2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
The Transformations and the Development of German National Cinema
| Project/Area Number |
18520219
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
ヨーロッパ語系文学
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| Research Institution | Kumamoto University |
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Principal Investigator |
TANAKA Yuji Kumamoto University, Faculty of Letters, Professor (60040490)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KATO Mikirou Kyoto University, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Professor (60185874)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2006 – 2007
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| Keywords | Expressionism / Ufa / German National Cinema / Hollywood / E. Lubitsch / F. Lang / Nibelungen / F. W.Murnau |
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| Research Abstract |
The research in Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv Berlin and Deutsches Institut Sir Filmkunde in Frankfurt gave the head Investigator some important suggestion of German National Cinema.
The international success of Passion and The Cabinet of Dr. Cajgan confirmed that films with 'typical German Styles could be profitable and that only emphasis on the national would make German companies competitive internationally The positive reception of these films in the United States provoked fears of a 'German invasion' and prompted several studios to eliminate the unwanted competition by inviting some of the major players to Hollywood: E. Lubitsch, P.Negri. as early as 1922, and G.W. Murnau in 1926.
Hollywood cinema was originally an immigrant-oriented industry. Thus not only the founders of the industry, but also lots of filmmakers from foreign countries came to Hollywood, and became a sustainable creative factor to the industry. In that situation, German directors came to take prominent roles in creating
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new Hollywood films. To cite a few names, such as F.W Murnau and Fritz Lang, the famous German film directors came to Hollywood and succeeded to make good Hollywood films in the new circumstance. This means that the film industry has already been an international one at that time (in 1920s・30s), and that therefore there was no difficulty to bridge between German Film and American film. Almost every filmmaker has already in corporate (he classical Hollywood film style by the late 1920s. The international itj' of the filni style made it possible far the industry to sell films abroad and accept foreign filmmakers. The flexibility of the film industry was a key to the development of the industry. Indeed 1930s saw a flourishing Hollywood innovation both in technology and human resource. Thus German film directors felt no difficulty to work under an unfamiliar circumstance. It is true that they could not German-like films in the USA, but it was possible for them to make a little bit alternative Hollywood films in the USA Some of the German film directors had to change his style from German period to American period, in spite that they made successful American films as well as their German films. Less
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