Hitler in the Movies (eBook)

Finding Der Fuhrer on Film

Sidney Homan, Hernan Vera (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2016
136 Seiten
Fairleigh Dickinson University Press (Verlag)
978-1-61147-926-3 (ISBN)

Infos

This book examines portraits of Hitler and how we try to “explain” him in the movies, including comedies, fantasies, psychological studies, documentaries, and docudramas. It then considers how this film Hitler lives on in our culture, in everything from politics to merchandise.

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In Hitler in the Movies: Finding Der Fuhrer on Film, a Shakespearean and a sociologist explore the fascination our popular culture has with Adolf Hitler. What made him ... Hitler? Do our explanations tell us more about the perceiver than the actual historical figure? We ask such question by viewing the Hitler character in the movies. How have directors, actors, film critics, and audiences accounted for this monster in a medium that reflects public tastes and opinions? The book first looks at comedic films, such as Chaplain's The Great Dictator or Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be (1942), along with the Mel Brooks's 1983 version. Then, there is the Hitler of fantasy, from trash films like The Saved Hitler's Brain to a serious work like The Boys from Brazil where Hitler is cloned. Psychological portraits include Anthony Hopkins's The Bunker, the surreal The Empty Mirror, and Max, a portrait of Hitler in his days in Vienna as a would-be artist. Documentaries and docudramas range from Leni Reinfenstahl's iconic The Triumph of the Will or The Hidden Fuhrer, to the controversial Hitler: A Film from Germany and Quentin Tarantino's fanciful Inglourious Basterds. Hitler in the Movies also considers the ways Der Fuhrer remains today, as a ghostly presence, if not an actual character. Why is he still with us in everything from political smears to video games to merchandise? In trying to explain this and the man himself, what might we learn about ourselves and our society?

Autor

Sidney Homan is Professor of English at the University of Florida and Visiting Professor at Jilin University in the People’s Republic of China.The late Hernán Vera was Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Florida.

Inhalt

Preface: Hitler in the MoviesChapter 1: The Comic HitlerChapter 2: The Hitler of Fantasy FilmsChapter 3: Hitler the CharacterChapter 4: Documentaries and Docudramas: Playing with the FactsChapter 5: The Presence of HitlerAfterword: The “H” Word and Present-Day AmericaNotesIndexAbout the Authors

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 21.4.2016
• Zusatzinfo: 6 Illustrations including: - 6 Halftones, Black & White including Black & White Photographs.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Film / TV
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften
• Schlagworte: ART • art studies • Film Studies • Hitler • popular culture • Sociology • Theatre Studies
• ISBN-10: 1-61147-926-6 / 1611479266
• ISBN-13: 978-1-61147-926-3 / 9781611479263