Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0415089026, Paperback)

German National Cinema is the first comprehensive account in English of German cinema from its origins to the present. Covering all the major movements from Expressionism to the New Wave, Sabine Hake traces the development of German cinema in relation to political and social change, from the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich to the complex divisions of post-war Germany and the impact of reunification.

Focusing on key themes including genre, audiences and stars, Hake examines German film's relationship with other national cinemas and cultural practices, and traces the artistic under and counter-currents, technological innovations, and social transformations that defined each era of German film. She explores the conflicts and contradictions which have sustained the tension between cinema and politics and cinema and high culture in Germany, and shows how a highly politicized cinema often produced surprisingly apolitical films.