New German Cinema: The Oberhausen Manifesto
November 2nd, 2009 | by Gautam |Author’s Note: This is the article I wrote for the October issue of IndianAuteur. I had to cut this article down to size to make it fit in two pages in the magazine, so I had to cut out most of the quotes I had taken from the Oberhausen Manifesto. What you have below is the original article as I had intened it, sort of a “Director’s cut”.
“The collapse of the conventional German film finally removes the economic basis for a mode of filmmaking whose attitude and practice we reject. With it the new film has a chance to come to life.” –The Oberhausen Manifesto
In 1962, the cinematic globe was already witness to several revisions, some of which are regarded today as revolutionary. British filmmakers were in the second year of their New Wave with their French counterparts, the Godards and the Truffauts riding the third year of theirs. Across the Atlantic, John Cassavetes had laid the seeds of an independent movement in America through his brilliant Shadows (1959) and it would be a good seven years before Fonda, Hopper and Nicholson would make Easy Rider (1969). The Germans it seems were feeling a little left out.
The term “New German Cinema” has been used interchangeably over the years with other terms in similar spirit such as “German New Wave”, “New German School” etc., to describe a movement in the cinema of Germany during the late 1960s, the 1970s and the early 1980s. While the French and British New Waves had a life expectancy of 7 years, the New German Cinema movement would last longer and lay the foundations for Germany in the cinematic history books.
“German short films by young authors, directors, and producers have in recent years received a large number of prizes at international festivals and gained the recognition of international critics. These works and these successes show that the future of the German film lies in the hands of those who have proven that they speak a new film language.” –The Oberhausen Manifesto
At the closure of the Second World War, Germany was split up into East and West and it was up to its artistic and literary circles to take the responsibility to ‘denazify’ its image. West Germany in particular took up the task of turning itself into a modern western state against a rising Soviet influence on the eastern side. Cinema was entrusted with the important role of creating hope among the German people and to present the world a Germany healing from its wounds, all the while remaining on a small budget.
The German filmmakers also had to match up to the rising influence of Hollywood films in Europe. By 1962, most of Europe had recovered considerably from the destruction of the Second World War and this was the perfect time for Hollywood to export its product to take advantage of the lack of high budget European productions, with a secondary agenda of giving them a taste of the American Dream and possibly encourage immigration. German cinema could not compete with the Technicolor lushness of Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and the all-star lineup of How The West Was Won (1962) or the global exploits of James Bond in Dr.No (1962), neither could it afford to match up with the brilliant plots of The Manchurian Candidate, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
Something had to be done.
“We declare our intention to create the new German feature film. This new film needs new freedoms. Freedom from the conventions of the established industry. Freedom from the outside influence of commercial partners. Freedom from the control of special interest groups.” –The Oberhausen Manifesto
The 1962 edition of the Oberhausen Short Film Festival was to be a revolutionary gathering. On February 28th, a group of 26 individuals comprising of filmmakers, artists and writers came together and declared the “death” of the old German cinema, affectionately termed as “Papa’s cinema”. They brought forward the need for a “New German Cinema” and presented the world with a manifesto that simply said that given the chance, they were willing to create that “New” German film that was required and backed their word with the recent success of German short films. This manifesto would find its place in history as the “Oberhausen Manifesto”.
The 26 names that appeared on the manifesto were: Bodo Blüthner, Boris von Borresholm, Christian Doermer, Bernhard Dörries, Heinz Furchner, Rob Houwer, Ferdinand Khittl, Alexander Kluge, Pitt Koch, Walter Krüttner, Dieter Lemmel, Hans Loeper, Ronald Martini, Hansjürgen Pohland, Raimond Ruehl, Edgar Reitz, Peter Schamoni, Detten Schleiermacher,Fritz Schwennicke, Haro Senft, Franz-Josef Spieker, Hans Rolf Strobel, Heinz Tichawsky, Wolfgang Urchs, Herbert Vesely, Wolf Wirth.
These 26 individuals were committed to forego economical gain in exchange for progressive cinema that would match up Germany to the best in the world. They committed to experimention with narrative structures, exploration of new shooting techniques, bringing a sense of realism and to the telling of compelling stories through a strong emphasis on aesthetics
“We have concrete intellectual, formal, and economic conceptions about the production of the new German film We are as a collective prepared to take economic risks. The old film is dead. We believe in the new one”. –The Oberhausen Manifesto
In April 1962, the German government took note and announced plans to setup a board to fund the type of films that are demanded by the manifesto and in October 1965, the “Kuratorium Junger Deutsche Film” was setup, approximately translating as “Board for the Young German Film”. With their new found support and funding, the new generation of German filmmakers set out to do what they had promised. The “New” German Cinema was critically well received in film festivals worldwide and was quickly becoming an important movement, though it would still take a few more years until they would catch fire back at home.
At the beginning of the 1970s, German filmmakers such as Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wim Wenders and Werner Schroeter were becoming well known names in the festival circuit. These filmmakers went as far as attending their own screenings at cinema halls and taking questions from the audience. Their enthusiasm and constant need to reach out to their viewers was what helped better the movement as it moved into the mid-seventies.
At the 1979 Hamburg Film Festival, another declaration was made. “The Hamburg Declaration” as it was called was a moment of gathering of the original signees of The Oberhausen Manifesto in celebration of their success in creating a “new” German cinema as they had promised 17 years earlier. The declaration put forward the professionalism and dedication they showed and came to the conclusion that their only ally was the spectator.
“That means the people who work, who have wishes, dreams and desires. That means the people who go to the movies, those who do not and that means the people who can imagine a totally different kind of film.”
