Skip to main content
University of Michigan Press Ebook Collection

University of Michigan Press
Ebook Collection
Browse Books Help
Get access to more books. Log in with your institution.

Your use of this Platform is subject to the Fulcrum Terms of Service.

Share the story of what Open Access means to you

a graphic of a lock that is open, the universal logo for open access

University of Michigan needs your feedback to better understand how readers are using openly available ebooks. You can help by taking a short, privacy-friendly survey.

  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. Anti-Heimat Cinema: The Jewish Invention of the German Landscape

Anti-Heimat Cinema: The Jewish Invention of the German Landscape

Ofer Ashkenazi
Restricted You don't have access to this book. Please try to log in with your institution. Log in
Read Book Buy Book

  • Overview

  • Contents

  • Stats

Anti-Heimat Cinema: The Jewish Invention of the German Landscape studies an overlooked yet fundamental element of German popular culture in the twentieth century. In tracing Jewish filmmakers' contemplations of "Heimat"—a provincial German landscape associated with belonging and authenticity—it analyzes their distinctive contribution to the German identity discourse between 1918 and 1968. In its emphasis on rootedness and homogeneity Heimat seemed to challenge the validity and significance of Jewish emancipation. Several acculturation-seeking Jewish artists and intellectuals, however, endeavored to conceive a notion of Heimat that would rather substantiate their belonging.
 
This book considers Jewish filmmakers' contribution to this endeavor. It shows how they devised the landscapes of the German "Homeland" as Jews, namely, as acculturated "outsiders within." Through appropriation of generic Heimat imagery, the films discussed in the book integrate criticism of national chauvinism into German mainstream culture from World War I to the Cold War. Consequently, these Jewish filmmakers anticipated the anti-Heimat film of the ensuing decades, and functioned as an uncredited inspiration for the critical New German Cinema.
  • Cover
  • Title Page
  • Copyright Page
  • Dedication
  • Contents
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1. Sally’s Nightmare: German-Jewish Landscapes and the Emergence of Anti-Heimat Cinema
  • Chapter 2. The Menace and Promise of Heimat in the Early Weimar Era: E. A. Dupont’s Cinematic Landscapes
  • Chapter 3. The Weimar Legacy: Helmar Lerski and the Outing of the Anti-Heimat Film
  • Chapter 4. The Beloved Soil of the Vaterland: Returning Exiles and the West German Landscape
  • Chapter 5. No Way Back: Jewish Rémigrés and the City as Heimat
  • Chapter 6. History as Heimat: The Puzzling German Landscapes of Konrad Wolf
  • Epilogue: The Aftermath of the German-Jewish Anti-Heimat Film
  • Notes
  • Works Cited
  • Index
Citable Link
Published: 2020
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN(s)
  • 978-0-472-13201-0 (hardcover)
  • 978-0-472-12691-0 (ebook)
Series
  • Social History, Popular Culture, and Politics in Germany
Subject
  • Jewish Studies
  • Media Studies:Cinema Studies
  • German Studies

Resources

Search and Filter Resources

Limit your search

  • Introduction1
  • Chapter 12
  • Chapter 23
  • Chapter 35
  • Chapter 42
  • Chapter 52
  • Chapter 66

  • Film19
  • Weimar7
  • the Alps6
  • West Germany5
  • East Germany4
  • more Keyword »

  • Wolf, Konrad4
  • Achaz-Duisberg, Carl Ludwig3
  • Brahm, John2
  • Dupont, E. A.2
  • Lerski, Helmar2
  • more Creators »

  • image21
Your search has returned 21 resources attached to Anti-Heimat Cinema: The Jewish Invention of the German Landscape

This is the en.blacklight.search.search_results_header

Filtering by: Creator Role director Remove constraint Creator Role: director
Start Over

Not finding what you are looking for? Help improve Fulcrum's search and share your feedback.

« Previous | 1 - 20 of 21 | Next »
First Appearance Section (Earliest First) Section (Last First) Format (A-Z) Format (Z-A) Year (Oldest First) Year (Newest First)
Number of results to display per page
10 per page 20 per page 50 per page 100 per page
View results as:
List List Gallery Gallery

Search Results

A young couple sits on the mountain slope.

Romance in nature, Höheluft (1917)

From Introduction

Fig. 1. Höhenluft (1917, dir. Rudolf Biebrach) provides Heimat clichés as a “holiday from history” (courtesy of the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek).

A young man and woman hike along a forest trail.

Friendship in nature, Meyer aus Berlin (1918)

From Chapter 1

Fig. 3. Sally and Kitty in a parody of sentimental Heimat imagery. Meyer aus Berlin (1918, dir. Ernst Lubitsch).

Two men and two women sit under a blanket, yawning.

The morning after, Meyer

From Chapter 1

Fig. 4. Jews and non-Jewish Germans sharing a “home” on the mountain. Meyer aus Berlin.

A man stands on a mountain slope. An electricity pole is behind him.

