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    The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Presents A Slightly Different Situation Than The One Presented

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    Javier Gramajo
    The document discusses the portrayal of women in German films from the Weimar Republic and Nazi eras. During the Weimar period, films often depicted modern women as dangerous influences who brought chaos, as seen in characters like Robot Maria in Metropolis and Lulu in Pandora's Box. In contrast, Nazi-era films portrayed traditional, domestic female roles as ideal, like Ulla in Hitlerjunge Quex who stays home while her brother posts political flyers. Certain recurring themes of order, tradition, and foreigners corrupting society were present in Weimar films and foreshadowed Nazi ideology.

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    The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Presents A Slightly Different Situation Than The One Presented

    Uploaded by

    Javier Gramajo
    21 views5 pages
    The document discusses the portrayal of women in German films from the Weimar Republic and Nazi eras. During the Weimar period, films often depicted modern women as dangerous influences who brought chaos, as seen in characters like Robot Maria in Metropolis and Lulu in Pandora's Box. In contrast, Nazi-era films portrayed traditional, domestic female roles as ideal, like Ulla in Hitlerjunge Quex who stays home while her brother posts political flyers. Certain recurring themes of order, tradition, and foreigners corrupting society were present in Weimar films and foreshadowed Nazi ideology.

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    The document discusses the portrayal of women in German films from the Weimar Republic and Nazi eras. During the Weimar period, films often depicted modern women as dangerous influences who brought chaos, as seen in characters like Robot Maria in Metropolis and Lulu in Pandora's Box. In contrast, Nazi-era films portrayed traditional, domestic female roles as ideal, like Ulla in Hitlerjunge Quex who stays home while her brother posts political flyers. Certain recurring themes of order, tradition, and foreigners corrupting society were present in Weimar films and foreshadowed Nazi ideology.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    21 views5 pages

    The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Presents A Slightly Different Situation Than The One Presented

    Uploaded by

    Javier Gramajo
    The document discusses the portrayal of women in German films from the Weimar Republic and Nazi eras. During the Weimar period, films often depicted modern women as dangerous influences who brought chaos, as seen in characters like Robot Maria in Metropolis and Lulu in Pandora's Box. In contrast, Nazi-era films portrayed traditional, domestic female roles as ideal, like Ulla in Hitlerjunge Quex who stays home while her brother posts political flyers. Certain recurring themes of order, tradition, and foreigners corrupting society were present in Weimar films and foreshadowed Nazi ideology.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 5

    Javier Gramajo

    Gary Miller

    Cinema in Hitler’s Germany

    August 15th, 2018

    The Nazi Ideology In Weimar Republic’s Films

    The Weimar Republic presents an interesting period for the art. There is a big contrast

    between the Weimar Republic and the time when Hitler came to power due to the “freedom” in

    the former period whereas in Hitler’s period, the Nazis decided which art was appropriate and

    which not. Most of the art made during the Weimar Republic was banned, although, one could

    argue that during the Weimar Republic there were hints of the ideas that were to come. The point

    made by film critic Siegfried Kracauer states that filmmakers were not really longing with the

    idea of a rebellion but to conservative, traditional society.

    In the film Metropolis, the workers are abused by the richer class that lives in the city.

    Throughout the film, we are presented with the struggle of the workers and the terrible

    conditions they live in. The workers, tricked by a false leader, create a rebellion against the upper

    class only to reconcile with the idea of working for them again. I think that this comes from the

    need of a leader to serve as a guide for an emasculated Germany. The workers of this movie,

    throughout it's entire duration, cry for the need for the mediator and the mediators ability to

    reconcile them with their leader.

    The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari presents a slightly different situation than the one presented

    in Metropolis. The characters in this movie are presented with a strange foreigner which brings
    with him death to the peaceful town. This idea of the foreigner, along with the underlining need

    for a strong leader, are perhaps echoes of what was to come years later with the Nazi ideology. In

    this movie the people of the town for a mob to chase the foreigner yet at the end the audience is

    presented with the idea that all of that was not real, that Francis was secluded in a mental

    hospital along with all the important characters of the story thus creating an ordered conclusion

    to the story.

