German literature, film, etc.

[Queen Amaranthine]

An interesting case. A woman of obvious talents, which she used for the worst cause ever. Some contrition on her part would have helped her some. Wagner, too, is complicated - one of the leading anti-Semites of his time, the only reason he wasn't a Nazi is that the Nazis hadn't been invented yet.

So, it's hard. One is tempted to let the talented of the hook for these things, but can one really overlook such darkness?

 

Disturbing as all this sounds, these actually would be interesting and on some level valuable to look at and talk about. Do we value the art because it's art or ignore it because of the artist's awful beliefs and messages? At what point do we detatch the artist from the art--or do we, or can we?

[deepseacatfish]

Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will is probably the height of her career. The imagery and symbolism she uses is iconic, disturbing (to us), and utterly seamless. There's a reason the Nazis so highly regarded her.

 

I don't know if people have mentioned these (as I'm lazy), but for books Gunther Grass is great (though again, now he's a slightly controversial figure since he lied about his involvement in wartime Germany and then later admitted to it). Thomas Mann was one of the better respected early 20th century German writers.

 

As for modern films, these are fantastic: The Experiment, Good Bye Lenin, The Princess and the Warrior, Run Lola Run. In July. There are plenty of others that I'm forgetting, but Germany has definitely seen a large revival in film. Obviously Wim Wenders and Werner Herzog (already mentioned) are great directors too.

 

Another interesting one to check out is Baron von Munchhausen (the original German version with Hans Albers). It was made in 1943 as a German extravaganza to keep people's minds off of the war. It's in color and amazing in its scope.

 

 

Edit: Also Gerhard Richter, as mentioned is great.