Sensitive Subjects: The Political Aesthetics of Contemporary German and Austrian Cinema (Film Europa Book 23)

Both politically and aesthetically, the contemporary German and Austrian film landscape is a far cry from the early days of the medium, when critics like Siegfried Kracauer produced foundational works of film theory amid the tumult of the early twentieth century. Yet, as Leila Mukhida demonstrates in this innovative study, the writings of figures like Kracauer and Walter Benjamin in fact remain an undervalued tool for understanding political cinema today. Through illuminating explorations of Michael Haneke, Valeska Grisebach, Andreas Dresen, and other filmmakers of the post-reunification era, Mukhida develops an analysis centered on film aesthetics and experience, showing how medium-specific devices like lighting, sound, and mise-en-scène can help to cultivate political sensitivity in spectators. Both politically and aesthetically, the contemporary German and Austrian film landscape is a far cry from the early days of the medium, when critics like Siegfried Kracauer produced foundational works of film theory amid the tumult of the early twentieth century. Yet, as Leila Mukhida demonstrates in this innovative study, the writings of figures like Kracauer and Walter Benjamin in fact remain an undervalued tool for understanding political cinema today. Through illuminating explorations of Michael Haneke, Valeska Grisebach, Andreas Dresen, and other filmmakers of the post-reunification era, Mukhida develops an analysis centered on film aesthetics and experience, showing how medium-specific devices like lighting, sound, and mise-en-scEne can help to cultivate political sensitivity in spectators "Both politically and aesthetically, the contemporary German and Austrian film landscape is a far cry from the early days of the medium, when critics like Siegfried Kracauer produced foundational works of film theory amid the tumult of the early twentieth century. Yet, as Leila Mukhida demonstrates in this innovative study, the writings of figures like Kracauer and Walter Benjamin in fact remain an undervalued tool for understanding cinematic production today. Through illuminating explorations of Haneke, Dresen, and other filmmakers of the post-reunification era, Mukhida develops an analysis centered on the experiences of cinema spectators, showing how medium-specific devices like lighting, sound, and mise-en-scène can help to cultivate political sensitivity"-- Provided by publisher 1 contient, entre autres:Récits de jeunesse : Au fil de la vie ; Le roi Bohusch ; Frère et soeur ; Les derniers ; Récits divers. Fragments en prose : La leçon de gymnastique. Essais divers : Sur Maurice de Guérin ; Lettre à un jeune poète. Essais sur l'art : Sur le paysage ; Worpswede ; Auguste Rodin. Histoires du Bon Dieu. Les cahiers de Malte Laurids Brigge. 2 contient:Poèmes de jeunesse ; Chant de l'amour et de la mort du cornette Christophe Rilke ; Le livre d'heures ; Le livre d'images ; Nouveaux poèmes ; Requiem ; Les élégies de Duino ; Les sonnets à Orphée ; Poèmes épars ; Poèmes en langue française Premire grande dition des proses de Rainer Maria Rilke, ce livre regroupe les rcits de jeunesse : Au fil de la vie , Deux rcits pragois , Les derniers , etc..., les fragments en prose et divers essais, dont les Lettres un jeune pote et l' Auguste Rodin . Enfin aux Histoires du Bon Dieu , font suite les fameux et admirables Cahiers de Malte Laurids Brigge . Traduction de Maurice Betz, Louis Desportes, Bernard Grasset, Jacques Legrand et Hlne Zylberberg Sensitive Subjects examines how contemporary German-language cinema may be read as seeking to produce greater political sensitivity in audiences through its form-that is, by employing medium-specific devices such as lighting, sound, editing and mise-en-scene in ways that prompt a more critical stance towards the societies it depicts. Sensitive Subjects 2 Contents 6 Illustrations 7 Acknowledgements 8 Abbreviations 10 Introduction 12 Chapter 1. The Twenty-First-Century Worker Film 42 Chapter 2. Radical Realisms 77 Chapter 3. Fragmented Stories for Fragmented Viewers 118 Chapter 4. Sensitive Subjects 151 Conclusion 186 Filmography 194 Bibliography 196 Index 210