Session

Fall 2019

 Term

Y

Format

LECT

Instructor

Calendar Description / Prerequisite / Co-Requisite

This course introduces students to German cinema and explores its interaction with Hollywood. Through the study of artistically and commercially successful films, this course traces the influence of German cinema on Hollywood films and, in turn, the response of German cinema towards the dominance of popular Hollywood cinema and the effects of globalization on film production. Our analyses will include films from the Weimar period, the Nazi Period, West and East Germany after WWII through to recent German cinema. The close study of selected films within the socio-political context of their production illuminates processes of cross-cultural influence and inspiration that have shaped cinematic culture in Europe and North America. Also, it furthers students' understanding of film as a complex text as well as a social and cultural product which mediates and contributes to discourses on national and cultural identity. In comparison to Hollywood film practices, we consider questions of genre, stardom, political and commercial censorship, national cinema, the role of remakes and adaptations, authorship, and attitudes of and towards the audience. The course introduces students to some of the most important film artists in German film history as well as to a number of central concepts in German Cultural Studies. While introducing students to film studies more generally, it also provides a foundation for further in-depth study of German cinema from a cultural studies perspective offered in higher level courses.

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