Contemporary German Cinema by Paul Cooke (review)
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We were due for an updated study of contemporary German cinema that examines the directions taken by films in the 2000s, and Paul Cooke delivers an eminently readable and engaging analysis. The film corpus for this book consists of predominantly feature films from the decade 2000–2010, touching on over 300 titles, with individual readings of some two dozen films to illustrate his arguments.
To situate the work, Cooke takes seriously Sabine Hake’s question from her 2008 book: how should we define a national cinema? He sets out to consider the weight given to politics over aesthetics, filmmakers over film audiences, and shows how the role of the medium is currently contested. Cooke positions himself as a fan of New German Cinema, with an interest in how contemporary films engage with this period, and references the New German Cinema in each chapter as a comparative marker for recent developments. The study combines a text-based approach to readings of significant films with a focus on industry.
A particular strength of this book is the first chapter (of seven) on the effects of film finance structures in Germany. Beginning with statistical information on the recent success of German cinema on all fronts (financial returns, popularity with audiences, and critical acclaim), the chapter goes on to offer a detailed view of the impact that the film economy, including the increase in transnational funding, has on [End Page 719] the types of films being produced. New German Cinema pitted art against commerce, while contemporary filmmakers are more divided: Henckel von Donnersmarck, for example, considers it possible to have success in both spheres, while Haneke perceives the ambition for both as undermining the industry.
Cooke rightly points out that authenticity is a signifier that has gained importance in the 2000s, in part, as a reaction to what Rentschler termed the “cinema of consensus” of the 1990’s. Two chapters of the book are occupied with questions of authenticity: chapter 2 explores how questions of authenticity and realism are answered differently by reality TV or mockumentary, then by Andreas Dresen, who draws on his DEFA background to offer constructed forms of everyday life, and finally, by filmmakers of the Berlin School, Angela Schanelec and Christian Petzold, who present new images of individuals in a globalized society. The examination of authenticity is drawn into chapter 3, which enters the fraught territory of heritage cinema; that is, the popular, but much maligned movies drawn from Germany’s National Socialist past and from the oppression in the GDR. Cooke leads us cogently through the scholarly debates around authenticity in heritage films: as a selling point, critiqued as fetishization, or an access to new ways of relating to the past. He reflects on the more active role that spectators have taken in film responses, through mashups of Der Untergang, through fan fiction, or blogger responses to learning about history through film.
Like the question of authenticity, transnationalism in cinema is a thread that is drawn through several chapters. The work deals with the funding structures that encourage the development of a European Cinema, and the pressures to present transnational stories that risk becoming homogeneous “Europudding,” references the focus on the national in relation to the international in New German Cinema, and articulates ways in which some films, such as Fatih Akin’s, can uncover the creative potential of transnational identity formation. There are several detailed accounts of how transnationalism features in specific films, and Cooke concludes the discussion of transnationalism by saying that German national identity continues to be a major force in German cinematic production, perhaps now with an increased global awareness.
Chapter 5 covers the legacy of women’s filmmaking in New German Cinema as it relates to current production, particularly the market share and role of women directors. The numbers of women in the film industry have increased significantly, and this chapter shows women directors’ particular contributions both to heritage cinema and to the transnational themes. Other topics covered are projections of America in New German...
