German national cinema

"German National Cinema" is the first comprehensive history of German film from its origins to the present. In this new edition, Sabine Hake discusses film-making in economic, political, social, and cultural terms, and considers the contribution of Germany's most popular films to changing definitions of genre, authorship, and film form. The book traces the central role of cinema in the nation's turbulent history from the Wilhelmine Empire to the Berlin Republic, with special attention paid to the competing demands of film as art, entertainment, and propaganda. Hake also explores the centrality of genre films and the star system to the development of a filmic imaginary. This fully revised and updated new edition will be required reading for everyone interested in German film and the history of modern Germany.

Index ; bibliogr.

List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Part 1 Wilhelmine cinema 1895-1919 Cinema: a new technology, industry, and mass medium Elements of a national cinema: stars, genres, directors German cinema and the First World War Part 2 Weimar cinema 1919-33 Weimar cinema as art cinema Weimar cinema as popular cinema Film, politics, and the coming of sound Part 3 Third Reich cinema 1933-45 The restructuring of the film industry Third Reich cinema as political cinema Third Reich cinema as popular cinema Part 4 Post-war cinema 1945-61 The reconstruction of the film industry Rewriting history, forging new identities The politicisation of cinema in the East The depoliticisation of cinema in the West Part 5 East German cinema 1961-90 The New Waves and the Eleventh Plenary The seventies: the discovery of everyday life The eighties: the decline of cinema as a public sphere Part 6 West German cinema 1962 -- 90 The Oberhausen Manifesto and the Young German Cinema The seventies: the emergence of New German Cinema The eighties: crises and transformations Part 7 Post-unification cinema 1990-2007 Film-making in the new Germany and a unified Europe Elements of popular cinema: the return to ge…