The Indivisible Legacy of Nazi Cinema

Witte, Karsten

doi:10.2307/488488

Cited by 4 publications

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“…And there were films made under fascist regimes'. 17 Discourses of politics and entertainment naturally enter into this debate. It lies at the heart of the division between scholars of the propaganda function of Nazi films and those who study their cultural impacts and aesthetic and cinematic values.…”

Section: Key Debatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Heavy Hands and Light Touches’: Approaches to the Study of Cinematic Culture in the Third Reich

Fox

2003

History Compass

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In 1996, Eric Rentschler claimed that 'cinema in the Third Reich involved a division of labour between heavy hands and light touches'. Such a description is a fitting comment on both the organisational processes of the propaganda machine under the Nazis and the sometimes inconsistent messages of their feature film productions. Issues surrounding the nature of cinematic culture in the Third Reich have prompted intense debates among film scholars. This article seeks to outline the key debates and issues, concluding with an analysis of Veit Harlan's Der große König , with reference to the diverse methodological approaches employed to study film under National Socialism. It argues that one needs to understand both the 'heavy hands' and the 'light touches' of NS film policy and production to enable a deeper understanding of feature films produced in the Third Reich.In April 1998, a review of Eric Rentschler's The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and its Afterlife breathed new life into the rather worn debate over the nature of entertainment and propaganda in the Third Reich. Its author, Jay Baird, praised Rentschler for being among the first to tackle the thorny issue of entertainment in National Socialist cinema, and for demonstrating how 'film established models for popular culture and for concepts of beauty and fashion that reverberated through radio, advertising, and mass marketing'. 1 Through the research presented in Ministry of Illusion, Rentschler facilitated the intellectual shift from the dichotomous discourses of the 'Teutonic Horror Picture Show' and the 'dream factory' to a more nuanced reading of the aesthetic and commercial qualities of Nazi cinema. 2 Baird acknowledged that Rentschler accorded 'praise where it is due', tempered by his assertion that 'a message of unspeakable criminality was often bathed in ethereal light'. 3 However, the review criticised Rentschler for failing to offer 'a breakthrough in uniting history, theory and analysis'; he did not tap key historical resources, argued Baird, and the book lacked an 'effective conceptual framework' and was indulgent in

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Section: Key Debatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Heavy Hands and Light Touches’: Approaches to the Study of Cinematic Culture in the Third Reich

Fox

2003

History Compass

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“…Uluslararası alanda Nazi Almanya'sında sinemayı inceleyen de çeşitli akademik çalışmalar bulunmaktadır (Padover, 1939;Hull, 1993;Rentschler, 1996;Schulte-Sasse 1996;Petro, 1998;Witte, 1998;O'Brien, 2004;Rothberg, 2009;Ascheid;Hake, 2010;Shandley, 2010;Hochscherf ve Vande Winkel, 2016). Diğer yandan son yıllarda ulusal çalışmalar içerisinde kitapları (Erol, 2020) ve okuryazarlığı konu alan çeşitli akademik çalışmalar yapılmaktadır (Çakı vd., 2020;Gazi vd., 2020).…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Nazi Almanya’sında Nazizm İdeolojisiyle Şekillenen Kitap Okuma Kültürünün Sinemadaki Sunumu: “Kitap Hırsızı” Filminin Göstergebilimsel Analizi

