“It is not enough we have lost the war – now we have to watch it!” Cinemagoers’ attitudes in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany (a case study from Leipzig)

SKOPAL, Pavel. “It is not enough we have lost the war – now we have to watch it!” Cinemagoers’ attitudes in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany (a case study from Leipzig). Participations. Journal of Audience and Reception Studies. 2011, roč. 8, č. 2, p. 497-521. ISSN 1749-8716.

Basic information

• Original name: “It is not enough we have lost the war – now we have to watch it!” Cinemagoers’ attitudes in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany (a case study from Leipzig)
• Name in Czech: "Jakoby nestačilo, že jsme prohráli válku - teď se na to musíme ještě dívat!" Postoje návštěvníků kin v sovětské okupační zóně Německa (případová studie Lipska)
• Authors: SKOPAL, Pavel (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: Participations. Journal of Audience and Reception Studies, 2011, 1749-8716.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: Literature, mass media, audio-visual activities
• Country of publisher: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14210/11:00050342
• Organization unit: Faculty of Arts
• Keywords (in Czech): filmová recepce; dějiny filmové distribuce a uvádění; Sovětská okupační zóna; NDR; lokální dějiny filmové kultury
• Keywords in English: cinema reception; history of film distribution and exhibition; Soviet occupation zone; GDR; local cinema culture
• Tags: rivok
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

The immediate post-WWII years represented a period of turbulent change in many European cinema cultures – and for the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany it held true even more than for any other part of Europe. This case study examines both the new distribution system the Soviet occupation power brought to the zone and the reception of Soviet and German movies by German audiences. A collection of reports about the reaction of audiences to the Soviet movies facilitates research into attitudes to Soviet production. These reports are used for the first time for a historical research on cinema reception and give us a unique opportunity to analyse the behaviour and opinions of the post-WWII audiences through the cinemagoer s written statements, their oral expressions written down by the cinema managers, and observations made by employees of the cinemas. The general problem Soviet production (as, in a less extreme form, any other foreign production) faced on the German market was its cultural difference and the already established expectations based on the implicit norms of a “well made movie”. The prevailing evaluation of the Soviet cinema as primitive one and good enough only for children offered a chance to invert the relation between the occupier and the occupied, the custodian and the reformed, and to (re)capture the stand of cultural superiority. Through the study of reception of the Soviet movies, generally less popular as they were, the paper concludes that the enthusiastic reaction to the German production of the Nazi era goes beyond pure escapism towards the movies function as a confirmation of the fundamentally shaken national identity.

Links

• GAP409/11/0586, research and development project: Name: Komparativní výzkum filmové kultury ve východním bloku, 1945-1970

Investor: Czech Science Foundation, Cinema Culture in the Eastern Bloc, 1945-1970 - A Comparative Study