Electricity in the village, Die Geierwally (1940)

From Chapter 2

Fig. 5. The remake of Wally as the “correction” of Dupont’s version. Die Geierwally (1940, dir. Hans Steinhoff).

A man stands over a woman lying on the floor of a room.

The abusing father, Die Geier Wally (1921)

From Chapter 2

Fig. 6. Wally’s home as a place of violence and anxiety. Die Geier-Wally (1921, dir. E. A. Dupont).

A woman holding an axe and a man stand in front of a pile of wood scraps. Between them, a man lies on the ground.

Violence in Die Geier Wally (1921)

From Chapter 2

Fig. 6. Wally’s home as a place of violence and anxiety. Die Geier-Wally (1921, dir. E. A. Dupont).

Farmers working in a field.

Cliché of a provincial scene, Sprengbagger 1010 (1929)

From Chapter 3

Fig. 8. A cinematic cliché of Heimat. Sprengbagger 1010 (1929, dir. Carl Ludwig Achaz-Duisberg).

Workers stand in front of a giant construction drill.

Modernity in nature, Sprengbagger 1010 (1929)

From Chapter 3

Fig. 9. The modernization of Heimat. Sprengbagger 1010.

A construction machine scoops up dirt.

The destruction of nature, Sprengbagger 1010 (1929)

From Chapter 3

Fig. 10. The joyful destruction of Heimat. Sprengbagger 1010.

The shadow of a man playing ball.

On the beach of Tel Aviv, Lerski 1936-1938, 1

From Chapter 3

Figs. 11 and 12. Helmar Lerski, Zionism detached from Heimat, from footage of a short film dedicated to the building of Tel Aviv’s Harbor, 1936–38 (courtesy of the Spielberg Archive, Jerusalem).

A young man’s head and shoulders, with his face in profile against a clear sky.

On the beach of Tel Aviv, Lerski 1936-1938, 2

From Chapter 3

Figs. 11 and 12. Helmar Lerski, Zionism detached from Heimat, from footage of a short film dedicated to the building of Tel Aviv’s Harbor, 1936–38 (courtesy of the Spielberg Archive, Jerusalem).

A happy couple (a man and a woman) on a hill, with a village in the background.

Generic Heimat imagery in Die goldene Pest (1954)

From Chapter 4

Fig. 13. Generic Heimat scenery conceals the true nature of the village. Die goldene Pest (1956, dir. John Brahm).

Smokey air, with a church and trees behind a broken fence

The morning after the fire, Die goldene Pest (1954)

From Chapter 4

Fig. 14. Heimat as an emblem of amnesia: the church rises from the ashes of yesterday’s tragedy. Die goldene Pest (1956, dir. John Brahm).

A street scene shown from above.

Cold War Berlin, Weg ohne Umkehr (1953)

From Chapter 5

Fig. 15. West Berlin as a reference to Weimar Berlin. Weg ohne Umkehr (1953, dir. Victor Vicas).

A man peers through a window over a lace curtain.

Closed windows in Tunnel 28 (1962)

From Chapter 5

Fig. 16. The city as a fragmented space, divided by fences, walls, and closed windows in Tunnel 28 (1962, dir. Robert Siodmak).

Fog on a river.

The opening scene of Ich war neunzehn (1968)

From Chapter 6

Fig. 17. The dialectic of Heimat imagery in Konrad Wolf’s Ich war neunzehn (1967–68). Against this background, the protagonist declares: “The war is lost, and you are in a hopeless position.”

A man looks through a barbed wire fence.

The fragmentation of space in Sonnensucher (1957/1958)

From Chapter 6

Fig. 18. Overcoming fences as a symbol for the reconstruction of Heimat in Wolf’s Sonnensucher (1957–58).

A woman looks through a barbed wire fence.

The fragmentation of space in Sterne (1959)

From Chapter 6

Fig. 19. Fences as a symbol for the deception of Heimat in Wolf’s Sterne (1959).

A woman looks through a barbed wire fence.

The fragmentation of urban space in Tunnel 28 (1962)

From Chapter 6

Fig. 20. Robert Siodmak’s adaptation of Wolf’s spatial symbolism to Cold War Berlin. Tunnel 28 (1962).

A dirt road in an open field.

The ending scene of Ich war neunzehn (1968)

From Chapter 6

Fig. 21. The final image of Wolf’s Ich war neunzehn (1968) as an ironic reference to Gustav Ucicky’s 1941 Heimkehr.

  • « Previous
  • Next »
  • 1
  • 2
University of Michigan Press Contact Us

UMP EBC

  • Browse and Search
  • About UMP EBC
  • Impact and Usage

Follow Us

  • UMP EBC Newsletter
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Quicklinks

  • Help/FAQ
  • Title List
  • MARC Records
  • KBART Records
  • Usage Stats
© 2024, Regents of the University of Michigan · Accessibility · Preservation · Privacy · Terms of Service
Powered by Fulcrum logo · Log In
x This site requires cookies to function correctly.