Why read From Hitler to Heimat?

Book cover of From Hitler to Heimat: The Return of History as Film

Book description

West German filmmakers have tried to repeatedly over the past half-century to come to terms with Germany's stigmatized history. How can Hitler and the Holocaust, how can the complicity and shame of the average German be narrated and visualized? How can Auschwitz be reconstructed? Anton Kaes argues that a major…

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Why read it?

1 author picked From Hitler to Heimat as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Robert A. Rosenstone

Author

Of the many books that focus on the historical films of an individual country or historical period, this is by far the most interesting and powerful. It deals with how the directors of the New German Cinema of the Seventies devised new visual and narrative strategies to come to terms with the shameful history of Hitler’s regime.

The book eschews the usual focus on guilt and atonement in favor of personal memory and a yearning for national identity. Focusing on a description of several important works–including Hitler: A Film from Germany, The Patriot, and The Marriage of Maria…

From Robert's list on books on historical films.