Erol¹

2021

Turk Kutuphaneciligi - Turkish Librarianship

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Almanya'da sosyal, siyasal, ekonomik ve kültürel hayata doğrudan etki etmiştir. NSDAP'nin iktidardan uzaklaştırılmasından sonra Nazizm ideolojisinin etkisi altındaki Almanya'yı konu alan çok sayıda film çekilmiş ve ideolojinin Alman toplumundaki yansımaları ortaya konulmaya çalışılmıştır. Bu filmlerden biri de Brian Percival yönetmeliğindeki 2013 yılı Almanya-ABD ortak yapımı Kitap Hırsızı (The Book Thief) filmi olmuştur. Filmde Nazizm ideolojisi altında Almanya'daki kitap okuma kültürünün ne yönde şekillendiği konu edilmiştir. Çalışmada Kitap Hırsızı filmi göstergebilimsel açıdan analiz edilerek, filmde Nazizm ideolojisi altında Alman eğitiminin ve beraberinde kitap okuma kültürünün ne yönde şekillendiğinin ortaya konulması amaçlanmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında filmin göstergebilimsel analizi, ABD'li dilbilimci Charles Sanders Peirce'in göstergebilim anlayışı ve İngiliz dilbilimci Geoffrey Leech'ın anlamlandırmanın yedi türü ışığında gerçekleştirilmiştir. Çalışmanın analizinde filmde ana karakter Liesel'in Nazi rejimi altında korku ve baskıya maruz kaldığına ve insanların özgür şekilde kitap okumasının engellendiğine yönelik kurgunun oluşturulduğu ortaya konulmuştur. Diğer yandan filmde Nazi Almanya'sında Nazizm ideolojisinin öğretilerini yansıtan veya Nazi rejiminin sansürüne uğramayan kitapların okunmasının da teşvik edildiği sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.

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Stories of “Infidelity”: Nazi Ibsen Adaptations and the Norwegian Press

Holt

2020

Ibsen Studies

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Considering the shocking themes, feminism, and critique of idealism in Henrik Ibsen's plays, the fact that only adaptations of Ludwig Ganghofer's homeland novels premiered more often in the Nazi era presents puzzling paradoxes to film historians and readers of Ibsen alike (Drewniak 1987, 562; Holt 2020, 303). How did it come to be that this revealer of social ills and lies was used by a film industry notorious for its deceitful propaganda? Ibsen's independent women, like Nora and Lona Hessel, can hardly be imagined as role models for the 'Aryan housewife.' Minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels, who orchestrated film production in Nazi Germany, preferred Knut Hamsun and considered Ibsen outdated, according to his diaries. This Zeitgeist notwithstanding, a 'wave' of five Ibsen adaptations premiered in Germany between 1933 and 1945-a period that saw a marked decrease in Ibsen adaptations globally (Törnqvist 1994, 205).Despite starring the biggest male film stars of the era and being produced by some of the top talent remaining in the German film industry, the Ibsen adaptations in the Third Reich have mostly languished in film historical obscurity. One likely reason is the relative unavailability of the films, which for the most parts are hidden in archives, unavailable in official versions on the commercial market. In a recent PhD dissertation on Ibsen and Nazi cinema, I erroneously claim that none of these adaptations premiered in Norway (Holt 2020, xxvi). In fact, four Nazi era adaptations screened in Ibsen's homeland during the 1930s and 40s: Fritz Wendhausen's Peer Gynt (1934), Detlef Sierck's Stützen der Gesellschaft (Pillars of Society, 1935), Hans Steinhoff's Ein Volksfeind (An Enemy of the People, 1937), and Harald Braun's Nora (A Doll's House, 1944). 1 Whereas both the dissertation, most research on Nazi cinema, and previous research on Ibsen in this era is delineated spatially and temporally within the confines of the Third Reich, this article examines the critical reception of Nazi cinema's Ibsen adaptations in a transnational perspective. 2 In order to do so, I will present some relevant aspects of the Ibsen adaptations as analyzed in the dissertation: plot summaries, brief comparisons with Ibsen's plays, and merely the overt ideological projects of 1 The first Ibsen adaptation to premiere in the Third Reich was Hans Hinrich's Das Meer ruft (The Lake Calls, 1933), an adaptation of "Terje Vigen" (1862). It never screened in Norway and is not discussed in this article.2 Thanks to Øivind Hanche and the National Library of Norway for presenting clippings of 31 reviews from Oslo newspapers. Hanche has also provided important background information for this article. Moreover, I am grateful for excellent comments from two anonymous reviewers.

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The Indivisible Legacy of Nazi Cinema

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

‘Heavy Hands and Light Touches’: Approaches to the Study of Cinematic Culture in the Third Reich

‘Heavy Hands and Light Touches’: Approaches to the Study of Cinematic Culture in the Third Reich

Nazi Almanya’sında Nazizm İdeolojisiyle Şekillenen Kitap Okuma Kültürünün Sinemadaki Sunumu: “Kitap Hırsızı” Filminin Göstergebilimsel Analizi

Stories of “Infidelity”: Nazi Ibsen Adaptations and the Norwegian Press

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