    Lastly, The Blue Angel by Sternberg, presents the audience with similar ideas, a week

    character that is deviated from the good path, a foreigner that corrupts the main character and

    lastly, a return to the order (although in this case the main character dies). This are the exact

    same ideas to the films previously discussed along with the ones watched in class. The moral of

    this films seem to be the idea of going back to Germany’s traditions and order. Given what

    happened during World War 1 and the general feeling in Germany, this ideas seem to represent a

    need of order and leadership in Germany’s society.

    I doubt it is coincidence that these films have these recurring ideas at the end and they

    deal with similar topics. For one, a concluding and perhaps ordered ending is always present,

    where the characters come back, or at least seek, a traditional lifestyle. Furthermore, the idea of

    an evil foreigner who pretends to harm the tranquility of the main characters. I believe that these

    ideas foreshadow what was to become of the political and social life in Germany, and perhaps

    these ideas were already going around people’s mind during the Weimar Republic.
    Javier Gramajo

    Gary Miller

    Cinema in Hitler’s Germany

    August 15th, 2018

    The Female Role Throughout The Weimar And Nazi Eras

    The role and position of women have changed a lot throughout history and the Weimar

    and Nazi eras were no exception. These two present a contrast in how women are depicted and

    even more since there was a control of the content of movies during Nazi Germany. The main

    differences are the presence of debauchery in general during the Weimar period whereas in

    contrast, the ideal female role during Nazi Germany is more traditional.

    In general, women in films of the Weimar Republic are depicted as dangerous, modern

    and created a huge contrast with the other women of the films. In Metropolis, Robot Maria

    creates chaos in society (and specially men) by using her sexuality (such as the scene of the Ball

    Room) and how she is able to manipulate society in order to do her will. Towards the end of the

    film, the worker’s city realizes that they have made a big mistake by letting themselves be

    controlled by Robot Maria.

    Another example lies on Pandora’s Box, the film depicts the life of Lulu, whom manages

    to ruin the lives of several characters throughout the movie. One clear example is that Schön

    resigns to Mary Lulu after Charlotte finds them embracing, this leads to Schön’s and Lulu’s

    wedding day in which they have a fight resulting in Schön getting killed. Furthermore, she

    manages to convince her first pimp Schigolch to kill Rodrigo Quast. Throughout the film, the
    audience is presented with the chaos that Lulu brings to everyone around her including Alwa,

    who is Schön’s son. Alwa, who is in love with Lulu, follows her along the film seeing his life

    falling apart until he finally gets a break by joining a parade of the Salvation Army.

    I think that this idea, of the foreign woman, could be seen as a subtle way of propaganda,

    in which this dangerous women can lead men and society to chaos. For example, during Lulu’s

    trial the prosecutor states that she brings bad to everyone around her, hence the name of the

    movie. I doubt that is by coincidence that these ideas are similar to the ones in Nazi Germany,

    and perhaps this were ideas that were already present and just evolved in a more radical way. I

    think that it is really easy to make a connection when watching these movies that, these evil that

    is presented in the movies is somehow caused by these foreign looking women.

    In contrast, the woman of the Nazi era are represented as traditional and with less active

    roles in society an example of this is Hitlerjunge Quex. In this movie both types of women are

    presented: the non-traditional and the traditional one. Gerda represents the non-traditional

    woman whom is more active sexually and is also more active in society. Gerda is indeed used by

    the Communists to lure some of the Hitler Youth members. In the other hand, Ulla represents

    what the Nazis think is an appropriate role for a woman. When Fritz invites Heini to their home

    he states “my sister is in the kitchen making pancakes” thus setting the idea of what the Nazis

    thought it was the appropriate role for women at a time. Another example is when Fritz goes out

    to post flyers while Ulla stays at home taking care of Heini.

    One important fact to notice is the recurrence of certain topics and archetypes in which

    this movies are based (both during and before Nazi Germany). The way in which German
    filmmakers depict society at the time and how they idealize is really important to understand

    what was happening at the time and helps us understand more about history.

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