Foreign Cultures 76: Nazi Cinema
Instructor: Eric Rentschler
Semester: Fall 2007
Blogger: rhizomatic
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Foreign Cultures 76: Nazi Cinema
This blog was inspired by Foreign Cultures 76: Nazi Cinema by Eric Rentschler

Nazis, Cinema, Aesthetics.. Oh my!
September 26th, 2007
Students attending the first lecture of Professor Eric Rentschler’s course, Nazi Cinema: Fantasy Production in the Third Reich, were instantly immersed in propaganda films and cultural cinema of the Third Reich. Although the world being depicted in the initial clips shown by Rentschler seemed almost...
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Mass Culture, the rise of film, and the ‘haunted’ cinema of the Weimar Republic.
September 27th, 2007
Always seeking to connect the material in the course with the ‘everyday’ of our current existence, Rentschler began his lecture with a brief overview of current mass culture. Modern society is dominated by the instruments of mass culture: national news programs, talk shows, and the media surrounding...
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The Early Bird
October 1st, 2007
This past Thursday, I walked into lecture about fifteen minutes early to be greeted by the blood-drenched German rockers of my adolescence, Rammstein, in all their cinematic glory. Although I couldn’t manage to find the clip that Professor Rentschler played, here is a little sample, in case you...
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The Hitler Spectacle
October 1st, 2007
As a preface to his discussion of Triumph of the Will and Hitler’s public image in general, Professor Rentschler began his lecture with the following question: How did people see Hitler when he appeared live? In a creative play on words, Rentschler suggested that Hitler ‘wasn’t...
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Hitler, the God.. Germans, the Mass Ornament
October 4th, 2007
In my last post, I briefly reflected on the relationship between the technology of cinema, mass culture, and the rise of the Third Reich. Of particular interest was the question of why the German population became so entranced by the figure of the Furher. In this posting, I would like to reopen this...
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Olympia and the Fascism of the Beautiful Body Pt. I
October 15th, 2007
So far, we have looked at how films of the Third Reich produced the Nazi regime as a spectacle. For example, in the last post, it was argued that Triumph of the Will’s presentation of a powerful, technologically advanced group descending from the heavens to greet the German masses mythologized Hitler’s...
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Olympia and the Fascism of the Beautiful Body Pt. II
October 23rd, 2007
Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia, a film documenting/producing the events of the 1938 Olympic Games in Berlin, is perhaps the most epic sports documentary ever made. Seeking to move beyond simply reporting the results of various competitions, Riefenstahl presents a “symphony of movement,”*...
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Fascist aesthetics.. Why Care?
October 25th, 2007
It was suggested last time that, while Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia may not be a direct product of the Nazi regime, its proto-fascist aesthetic was easily incorporated by the Nazis to promote their eugenicist paradise. I’d like to unpack this claim a bit more thoroughly. Last time, certain aspects...
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A Lesson on Fascism… and Rambo II
December 8th, 2007
I’d like to start this post with a clip from a more contemporary film than usual. Perhaps some of you have seen it. Although it may not have been the most memorable film, Rambo II provides an interesting launch pad for a larger discussion regarding the nature of fascist aesthetics. Is...
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Quick note on symbols..
December 11th, 2007
One of the key aspects of life in Nazi Germany we have been discussing is the culture of ritual. By inundating Germans with a system of symbols and festivals, the Nazi party bolstered traditional nationalism, while promoting the mystical nature of Nazism. I thought the following video might be useful...
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Hitler Youth Quex, and an intro to Nazi Features
December 12th, 2007
As Professor Rentschler began his lecture on the Nazi feature film, Hitler Youth Quex, he asked students to imagine the following scene: It’s September 11th, 1933, and you are at the premiere of Hitler Youth Quex. Outside the theater: Columns of Hitler Youth and a number of Nazi celebrities anxiously...
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The Many Forms of Propaganda
December 13th, 2007
Surely, we (modern, Americans) could not fall pray to the propagandizing techniques of malicious institutions. When advertisements attempt to produce us as loyal consumers, we are well aware. However, the propagandists aren’t naïve. As Professor Rentschler points out, the marketing firms that try...
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Emperor of California and the ‘Foreign’ in Nazi Film
December 13th, 2007
At this point, I would like to begin a series of posts on the relationship between Nazi Germany, cinema, and the foreign. How are foreign lands represented in Nazi films? What are the functions of such representations? How do productions of foreign lands relate to the propaganda function of Nazi cinema...
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Propaganda Drone or Dream Machine? Cinema in Nazi Germany and Modern America
January 31st, 2008
Last time, we began our discussion of less overtly propagandistic Third Reich cinema with a brief analysis of Luis Trenker’s complex masterpiece The Emperor of California. For the next two posts, I would like to step away from the usual close analysis of particular Nazi films, in favor of a more...
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