Kurt Maetzig (born 1911)

Kurt Maetzig is a highly esteemed director, who worked primarily under the German Democratic Republic.

Here, he is talking about his disappointment with the censorship in the GDR:

Hildegard Knef (1925-2002)

Hildegard Knef, who went on to an international career as an actress, singer, and memoirist, made her first big appearance in "Murderers are among Us," the first film to be made in Germany after the War.


Here is an English-language cover of Knef's world-famous song, "Fuer mich soll's rote Rosen regnen" (For me, let red roses rain), with great footage from "Murderers are Among Us":

And here is Hildegard singing the song herself:

"Decent" Suicide

I was really struck by Kracauer’s conclusion that suicide was the only decent response to the events that took place during the Nazi era.

Does this mean that Germans see pride as more important than life? I find this hard to believe, because the predominating religion at the time was Christianity, which preaches that suicide is a sin, from what I understand. So doesn’t that negate the “decent” aspect of it?

I also looked up (on Wikipedia, so apologies if you have issues with this as a source) the suicide rates in Germany following this era, and apparently there were three waves of mass suicides in the final days of the Nazi regime, suggestive of “fear and anxiety [as] common motivations.”

Fear and anxiety of what was to become of them for their previous indecency toward the Jews? Or fear and anxiety over what a new regime would be like? Or something else all together?

Quite the article, Kracauer. It made me think a lot. The farther I got into the essay, the more shocked I grew. I may have freaked out a bit when I read that the “mentality has not really changed” and that it was very possible that a similar situation could arise again.

Connected through Chopin

While watching Ehe im Schatten today, I was struck by the music Elisabeth plays in the final scene, recognizing it as a piece by Chopin. You can hear it starting at 1:27:15 on youtube. I've always thought Chopin's Ballade in G minor had a certain haunting quality to it, containing some sort of wistful longing. This mood rather fits this scene where as Elisabeth plays, the camera pans out to show her apartment, her framed portrait and snapshots from her time on stage. Juxtaposed with these fond memories is the empty table set for two (a bit of foreshadowing) and her grim husband framed in the doorway.

This piece of music stood out to me for another reason. I first heard it play quite a few years back in another film of a similar theme. The Pianist, a biographical film directed by Roman Polanski, tells the story of Władysław Szpilman, a Polish Jewish pianist, and his struggle to survive WWII.

Like Elisabeth Wieland, the Nazi's rise to power corresponds directly with Szpilman's diminished career and eventual deportation. Chopin's music plays a substantial role in The Pianist, and about three quarters of the way into it, Szpilman too plays Chopin's Ballade in G minor. Similar to Ehe im Schatten, we feel this sense of loss and the dreadful impact that the Nazi regime has had on this performer's livelihood and very existence. Yet while Elisabeth's playing of Chopin signals her death, it is Szpilman's performance that saves his life. Check it out on in this clip. You'll have a bit more context if you watch the entire scene, but the piece of music starts about 4 minutes 20 seconds in. I would definitely recommend that all of you watch the entire film at some point.

Ein Folk?

I was talking to one of my German friend about this class and ti led on a discussion about Germany as a nation. He told me that there was never a true feeling of belonging to a unified nation in Germany. Every region had a different dialects, different accents and different customs making it difficult to feel as part of the same country. I was even more surpised when he told me that it was only in 1908 that the different regions agreed on a common grammar system for the German language. This led me into thinking that this disparity can be one of the reason why. firstly an Austrian was able to come to power but more importantly how the whole speech about being one nation was appealing. This idea of being one unified force probably was something that the country had been waiting for; the idea of finally being part of a nation.
What do you guys think?

Nuba

There is at the moment a great exhibit in Berlin on Gerard Richter and I was surprised to see that one of his piece was of the Nuba tribe, the same one Leni portrayed. It was very interesting to see how the same people were perceived and showed in a complete different way. Where Leni was aiming for perfection and beauty, Richter gave a blur to a scene that already looks pretty chaotic. The contrast between the two work is fascinating and to my opinion refutes a bit her claim that she did not intend to base her pictures on Nazi estheticism. Richter's work proves that it is possible to give a variation in interpreting the Nuba tribe.

Riefenstahl and Hitler

Look at this gem I found while finishing my bibliography:


"Mind over matter: Hitler and Riefenstahl during the making of Triumph of the Will. Despite the grandiloquence of scenes from the film, such as the mass banners march-past, it is arguable that the whole adds up to less than the parts."