The Queer German CinemaSince the Weimar era, German cinema has played a leading role in the innovation of gay and lesbian cinema, with the tantalizing sexual illegibility and gender instability of German films of the 1920s anticipating the queer sensibilities of the 1990s. From such cross-dressing Weimar comedies as Viktor und Victoria to the transgender fantasies of Ulrike Ottinger, Monika Treut, and Hans Scheirl, this filmic tradition explores the unconventional erotic, its directors inventing a visual language that goes beyond the trivialization and sensationalism of mainstream representations of gays and lesbians. This cinema crosses the boundaries between such classifications as male and female, gay and bisexual, normal and pathological, insisting that such transgressions cannot be entirely tamed, regulated, or closeted. Previous scholarship, reading this national cinema as sociopolitical commentary, has tended to ignore what falls outside a realist, hetero-normative paradigm. In this book, the author aims to rectify this neglect by rewriting German cinematic history queerly. She reexamines the Nazi movie star Zarah Leander via her gay fandom, showing how this actress haunts the drag performance of femininity in the films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She argues not only for the persuasiveness of the gay underground in the New German Cinema but also for cinema's pivotal role in German gay liberation. Other topics include the queering of nationality in the films of Monika Treut and Rosa von Praunheim, the fetishistic medium of experimental filmmaking in the works of Michael Brynntrup and Matthias Müller, and the androgynous appeal of "dyke noir animation." In conclusion, The Queer German Cinema juxtaposes the voices of several German filmmakers as they reflect on their art in terms of a counter-politics. |
Contents
Introduction I | 1 |
Reading for a Queer | 21 |
Transgender Specularity | 57 |
Rosa von Praunheim | 88 |
Didnt Do It for Love 1998 Eva Norvind | 165 |
Prinz in Hölleland 1993 Stefan Laarmann as the millers son and Michael Stock as the prince | 175 |
Prinz in Hölleland 1993 Wolfram Haak as Firlefanz | 178 |
The Passionate Evidence of Werner Schroeters Maria Malibran | 125 |
Narziss und Echo 1989 | 204 |
Sleepy Haven 1993 | 213 |
Between 1989 | 218 |
Hermes 1995 | 223 |
Dandy Dust 1998 Suzie Krueger as Cyniborg | 226 |
Filmmakers of Rote Ohren fetzen durch Asche Scheirl Pürrer and Schipek | 233 |
Dyke Noir Animation | 236 |
Bloody Well Done 199394 Nathalie Percillier | 240 |
26 | 136 |
Ulrike Ottingers | 139 |
The Queer Nationhood of Monika | 157 |
Michael Stocks Prinz in Hölleland 174 | 174 |
Er batne Glatze und ist Rassist Er ist schwul und ein Faschist | 190 |
Spokes 1996 | 192 |
Weit weit weg 1995 Bjørn Melhus as Dorothy | 194 |
Michael Brynntrup | 197 |
Showdown mit Gemi 1992 | 245 |
Geliebte Mörderin 1992 | 247 |
Late at Night 1997 | 250 |
Zwischen Tier und Schatten 1986 | 254 |
Source Guide | 267 |
291 | |
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Common terms and phrases
allegorical animation artist audience becomes Berlin body camera camp characters Claudia closet cross-dressing cultural Dandy Dust death depicts desire despite directors discussed documentary Dorian Gray dress erotic eroticism evokes experimental eyes fantasy Fassbinder Fassbinder's Father Is Coming female femininity femme Figure filmmakers Firlefanz Freak Orlando gay and lesbian gaze gender German Cinema Heldinnen der Liebe Hermes heroin heterosexual homosexuality identity insofar Jockel lesbian Lily Besilly lives look Mabuse Magdalena Montezuma male Matthias Müller Michael Brynntrup Michael Stock mirror Monika Treut Moreover narrative Nathalie Percillier one's Ottinger Ottinger's performance plays Prinz in Hölleland Pürrer queer cinema Queer German Cinema Querelle role Rosa von Praunheim Rosenkönig Rote Ohren same-sex scene Scheirl Schillinger screen sexual shot signify spectator stage Stefan suggests super-8 tion transgender transvestism transvestite Ulrike Ottinger Veruschka Vicky viewer Viktor Viktor und Viktoria visual voice voice-over Werner Schroeter woman women words Zarah Leander