Weimar Cinema - (Film and Culture) by Noah Isenberg (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Taken as a whole, the sixteen remarkable films discussed in this provocative new volume of essays represent the brilliant creativity that flourished in the name of German cinema between the wars. Encompassing early gangster pictures and science fiction, avant-garde and fantasy films, sexual intrigues and love stories, the classics of silent cinema and Germany's first talkies, each chapter illuminates, among other things: the technological advancements of a given film, its detailed production history, its critical reception over time, and the place it occupies within the larger history of the German studio and of Weimar cinema in general. Readers can revisit the careers of such acclaimed directors as F. W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, and G. W. Pabst and examine the debuts of such international stars as Greta Garbo, Louise Brooks, and Marlene Dietrich. Training a keen eye on Weimer cinema's unusual richness and formal innovation, this anthology is an essential guide to the revolutionary styles, genres, and aesthetics that continue to fascinate us today.

Review Quotes

Weimar Cinema is the volume on this fascinating era of international film history.--Gerd Gemünden "Bookforum"

Weimar Cinema will prove equally useful to teachers of undergraduates as to those engaging in ongoing scholarly research into this fascinating period in German filmhistory.--Ian Roberts "Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television"

A super collection of essays about sixteen dynamite flicks.-- "944 Los Angeles"

A well-constructed and welcome introduction to a number of classics.--Philipp Stiasny "German History"

This superb collection... [is] an excellent overview of the critical frameworks of German film studies... Essential.-- "Choice"

With its detailed filmography and intelligently organized index, this work could easily serve as the primary textbook for a survey of Weimar film.--Glenn R. Cuomo "German Studies Review"

About the Author

Noah Isenberg is associate professor of University Humanities at Eugene Lang College-The New School, where he teaches literature, film, and intellectual history. He is the author, most recently, of Detour (British Film Institute, 2008).