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"Fritsche, Maria"
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Homemade men in postwar Austrian cinema
Despite the massive influx of Hollywood movies and films from other European countries after World War II, Austrian film continued to be hugely popular with Austrian and German audiences. By examining the decisive role that popular cinema played in the turbulent post-war era, this book provides unique insights into the reconstruction of a disrupted society. Through detailed analysis of the stylistic patterns, narratives and major themes of four popular genres of the time, costume film, Heimatfilm, tourist film and comedy, the book explains how popular cinema helped to shape national identity, smoothed conflicted gender relations and relieved the Austrians from the burden of the Nazi past through celebrating the harmonious, charming, musical Austrian man.
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Tourist Film
Tourist film has a long tradition in Austrian cinema. The film adaptation of the musicalIm Weissen Rössl(The White Horse Inn, 1926), directed by Richard Oswald, is certainly one of the most famous, and was remade four times between 1935 and 1960.¹ However, ‘tourist film’ is not a recognised genre or industrial category, but a term I apply retrospectively to describe a specific type of film that deals with the holiday experiences of urban tourists. Film scholars have customarily considered these light-hearted comedies about people spending holidays in the countryside as a simple variation of theHeimatfilmgenre, as
Book Chapter
The Historical Costume Film
Sissi(1955), the tragic story of the Bavarian princess Elisabeth/‘Sissi’, who falls in love with the young Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I and marries him, still tops the league of the most successful productions in postwar Austria.¹ It is a classic that, through frequent television screenings, has acquired a cult following across continental Europe. WhileSissiis one of the few Austrian films known outside German-speaking countries today, it was only one of many historical costume films that were hugely profitable at the time. Why was the genre so successful? Was it because it offered an escape to a fairy-tale
Book Chapter
Heimatfilm
The unexpected success of the West German filmSchwarzwaldmädel(Black Forest Girl), which premiered in 1950, sparked a veritableHeimatfilmboom in Austria and West Germany.¹ Although they were often directed heavy-handedly,Heimatfilmsfrequently outdid glamorous Hollywood productions at the box office.² The genre’s appeal was broad. One of its main selling points was certainly its visual imagery – the showcasing of nature at its most beautiful and pristine provided escape for the audience; the landscape, unspoilt by war or modernity, conveyed a sense of ‘timelessness’, offered security and, furthermore, promised a newHeimatto the millions of displaced persons.³ The
Book Chapter
Popular Cinema and Society
In January 1946, eight months after Nazi Germany’s downfall, the shooting of the first Austrian postwar film began. The film’s serious title,Glaube an mich(Believe in Me), a plea to put trust in the future of Austria, contrasted with its content.Glaube an michwas directed by the Austrian-Hungarian revue specialist Géza von Cziffra, and was a light-hearted winter sports comedy (see Chapter Four for more details) that had little to say about the immediate Nazi past, the war or the deprivations from which people were still suffering. Traditional in choice of theme as well as aesthetic style, it
Book Chapter