'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
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politics has been shown to be completely false. In an interview with Peter Brunette,<br />
Sanders-Brahms reveals her belief that personal relationships are affected by the<br />
historical, social, and political contexts in which they take place. She states, “The<br />
political situation we‟re living in has enormous influence on our love life […] Cinema<br />
has the tendency to make believe that the political situation has nothing to do with the<br />
love <strong>of</strong> a man for a women, but it‟s not true” (quoted in Brunette 41).<br />
In the fairy tale segment, the effect <strong>of</strong> images evoking postmemories <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Holocaust is heightened by their appearance in tandem with narrative elements <strong>of</strong> the<br />
fairy tale. In my opinion, the synergy <strong>of</strong> narration and images creates even more<br />
poignant postmemories <strong>of</strong> the Jewish genocide than the images would alone. Some <strong>of</strong><br />
these connections are very explicit. One example <strong>of</strong> this takes place when Lene tells how<br />
the robber bridegroom directs the miller‟s daughter to find his house, stating: “Und damit<br />
du auch den Weg findest, will ich dir Asche streuen” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-Erzählung<br />
92). 69 When Lene recounts these lines, she and Anna happen upon the abandoned<br />
factory. The camera pans slowly up the length <strong>of</strong> a very tall smokestack. The literary<br />
reference to the path scattered with ashes, and the shot <strong>of</strong> the towering chimney could<br />
evoke in the viewer a postmemory <strong>of</strong> a concentration camp chimney blowing out ashes <strong>of</strong><br />
cremated inmates. This allusion is reinforced by the image <strong>of</strong> heavy ovens reminiscent <strong>of</strong><br />
a crematorium shown in tandem with Lene‟s first telling <strong>of</strong> the fairy tale bird‟s refrain,<br />
“Kehr um, kehr um, du junge Braut. Du bist in einem Mörderhaus” (Sanders-Brahms,<br />
Film-Erzählung 93). 70 As Davies suggests: “Just as ashes lead the Grimms‟ heroine to<br />
the murderer‟s house, in the film too, the motif <strong>of</strong> the cold ovens are emphasized and we<br />
69 “And so that you find the way, I will spread ashes for you” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-Erzählung 92).<br />
70 “Turn around, turn around, you young bride. You are in a murderer‟s house” (Sanders-Brahms, Film-<br />
Erzählung 93).<br />
93