To introduce students to the history of German national cinema from its origins to the present day with a special focus on Weimar Cinema, the Third Reich, post-war film, the New German Cinema of the 1960s and 1970s;

To introduce students to the work of key German directors including F. W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog and Wim Wender;

To sensitise students to films as historical texts which emerge from and engage with the context of their production;

To sensitise students to film as an aesthetic artefact determined on the one hand by particular conditions of production (i.e. the studio system/‘Autorenkino’) and produced on the other according to cinematic conventions of film language, genre etc.

(LO1) Students will understand the emergence and development of German national cinema from its origins until the present.

(LO2) Students will demonstrate a critical awareness of academic debates about major periods or movements in German film – Weimar film and ‘Expressionism’, the Third Reich, post-war cinema, the New German Cinema and post-unification cinema – and of current academic debates about them.

(LO3) Students will develop critical and analytical skills enabling them to evaluate a variety of film materials from a range of different periods and styles.

(LO4) Students will be able to evaluate a range of other varieties of textual and historical evidence, to assess its relative merits and to construct in verbal and written form clearly reasoned arguments on the basis of such evidence.

(S1) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Presentation skills – oral

(S2) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Presentation skills - written

(S3) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Academic writing (inc. referencing skills)

(S4) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Media analysis

(S5) Critical thinking and problem solving - Critical analysis

(S6) Research skills - All Information skills

The majority of teaching will be delivered face-to-face on campus. Online delivery will be used to complement the on-campus delivery and where technology affords a better learning experience.

Lecture:
The lecture provides an introduction to key topics.

Seminar:
Seminars are based on the thematic and stylistic analysis of key scenes from films. They also provide students with the opportunity to discuss other relevant primary and secondary texts.

Students are invited to consult with the module tutor about essay plans and/or to receive feedback on their work.

The module provides an introduction to German Cinema from its origins to the present and is suitable both for speakers of German and for students in Honours Select who are not students of German. The module investigates the development of German cinema in its social context, offering a particular focus on Weimar cinema from 1919-1933, the Third Reich, the postwar era and the New German Cinema of the 1960s and 1970s.
The module introduces students to the work of key German directors including F.W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders.

Topics may include:

Expressionist / Weimar Cinema (films include The Cabinet of Dr Caligari , 1919; Nosferatu, 1922; Metropolis, 1926);

Fritz Lang and Sound ( M , 1931 );

Third Reich Cinema;

Postwar Cinema 1945-1960;

New German Cinema in the 1960s and 1970s (films include The Merchant of Four Seasons, 1971; The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, 1974; Alice in the Cities, 1974).

All films are available with English subtitles. There is normally an opportunity towards the end of the semester to choose a recent film from a list provided by the tutor.