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 German
111 - German Cinema at McDaniel College
Class
Schedule
Readings are required, and
should be completed by the day for which they are assigned.
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Date
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Topics/
Requirements/ Films
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September 1
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Introduction, Historical
Background, Setting the StageIs/Was there a "Germanwood"? A Brief Overview of German Cinema
Film: The Haunted Screen: History of German Cinema in the
1920s
Black Rider by Pepe Danquart, Germany 1993, 12 minutes. |
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September 8
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German Expressionist
Film 1: The
Beginnings of the Expressionist Film
Film: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligar" by Robert
Wiene, Germany,
1919, 52 minutes.
Read: Eisner, 9-27 & Kracauer, 61-76
Group presentation 1: German Expressionism in Film, Literature
and Theater |
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September 15
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German Expressionist
Film 2: Symphonies of Horror
Film: Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror by F. W. Murnau, Germany,
1922, 81 min.
Read:Kracauer, 77-87 & Eisner, 95-106
Group presentation 2: The
Weimar Republic: Culture, Society and Politics |
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September 22
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German Expressionist
Film 3: Utopia or Premonition: manipulation & totalitarian
authority
Film: Metropolis by Fritz Lang, Germany, 1926,
90 min.
Read: Kracauer, 149-150 & 162-164, Eisner, 223-236
Group presentation 3: Collapse of Democracy and Rise of the
Nazis |
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Essay 1 is due on Thursday, September 29: Choose one or more
of the films: The Cabinet
of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, or Metropolis, and write
an essay about “Expressionism in Early German Film.” You
must incorporate the literature you have read in class.
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September 29
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Cinema and the
Third Reich Film as a Tool
for Propaganda 1: Mass Manipulation
Film: Triumph of the Will by Leni Riefenstahl, Germany, 1935, 110 min.
Read: Kracauer, 275-280 & 298-303,
Eisner 335-337
Group presentation 4: Nazi Ideology and Film |
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October 6
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Film as a Tool
for Propaganda 2: Anti-Semitism
Film: Jud Suess, Veit Harlan, Germany, 1940, 100 min.
Read: Welch, 280-292 (On Blackboard [Bb])
Group presentation 5: Anti-Semitism |
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Essay 2 is due on Thursday, October 13: Analyze and compare Triumph of the Will with Jud Suess, and discuss how the Nazis
used film as a propaganda tool. You must incorporate the
literature you have read in class.
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October 13
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The New German
Cinema: An Eternal Coping with the Past? No Time for Coping? - Reconstruction,
Decline of Human Values and Economic Miracle
Film: The Marriage of Maria Braun by Rainer W. Fassbinder, Germany, 1979, 120 m.
Read: Kaes, 73-103
Group presentation 6: Occupation
and Division: Germany 1945-1954 |
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October 20
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The Fatherland,
the Land of the Pale
Mothers
Film: Germany, Pale Mother by Helma Sanders-Brahms, Germany, 1979, 123 min.
Read: Kaes, 137-160
Group presentation 7: Germany 1939-1955 - Role of Women |
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October 27
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History of the Berlin Wall as a Film
Film: The Promise by Margarethe von Trotta, Germany, 1995, 115 min.
Read:Adamek, Kinzer, Shulgasser & Walsh (On Blackboard [Bb])
Group presentation 8: German History 1961-1989: The Making & Breaking
of the Wall |
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Essay 3 is due on Thursday, November 3: Discuss how one or all of the three films The Marriage of Maria Braun, and Germany, Pale Mother, or The Promise try to
cope with the recent German past. You must incorporate
the literature you have read in class.
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November 3
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German Film Comedies – “An
Oxymoron No More” - “Searching for Stories in a Gray
Germany”: A Yuppie Marital Comedy, Gender Roles and
Sexuality
Film: Men by Doris Dörrie, Germany, 1985,
96 min. or
Makin’ Up by Katia
von Garnier, Germany 1993, 55 min.
Read: Phillips, 173-182 Caprio, 374-387 (Course Packet) |
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November 10
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Cheating & Everyday
Relationships: The Zeitgeist of
the New German Comedies?
Film: Maybe … Maybe Not by Sonke Wortmann, Germany, 1996, 93 min.
Read: Beck, Busack (Course Packet)
Group presentation 9: Gays and Lesbians in Germany and the USA |
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Essay 4 is due on Thursday, November 17: Discuss the different
gender relations depicted in the films Men, Makin’ Up and Maybe … Maybe
Not. You must incorporate the literature you have read
in class.
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November 17
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Deaf Culture in Germany
Film: Beyond Silence by Caroline Link, Germany,
1997, 107 min.
Read: Chase, Movieweb & Stein (Course Packet)
Group presentation 10: Deaf
Culture in Germany and
the USA |
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December 1
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A German “Groundhog
Day” or “What if …”
Film: Run Lola Run by Tom Tykwer, Germany, 1998,
81 min.
Read: Adams, Goldberg,
Howe, Wunder (Course Packet)
Group presentation 11: Destiny
or Free Will? Can we influence our fate? |
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December 8
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A Film Project by McDaniel Students
Film: Knocking on Heavens Doors
Review, Evaluations and Reflection |
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