Mr. Cohen Spring 2004

History 305

Film as History and History as Film

Required Texts

O’Connor, John, Image as Artifact (Krieger)

Davis, Natalie Z., The Return of Martin Guerre (Harvard)

Orlow, Dietrich, A History of Modern Germany (Prentice Hall)

On e-reserve

· Charles Krantz, “Teaching Night and Fog: History and Historiography,” Film and History (1985), 2-15

· “AHR Forum: History in Images/History in Words: Reflections on the Possibility of Really Putting History onto Film,” The American Historical Review (December 1988), 1173-1199

· Hella Pick, Guilty Victim: Austria from the Holocaust to Haider (16-47, 170-173)

· Robert Rosenstone, Visions of the Past (pp. 169-197)

· Peter Novick, The Holocaust in American Life, 1-15

On Reserve

· All of the above and, in addition, all works listed below under “recommended reading”

· Richard Barber, The Devil’s Crown (book and 3 photocopies)

· James Goldman, The Lion in Winter (play)

· Graham Greene, The Third Man (screenplay)

· Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, Hitler, a Film from Germany (screenplay)

· Carnes, Mark (ed.), Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies (Holt)

Required Films (on reserve at the Media Center)

1. Le Retour de Martin Guerre (France, 1982, directed by Daniel Vigne)

2. The Lion in Winter (UK, 1968, directed by Anthony Harvey, based on the play by James Goldman)

3. M (Germany, 1930, directed by Fritz Lang)

4. Triumph des Willens or Triumph of the Will (Germany, 1935, directed by Leni Riefenstahl)

5. Nuit et Brouillard or Night and Fog (France, 1955, directed by Alain Resnais)

6. Schindler’s List (U.S.A., 1993, directed by Steven Spielberg)

7. The Third Man (UK, 1949, directed by Carol Reed)

8. Hitler: A Film from Germany (Germany, 1977, directed by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg)

Course Requirements

History 39 is a discussion and not a lecture course; therefore both class attendance and participation will constitute a portion (approximately 20%) of your final grade. Apart from completing the assigned reading, each student is expected to view the required films at least twice; screening times are listed in the class schedule below. Each student must also submit two 5-7-page essays, double-spaced and spell-checked, following the instructions at the end of this syllabus. Please note that late papers will not be accepted and that all papers must be handed in before class on their respective due-dates. In addition, each student must participate in at least one in-class panel discussion of the films we will be viewing this term. Further instructions on that assignment will be given in class. There will be an in-class final exam the nature of which will be discussed at a later date.

Class Schedule

I) Why History, Why Film?: The Case of Martin Guerre

3/29 Introduction

3/31 O’Connor, Image as Artifact, 1-23, 27-41, 301-324

3/31 and 4/1: Screenings of Le Retour de Martin Guerre, 7 and 9:30 p.m.

4/2 Le Retour de Martin Guerre (general discussion)

4/5-7 Natalie Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre (entire)

4/9 Panel Discussion of Le Retour de Martin Guerre

Recommended Readings:

a) Ed Benson, “Martin Guerre, the Historian and the filmmakers: an Interview with Natalie Zemon Davis” Film and History (1983) (see reserve)

b) “AHR Forum: The Return of Martin Guerre,” The American Historical Review (June 1988), 553-603 (see reserve)

c) Anthony Guneratne, “Cinehistory and the Puzzling Case of Martin Guerre,” Film and History (1991) (see reserve)

II) The Lion in Winter and Medieval England

4/11: Screenings of The Lion in Winter: 1:30 and 4 p.m.

4/12-14 The Lion in Winter (general discussion); Barber, The Devil’s Crown, 7-77 (see

reserve)

4/16 Panel Discussion of The Lion in Winter

Recommended Readings:

a) Richard Mortimer, Angevin England, 37-90, 125-148 (see reserve)

b) Elizabeth A. R. Brown, “Eleanor of Aquitaine: Parent, Queen, and Duchess” in William W. Kibler, ed., Eleanor of Aquitaine, 9-34 (see reserve)

III) Nazi Germany and the Holocaust on Film

4/18: Screenings of M, 1:30 and 4 p.m.

4/19-21 M (general discussion); Orlow, A History of Modern Germany, 72-14

4/23 Panel Discussion of M

Recommended Readings:

a) Siegfried Kracauer, From Caligari to Hitler, 215-222 (see reserve)

b) Patrick McGilligan, Fritz Lang, 147-185 (see reserve)

4/25: Screenings of Triumph of the Will at 1:30 and 4 p.m.

4/26-2/28 Triumph of the Will (general discussion); Orlow, Modern Germany, 146-174

4/30 Panel Discussion of Triumph of the Will

Recommended Readings:

a) O’Connor, Image as Artifact, 169-186

b) Kracauer, From Caligari to Hitler, 298-303 (see reserve)

c) David Welch, Propaganda and the German Cinema, 1933-1945, esp. 145-159 (see reserve)

5/3 Night and Fog (in-class screening); Orlow, Modern Germany, 175-202

5/5 General Discussion of Night and Fog

Required Reading: Charles Krantz, “Teaching Night and Fog: History and Historiography,” Film and History (1985), 2-15 (see e-reserve)

Recommended Reference works: Raoul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews

5/6-9 Midterm Reading Period

5/9: Screening of Schindler’s List, 1:30 p.m.

