The Department of German and German Studies Presents Dr. Bridget Levine-West
Bridget Levine-West, University of Vermont, will speak on "The Comeback of the Classics:'Filmbildung' with/in 21st-Century German Adaptations."
Starting around 2005, renewed excitement for films based on canonical German literary texts led to a proliferation of adaptations. What brought about such a sudden upsurge in the genre in Germany? And how is it that it remains, nearly two decades later, so widely popular, involving small independent filmmakers, prize-winning auteurs, blockbuster-producing studios, and now Netflix? Finally, to what extent and why do these films self-reflexively comment upon their own status as adaptations? Gaining insight into these questions can help us understand the role German heritage plays for and in contemporary German film and television culture. To illustrate, we will take a close look at scenes from Emilia (2005), Werther (2008), Young Goethe in Love (2010), and Undine (2020).
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