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Fascism in German Film (Level 6)

Overview

  • Credit value: 15 credits at Level 6
  • Convenor: Joanne Leal
  • Assessment: a 3500-word essay

Module description

In this module you will explore the ways in which the Nazi era has been represented in the post-war period in films produced in the three different German states: East, West and reunified Germany. You will examine the ways in which these films reflect the memory discourses prevalent at the time of their making, and how they also work to shape what is remembered and how it is remembered at particular historical moments in very different cultural and political contexts.

Indicative module content

  • Introduction
  • Wolfgang Staudte, Die Mörder sind unter uns / The Murderers are Among Us (1946)
  • Bernhard Wicki, Die Brücke / The Bridge (1959)
  • Frank Beyer, Nackt unter Wölfen / Naked Among Wolves (1963)
  • Konrad Wolf, Ich war neunzehn / I was Nineteen (1968)
  • Volker Schlöndorff, Die Blechtrommel / The Tin Drum (1979)
  • Marc Rothermund, Sophie Scholl. Die letzten Tage / Sophie Scholl. The Last Days (2005)
  • Stefan Ruzowitsky, Die Fälscher / The Counterfeiters (2007)
  • Cate Shortland, Lore (2012)

Recommended reading

All films are available with English subtitles and should be watched before class.

  • Axel Bangert, The Nazi Past in Contemporary German Film. Viewing Experiences of Intimacy and Immersion (Rochester, New York: Camden House, 2014).
  • Stephan Brockmann, A Critical History of German Film (Rochester, New York: Camden House, 2010).
  • Paul Cooke and Chris Homewood (eds.), New Directions in German Cinema (London-New York: I.B. Tauris, 2011).