Screen Nazis

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From the late 1930s to the early twenty-first century, filmmakers in Europe and America have shown a persistent interest in Nazi leaders, rituals, and symbols, producing numerous films ranging from Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) to Inglourious Basterds (2009) and beyond. Sabine Hake explores the emotional roots and impacts of this fascination, examining the historical ties between film and fascism and their implications for mass culture, media society, and politics. These films confront the specter of fascist power, portraying historical figures and events while eliciting emotional responses from audiences, thereby infusing concepts of democracy, liberalism, and pluralism with renewed significance. Hake supports her analysis with a thorough examination of various films, addressing production history, authorship, reception, and aspects of performance and spectatorship. Chapters delve into Hollywood anti-Nazi films from the 1940s, West German anti-Nazi films of the 1950s, East German anti-fascist films from the 1960s, Italian “Naziploitation” films of the 1970s, and the exploration of fascist aesthetics, resistance ethics, and historicization in films from the 1980s to the 2000s across the United States and Europe.