German 397E - ST- Weimar Cinema

The Weimar Republic is known for its extremes: corrupt wealth existed alongside destitute poverty and an underground world of wild parties and glamour. In this course, we delve into the internationally acclaimed Weimar cinema, films made during the period of the so-called Golden Twenties in Germany. The period began with the end of World War I and came to a close with the Wall Street Crash of 1929, shortly before Hitler's rise to power. This short-lived period has become the symbol of a resolutely modern lifestyle, including gender equality and androgyny (the New Man and the New Woman), artistic innovation and experimentation, sexual emancipation, economic and political crises. Film was part of this vibrant and contested culture; indeed, it was the central art form. Filmmakers invented narratives and images that obliquely addressed trauma and paranoia and devised a visual language that still shapes genre such as horror, science fiction, film noir and melodrama. In this course, we will draw on sources from literature, art, photography, music and fashion as well as materials in psychology, criminology, and filmmaking to deepen our understanding of the time period and its films.