5/10-12 Schindler’s List (general discussion); Peter Novick, The Holocaust in American Life, pp. 1-15 (see e-reserve)

5/14 Panel Discussion of Schindler’s List

Recommended Readings:

a) Yosefa Loshitzky, ed., Spielberg’s Holocaust, esp. 1-17, 41-60, 104-118

b) Thomas Keneally, Schindler’s List

5/16: Screenings of The Third Man, 1:30 and 4 p.m.

5/17-19 General Discussion of The Third Man; Pick, Guilty Victim, 16-47, 170-173 (see e-reserve)

5/21 Panel Discussion of The Third Man

Recommended Readings:

Graham Greene, The Third Man (see reserve)

5/23: Screening of Hitler: A Film from Germany, 1:30 p.m.

5/24-26 Hitler: A Film from Germany (general discussion); Orlow, Modern Germany 203-268; Rosenstone, Visions of the Past, 169-197

5/28 Panel Discussion of Hitler: A Film from Germany

Recommended Readings:

a) Rudy Koshar, “Hitler: A Film from Germany; Cinema, History, and Structures

of feeling” in Robert A. Rosenstone ed., Revisioning History, 155-173 (see reserve)

b) Anton Kaes, From Hitler to Heimat, 37-72 (see reserve)

5/31 No Class

6/2 “AHR Forum: History in Images/History in Words: Reflections on the Possibility of Really Putting History onto Film,” The American Historical Review (December 1988), 1173-1199 (see e-reserve)

6/4 Catch up and review

Essays: Directions and Due-Dates

Your fundamental task in these 5-7 page essays is to write a clear, convincing, and carefully researched historical review of one from among the first four films we will see during the term and one from among the second four. [Note: you must write one of your essays on the film for which you are a panelist.] For examples of what a “historical review” might entail see the professional ones I’ve placed on e-reserve and

Mark Carnes (ed.) Past Imperfect: History according to the Movies, which I’ve placed on reserve. Given that three of our films, Martin Guerre, The Lion in Winter, and Schindler’s List, seek to dramatize historical events fictionally, that two, M and The Third Man, are fictional works of historical significance to their own time, and that three, Triumph of the Will, Night and Fog, and Hitler: A Film from Germany, are works of non-fiction, that task will not be precisely the same for each. Nonetheless, all essays should consider the following questions:

· Who made the film—that is, who directed it, who wrote the screenplay, and who funded it?

· When and where did the film first appear? What was its intended audience? How was it received?

· What central point or points does the film try to make? How, specifically, does it do so?

· What does the film tell us about the time in which it was made?

1. Le Retour de Martin Guerre:

Focusing on at least one of its central themes or characters (for example, the place of religion; the question of identity; the role of women; the characters of the “false Martin,” Bertrande, Pierre Guerre, or Jean de Coras), explain what the film might tell us about rural France in the 16^th century. How accurately, in light of what you have read as well as what you have seen, does the film portray the historical events, settings, and individuals it purports to represent? What might account for its inaccuracies? DUE 4/9

2. The Lion in Winter

Focusing on at least one of the film’s central themes or characters (for example, the problem of royal succession; feudal politics and war; the place of women—and queens; the characters of Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, their sons, and Phillip of France) explain what it might tell us about England and Europe in the 12^th century. How accurately, in light of what you have read as well as what you have seen, does the film portray the historical events, settings, and individuals it purports to represent? What might account for its inaccuracies? Due 4/16

3. M

What social, political, and moral issues does this film address or mirror? How, specifically, does it do so? How might the historian use it as a means of evoking and understanding the historical world of late Weimar Germany in which it appeared? DUE 4/23

4. Triumph of the Will

What is this film’s “thesis” and to whom is it addressed? How, specifically, does it put across that thesis? Is it successful? What might it tell the historian about the early Nazi era in which it was made? DUE 4/30

5. Night and Fog

What is this film’s “thesis” and to whom is it addressed? How, specifically, does it get that thesis across? Is the film successful? Is it historically reliable? What might it tell the historian both about the Holocaust and the era in which it was made? DUE 5/5

6. Schindler’s List

Focusing on at least one of the film’s central themes or characters (for example, the dichotomy of victim and perpetrator; the question of “resistance”—both German and Jewish—to the Final Solution; the portrayal of women; the characters of Schindler, Goeth, or Stern) explain what it might tell us about the Holocaust. How accurately, in light of what you have read as well as what you have seen, does the film portray the historical events, settings, and individuals it purports to represent? What might account for its inaccuracies? DUE 5/14

7. The Third Man

What social, political, and moral issues does this film address or mirror? How,

specifically, does it do so? How might the historian use it as a means of evoking

and understanding the historical world of postwar Allied-occupied Austria which it

depicts. DUE 5/21

8. Hitler: A Film from Germany

Focusing on at least one central “character” (Hitler, Himmler, or Goebbels, for example), theme, visual motif, or scene from the film, analyze how it relates to Syberberg’s vision as a whole. How does Syberberg’s view of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust differ from those suggested by The Triumph of the Will, Night and Fog, and Schindler’s List? How might he view these other films? Why? DUE 5/28

Sources: Your primary source is, of course, the film itself, which you should plan on viewing at least twice with note-pad in hand. You should also consult both the required and the recommended readings that relate to the particular film you’ve chosen. Finally, you are welcome—and indeed encouraged—to consult all the resources of our library in addition to what you might find on the World Wide Web. Play detective. Find out all that you can about the film in question—both about who made it and the historical world in which it was made. Feel free to consult our knowledgeable reference librarians. One word of caution, however: consult secondary sources primarily for information and not opinions. The only opinion that really counts is your own informed one; but if you feel that you must borrow that of another, cite it—and all your sources—directly and correctly.