Why German Film? FAQ's
1. Why look at German film?
German film has set a standard for the new and exciting almost since filmmaking
began. Early German cinema defined the way films look and the way films
are made. Many of the most outstanding German filmmakers left Hitler's Germany
to come to Hollywood and create the world's most popular cinema. In the
post-war years, with support of the German government, German cinema has
shown the world what cinema can do as an art form and as a means of free
expression.
2. Why is there so much German film to look at?
The German government has supported the production and distribution of German
film since the 1960s and has particularly made German films available for
classroom showings and study. And besides, people like them!
3. Why are German films so depressing?
They're not--well, some of them are. "New German Cinema" describes
films made from 1962 to 1982 by a young generation of filmmakers who were
very disgruntled by what they saw as an all-too-easy forgetting of the past.
They were angry and were able to get funding through government subsidies
to make films that would never have been commercial successes, but were
artistically outstanding (or at least interesting) and politically critical.
They weren't very happy about what they saw in 1960s and 1970s Germany,
and their films reflect this.
4. Why aren't there any German film comedies??
There are! Films made before WWII by Ernst Lubitsch, for example, are still
funny today--"The Doll" and "The Oyster Princess," just
to name two. Films made after 1982, when government subsidies began to dry
up and filmmakers had to give more consideration to commercial success,
have been hugely successful--for example, Doris Dörrie's "Men"
and Percy Adlon's "SugarBaby."
5. Do characters in German films always throw up?
No, but it just seems that way sometimes. Why do this?--related to question
#3 !