Projecting the Holocaust Into the Present: The Changing Focus of Contemporary Holocaust CinemaRowman & Littlefield, 2005 - 307 pages Most Holocaust scholars and survivors contend that the event was so catastrophic and unprecedented that it defies authentic representation in feature films. Yet it is precisely the extremity of 'the Final Solution' and the issues it raised that have fueled the cinematic imagination since the end of World War II. Recognizing that movies reach a greater audience than eyewitness, historical, or literary accounts, Lawrence Baron argues that they mirror changing public perceptions of the Holocaust over time and place. After tracing the evolution of the most commonly employed genres and themes in earlier Holocaust motion pictures, he focuses on how films from the l990s made the Holocaust relevant for contemporary audiences. While genres like biographical films and love stories about doomed Jewish-Gentile couples remained popular, they now cast Jews or non-Jewish victims like homosexuals in lead roles more often than was the case in the past. Baron attributes the recent proliferation of Holocaust comedies and children's movies to the search for more figurative and age-appropriate genres for conveying the significance of the Holocaust to generations born after it happened. He contends that thematic shifts to stories about neo-Nazis, rescuers, survivors, and their children constitute an expression of the continuing impact the Holocaust exerts on the present. The book concludes with a survey of recent films like Nowhere in Africa and The Pianist. |
Contents
The Holocaust A Cinematic Cataclysm? | ix |
Notes | 16 |
Picturing the Holocaust in the Past 19451979 | 21 |
The Search | 27 |
The Diary of Anne Frank | 32 |
The Shop on Main Street | 38 |
Holocaust | 45 |
Notes | 53 |
Notes | 162 |
The Children Are Watching Holocaust Films for Youngsters | 169 |
Alan and Naomi | 174 |
Swing Kids | 176 |
The Island on Bird Street | 181 |
The Devils Arithmetic | 185 |
Miracle at Midnight | 189 |
Notes | 194 |
The Biopic Personalizing Perpetrators Victims and Resisters | 63 |
The Empty Mirror | 66 |
Bonhoeffer Agent of Grace | 72 |
Korczak | 76 |
Europa Europa | 82 |
Triumph of the Spirit | 87 |
Notes | 91 |
Condemned Couples Lovers and Liquidation | 101 |
Martha and I | 105 |
The Harmonists | 109 |
Jew Boy Levi | 115 |
Aimee and Jaguar | 119 |
Bent | 123 |
Notes | 127 |
Serious Humor Laughter as Lamentation | 133 |
Genghis Cohn | 137 |
Life Is Beautiful | 141 |
Train of Life | 147 |
Jakob the Liar | 152 |
Mendel | 158 |
Relevant Remembrances Themes in Recent Holocaust Movies | 199 |
Schindlers List | 205 |
The Quarrel | 213 |
Left Luggage | 218 |
The Nasty Girl | 223 |
Notes | 228 |
Projecting the Holocaust into the Twentyfirst Century | 237 |
The Pianist | 241 |
Nowhere in Africa | 246 |
The Grey Zone | 251 |
XMen | 256 |
Holocaust Cinema as Prosthetic Memory | 260 |
Notes | 262 |
Selected Bibliography | 267 |
19902004 | 277 |
Internet Resources | 289 |
291 | |
305 | |
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Projecting the Holocaust into the Present: The Changing Focus of ... Lawrence Baron Limited preview - 2005 |
Projecting the Holocaust Into the Present: The Changing Focus of ... Lawrence Baron No preview available - 2005 |
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