New German Cinema

New German Cinema

Overview

The Second World War eroded Germany’s cultural and film industry identity significantly. The United States secured the right to Americanize German films and enticed its prominent producers and actors into Hollywood. Thus, during the Second World War, many films showcased popular Western culture, ignoring the historical identity of Germany. The German film industry became aggravated, and in the 1960s, began designing films that aimed to restore the glory of West Germany. Therefore, many films, such as The Marriage of Maria Braun by Rainer-Werner Fassbinder, centered their themes on the history of Germany, giving the national identity. The New German Cinema became known as “national cinema” because filmmakers during the era reconciled the country’s national identity after the Second World War with the nation’s identity. The analysis of the New German Cinema era of filmmaking, post the Second World War, shows how the government invested in reconstructing its national identity through film, using movies, such as The Marriage of Maria Braun, to portray the same.

Administrative and Financial Structure of West Germany’s Film Industry

As explained, the Second World War eroded the German film industry significantly. Movie producers in West Germany who had used neo-classicism styles to advance the messages of their films and showcase the country’s proud historical heritage began abandoning the same. Many movies produced during the Second World War had heavily Americanized themes with shreds of West German culture (Gerhardt, 2017). Inculcating popular music in West German films that showcased aspects such as Bach’s biography became a common practice, ridding the country of its national identity. After the Second World War, West German officials began a recovery process to reclaim the country’s economic strength and national identity. Around the same time, the New Cinema Age meant to remind Germans of their historical identity and instill pride in them for being nationalists was borne.

In a bid to restore West Germany’s pride economically and culturally, West Germany’s administrative team began financing the film industry. The administrative move was meant to encourage filmmakers to desist from producing movies that had American influence and instead centralize their attention on showcasing German-based content (Prager & Rentschler, 2019). Therefore, the West German administration supported the New Cinema Age of West Germany to show “national cinema” instead of glorifying American content. Financial programs were instituted by the West German administration, encouraging the production of films, such as The Marriage of Maria Braun, whose central theme is based on the German life of soldiers and their wives during the Second World War.

The Marriage of Maria Braun by Rainer-Werner Fassbinder

Rainer-Werner Fassbinder produced the film The Marriage of Maria Braun in 1965. The film is meant to remind Germans of the effects of the Second World War on families and relationships. In the movie, Maria Braun, the main character, gets married to a German soldier who is immediately deployed to Russia (Ramnath, 2016). As such, Braun does not enjoy a husband of her age and resorts to philandering ways. Later, Braun meets an African American GI while her legally wedded husband is at war and gets married. When the husband returns, Braun murders the Black GI to reconcile with him, but law enforcers become aware of what she has done. Braun’s husband takes responsibility for her murderous actions and is incarcerated. While away, Braun seeks employment after the Second World War has ended and becomes an independent surveyor who is financially empowered. Braun also gets into a romantic relationship with her boss, who pays off her released husband to stay away from his wife.

However, in the end, Braun and her husband meet but are already strangers. Braun is an independent, employed, financially independent woman, while her husband is a jobless young man who spent the best part of his youth in prison paying for Braun’s heinous act. The film The Marriage of Maria Braun shows how the Second World War destroyed family units in Germany. Even though the country began rebuilding its economic independence and strength post-era, it was at the expense of relationships such as those of Braun. The central theme of The Marriage of Maria Braun appears to be to remind Germans of the sacrifices of their young men who fought during the Second World War and may have lost their families, such as Braun’s husband (Ramnath, 2016). Women are also reminded of the sacrifices they made to maintain the family unit while their husbands were at war, as manifested by Maria Braun, who seeks to increase the family wealth to reunite with her husband. Overall, The Marriage of Maria Braun is a “national cinema,” considering the main themes, as explained.

References

Gerhardt, C. (2017). Introduction: Cinema in West Germany around 1968. The Sixties, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/17541328.2017.1327749

Prager, B., & Rentschler, E. (2019). Introduction: New prospects—After the Berlin school? New German Critique, 46(3), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1215/0094033x-7727371

Ramnath, N. (2016, May 29). Five-star cinema: Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s ‘The Marriage of Maria braun’. Scroll. In. https://scroll.in/reel/808972/five-star-cinema-rainer-werner-fassbinders-the-marriage-of-maria-braun

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It is often said that the New German Cinema was a profoundly “national” cinema. You should try to support this view a) with reference to the administrative and financial structure of West Germany’s film industry and b) with reference to the thematic focus of Rainer-Werner Fassbinder’s The Marriage of Maria Braun.