Berlin school

The term “Berlin School” itself was widely used in 2001 after the review of film critic Rainer Ganser in the article “Glicks-Pickpocket” (“Pocket Thief of Happiness”) ^[1] on Thomas Arslan’s film “A Beautiful Day”. There is evidence that the term "Berlin School" has already been used before, for example by film critic Merten Wortmann in Die Zeit, but this use was not conceptual. In France, film critics called this direction “Nouvelle Vague Allemande” - “The New German Wave” (by analogy with the French New Wave of the early 60s).

The three most prominent representatives of the direction studied at the Berlin Academy of Film and Television ( Angela Chanelek , Christian Petzold and Thomas Arslan ), where they studied with Hartmut Bitomsky (from 2006 to 2009, he was its director on the set of his film Die UFA "In 1992, Petzold worked as an assistant, Arslan as an assistant operator, and Chanelek read the voiceover) and Haruna Faroki . Petzold and Arslan were well acquainted during their studies at the film school and even organized regular film screenings for students of films of interest from their point of view ( Jean Estash , Marta Mesaroche , Bill Douglas). The first films of the new direction are considered to be: “Mach die Musik leiser” by Thomas Arslan ( 1994 ), “Das Glück meiner Schwester” by Angela Chanelek ( 1995 ) and “Pilotinnen” by Christian Petzold ( 1995 ) ^[2] . These films were shown at European festivals and attracted the attention of critics ^[3] .

An important role in the development of the Berlin school was played by Revolver magazine, whose editor-in-chief is Christoph Hochheusler , this magazine and its corresponding Internet blog are perceived as a theoretical mouthpiece of this trend. The magazine was founded in 1998 by a group of students from the Munich Film Academy ^[4] . A prominent role among them was played by Christoph Hochheusler and Benjamin Heisenberg. Students were unhappy with the level of teaching the theory and history of cinema at their school. Hochhäusler and Heisenberg tried to put cinema in the general cultural context, and analyzed cinema in comparison with other forms of art: from sculpture to a combination of image and text among themselves. In the early 2000s, they moved to Berlin to search for funds for independent shooting of the film and personally met Chanelek, Petzold and Arslan. Here the publication of the magazine continued and the events “Revolver live” (public meetings with directors of films notably artistic) were regularly held ^[5] .

The directors of the Berlin School did not accept joint official Declarations or Manifestos that could serve as a guide for its followers. The style of the films of those directors who consider themselves to be different is different. Of particular importance for the development of the Berlin school was the television trilogy “Three Lives” (“Dreileben”). These hour and a half films are united by the German town of Dryleben (in fact, such a city does not exist, it was invented by the authors). Three films were directed by Christian Petzold, Dominic Graf and Christoph Hochheusler. This is a melodrama , a detective story and a psychological thriller , demonstrating the generality of the principles of the Berlin school and the originality of the individual manner of various directors adjacent to it ^[6] . Films of this direction are presented at the box office with a limited number of copies and usually do not pay off at the box office (For a long time, the most successful film of the Berlin school was considered "Internal Security", which gathered 120 thousand viewers). Films of the Berlin School actively participate in European festivals, receive high awards at them. A significant part of films filmed for television.

• The linear principle of the narrative, but the films do not so much tell the plot as they observe its development. Contemplation, the slow development of the plot, the desire to capture reality in its details ^[7] . Christoph Hochhäuser defines this feature as follows (from a letter) ^[8] :

“The happiest moments of my movie life have always been associated with a state of pure contemplation, beyond all morality, with concentration, staying at home”

.

• The conventionality of the chosen genre (from thriller, detective and western to melodrama), it is only an excuse for establishing contact with the viewer.
• Objectivity and impartiality of the director’s view, which does not try to reveal the psychological background of events and take the side of one of the heroes, analyze the impact of the past on the present and present on the future. The inner world of the hero expresses his social essence.
• Minimal use of dialogs, use of mainly visual means of expression.
• The heroes of the films of the Berlin School are superfluous for the modern neoliberal capitalist society (Christian Petzold openly talks about his socialist views and rejection of the capitalist society, the predecessor and inspirer of the Berlin school Harun Faroki adheres to them and actively promotes them in his films), which destroys traditional human values - home, family. At the same time, directors prefer to deny the direct political nature of their films.
• Fundamental rejection of postmodernism , the desire to raise questions about self-determination, individual choice and responsibility.

• Angela Chanelek
• Christian Petzold
• Thomas Arslan
• Hochheusler, Christoph
• Waleska Grisebach
• Ulrich Köhler
• Maren Ade
• Maria Shpet
• Dominic Graf (belongs to the older generation, but collaborates with the Berlin school and is usually ranked among it)
• Benjamin Heisenberg
• Henner Winkler
• Pia Marais
• Isabelle Stever
• Jan Krueger
• Elke Hauk

• 2003 Milk Forest / Milchwald (directed by Christoph Hochheusler) ^[10]
• 2005 Ghosts / Gespenster (Director Christian Petzold) ^[11]
• 2010 In the Shadow / Im Schatten (Director Thomas Arslan) ^[12]
• 2010 Robber / Der Räuber (director Benjamin Heisenberg) ^[13]
• 2011 Barbara / Barbara (director Christian Petzold) ^[14]

• Abel, Marco. The Counter-Cinema of the Berlin School. Camden House, Rochester 2013. ISBN 978-157-113-438-7 .
• Nessel, Sabine. Ferien vom Erzählen: Leerstellen, Ellipsen und das Wissen vom Erzählen im neuen Autorenfilm der Berliner Schule, in: Susanne Kaul / Jean-Pierre Palmier / Timo Skrandies (Hg.). Erzählen im Film. Unzuverlässigkeit - Audiovisualität - Musik. Bielefeld. 2009. S. 105-119.
• Seibert, Marcus (Hrsg.). Kino muss gefährlich sein. Revolver Filmbuch. Verlag der Autoren. Frankfurt am Main. 2006. ISBN 978-3886612963 .
• Urs Urban: Rosetta und Yella. Von der Unmöglichkeit der erzählerischen Resozialisierung des ökonomischen Menschen. In: Trajectoires, Nr. 3/2009, 17. Dezember 2009.
• Baute, Michael. Knorer, Ekkehard. Pantenburg, Volker. Petke, Stefan. Rothler, Zimon. Berlin school - collage. Cineticle.
• About the Berlin school. Quiet Zero Revolution. Collection of articles edited by Michael Rathaus. M. 2014.

• The official website of the magazine "Revolver" (German language).