GER 349 - Cinema and Politics

This course offers an introduction to German cinema, focusing on the question: “What makes a film political?” From Expressionist film to New Wave cinema to the contemporary Berlin school, the German cinematic tradition includes numerous films with a political agenda. The “political” may take on the form of critique: of authorities and hierarchies, of racism and anti-Semitism, of the repression of the Nazi past, of capitalism and consumer society. Or it may aid the creation of inclusive communities by expanding our sense of who can talk and be heard, what can be seen and felt. We will watch groundbreaking films by German and other European directors, including G.W. Pabst, Fritz Lang, Sergei Eisenstein, Leni Riefenstahl, Roberto Rossellini, Alain Resnais, Helke Sander, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Ulrike Ottinger, Fatih Akin, and Christian Petzold. Theoretical readings by Brecht, Benjamin, Adorno, Arendt, Mulvey, Rancière, and others. Conducted in English. Students taking the course for German literature credit will meet in extra sessions.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group I
Prerequisite(s): For German credit: GER 212
Instructional Method: Conference-screening
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): LIT 349
Not offered: 2024-25
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

Understand how arguments can be made, visions presented, or feelings or ideas conveyed through language or other modes of expression (symbols, movement, images, sounds, etc.).
Analyze and interpret texts, whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts.
Evaluate arguments made in or about texts (whether literary or philosophical, in English or a foreign language, or works of the visual or performing arts).