The Aesthetics of Antifascist Film: Radical Projection (Routledge Advances in Film Studies)

Introduction: Face-to-face With The Angel Of History -- Murderers Among Us: Wwii, Antifascism And Film. The Swastika World And The Aesthetics Of Resistance -- Radical Projection -- Great Dictators -- Paranoia And Pedagogy -- Global Exiles During The Cold War. Radical Beauty -- Forbidden Games -- Perversion And Pervasion -- Radical Transmissions. Jennifer Lynde Barker. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Through a series of detailed film case histories ranging from The Great Dictator to Hiroshima mon amour to The Lives of Others , The Aesthetics of Antifascist Film: Radical Projection explores the genesis and recurrence of antifascist aesthetics as it manifests in the WWII, Cold War and Post-Wall historical periods. Emerging during a critical moment in film history--1930s/1940s Hollywood-- cinematic antifascism was representative of the international nature of antifascist alliances, with the amalgam of film styles generated in migr Hollywood during the WWII period reflecting a dialogue between an urgent political commitment to antifascism and an equally intense commitment to aesthetic complexity. Opposed to a fascist aesthetics based on homogeneity, purity and spectacle, these antifascist films project a radical beauty of distortion, heterogeneity, fragmentation and loss. By juxtaposing documentation and the modernist techniques of surrealism and expressionism, the filmmakers were able to manifest a non-totalizing work of art that still had political impact. Drawing on insights from film and cultural studies, aesthetic and ethical philosophy, and socio-political theory, this book argues that the artistic struggles with political commitment and modernist strategies of representation during the 1930s and 40s resulted in a distinctive, radical aesthetic form that represents an alternate strand of post-modernism. Through a series of detailed film case histories ranging from The Great Dictator to Hiroshima mon amour to The Lives of Others, The Aesthetics of Antifascist Film: Radical Projection explores the genesis and recurrence of antifascist aesthetics as it manifests in the WWII, Cold War and Post-Wall historical periods. Emerging during a critical moment in film history—1930s/1940s Hollywood— cinematic antifascism was representative of the international nature of antifascist alliances, with the amalgam of film styles generated in émigré Hollywood during the WWII period reflecting a dialogue between an urgent political commitment to antifascism and an equally intense commitment to aesthetic complexity. Opposed to a fascist aesthetics based on homogeneity, purity and spectacle, these antifascist films project a radical beauty of distortion, heterogeneity, fragmentation and loss. By juxtaposing documentation and the modernist techniques of surrealism and expressionism, the filmmakers were able to manifest a non-totalizing work of art that still had political impact. Drawing on insights from film and cultural studies, aesthetic and ethical philosophy, and socio-political theory, this book argues that the artistic struggles with political commitment and modernist strategies of representation during the 1930s and 40s resulted in a distinctive, radical aesthetic form that represents an alternate strand of post-modernism. The Aesthetics of Antifascist Film: Radical Projection 6 Copyright 7 Contents 10 List of Figures 12 List of Permissions 14 Acknowledgments 16 1 Introduction: Face-to-Face with the Angel of History 18 Part I: Murderers Among Us: WWII, Antifascism and Film 44 2 The Swastika World and the Aesthetics of Resistance 46 3 Radical Projection 81 4 Great Dictators 108 5 Paranoia and Pedagogy 127 Part II: Global Exiles During the Cold War 146 6 Radical Beauty 148 7 Forbidden Games 174 8 Perversion and Pervasion 199 9 Radical Transmissions 227 Notes 256 Bibliography 272 Index 292