From Caligari to Hitler

The title of Rüdiger Suchsland's documentary is derived from the 1947 book by film theorist Siegfried Kracauer, which was subtitled “A Psychological History of the German Film.” Kracauer argued that German cinema between the world wars—beginning with Robert Wiene's expressionist masterpiece The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and continuing through Fritz Lang's thrillers about master criminal Dr. Mabuse—reflected popular attitudes that valued strong (even tyrannical) rule over a state of social chaos, presaging the eventual triumph of fascism. The thesis has been decried as overly simplistic, but it serves as a useful framework for Suchsland, whose survey of German films from the period melds sober narration, relevant archival material, and extensive clips—not only from famous classics like Caligari and M but also from many lesser-known works. In fact, one of the documentary's major virtues is that it not only covers noted filmmakers such as Lang, F. W. Murnau, and Ernst Lubitsch but also serves as an introduction to movies in many different genres by other directors who are virtually forgotten today. Suchsland also provides an excellent biographical sketch of Kracauer, concentrating on his significant role among the coterie of intellectuals—including Walter Benjamin, Ernst Bloch, Herbert Marcuse, and Theodor Adorno—who dominated scholarship in Frankfurt and Berlin during the Weimar period. Both a fine exploration of Kracauer's influential if debatable theory and a valuable overview of German filmmaking during a seminal historical time, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)