How war trauma haunted the films of Weimar Germany
Shell Shock Cinema explores how the classical German cinema of the
Weimar Republic was haunted by the horrors of World War I and the the
devastating effects of the nation's defeat. In this exciting new book,
Anton Kaes argues that masterworks such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,
Nosferatu, The Nibelungen, and Metropolis, even though they do not
depict battle scenes or soldiers in combat, engaged the war and
registered its tragic aftermath. These films reveal a wounded nation in
post-traumatic shock, reeling from a devastating defeat that it never
officially acknowledged, let alone accepted.
Kaes uses the term "shell shock"--coined during World War I to describe
soldiers suffering from nervous breakdowns--as a metaphor for the
psychological wounds that found expression in Weimar cinema. Directors
like Robert Wiene, F. W. Murnau, and Fritz Lang portrayed paranoia,
panic, and fear of invasion in films peopled with serial killers, mad
scientists, and troubled young men. Combining original close textual
analysis with extensive archival research, Kaes shows how this
post-traumatic cinema of shell shock transformed extreme psychological
states into visual expression; how it pushed the limits of cinematic
representation with its fragmented story lines, distorted perspectives,
and stark lighting; and how it helped create a modernist film language
that anticipated film noir and remains incredibly influential today.
A compelling contribution to the cultural history of trauma, Shell
Shock Cinema exposes how German film gave expression to the loss and
acute grief that lay behind Weimar's sleek façade.
