Angst essen Seele auf: Migration in post-War Germany

After our discussions of Kracauer's The Mass Ornament and the connections to be made with his commentaries on film and fascism, students had already been primed to think about the significance of film techniques such as camera perspective, shot size and distance, and framing. In this module, analyzing film using appropriate and relevant technical vocabulary (Montage, Einstellungsgrößen, Kameraperspektiven, Beleuchtung etc.) also provided an additional layer of meaning to the course theme of "movement:" the moving pictures, that very often move the audience. In our discussions of Freud, we had also talked a bit about the concepts of Greek tragedy, such as the katharsis.

Naturally, this theme of movement extended to the post-War phenomenon of mass migration, initiated by Germany itself, which recruited so-called "guest workers" (Gastarbeiter) from Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Morocco (and various other places). Watching Angst essen Seele auf, a topical and critical movie by Rainer Werner-Fassbinder, I wanted to use an important example of avant-garde cinema that positioned itself in opposition to commercial German cinema. With the latter in crisis, the film movement Neuer Deutscher Film saw its opportunity to give the experience of cinema and of viewing a new direction, and free film-making from commercial constraints and conventional expectations. 

In preparation for the asynchronous viewing of the movie using Scalar, a collaborative media annotation platform, I assigned the Oberhausener Manifest for reading as homework, as well watching two short trailers: one for Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (Werner Herzog, 1972), a movie typical for New German Cinema, and one for Das Schweigen im Walde (Helmut Weiss, 1955), a prime example of the escapist genre of the Heimatfilm, popular in the decade immediately following the loss of the war. This way, students could get a sense of the contrast between these very different kinds of cinema.

After an introductory discussion of their general impressions of the movie, I guided the class through a "close viewing" of the initial scene of the movie, taking place in a bar. Using a handout I provided, students watched each segment twice, and made notes in three columns:

1. What are we seeing?

2. What are we hearing?

3. What is the implied subtext of the scene (or its "vibes")?

After discussing their notes in pairs, I brought the conversation to the whole class, and we all noticed that Fassbinder and Jürgen Jürges (the camera man) very consciously employed framing and perspective to demonstrate the role of die Blicke der Anderen (the gaze of the others) throughout the movie. Who sees whom, who can be seen or not be seen, and how do the constellations signify power relations, emotions, and other types of relationships?

Returning to Scalar, but now in class, I asked students to work in pairs again and find more moments in the movie that can serve as examples of staging the gaze of other people, and interpret them. I used a discussion slide with guiding questions, which were also provided as a handout (s. left).