received by East Germany.
Still, this is pretty damn essential for studying German film, and it's not written in an uninteresting manner, either.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews