'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
texture which is both social and historic. Rather than presenting personal<br />
experience and recollections as „private‟ constructions, Germany Pale Mother<br />
presents them in correlation to historic context and social imperative. (n. pag.)<br />
By blending subjective memories and archival footage <strong>of</strong> the war in her film,<br />
Sanders-Brahms emphasizes the problematic process <strong>of</strong> historical recovery. She does not<br />
treat history as an unquestionable fixed referent, but rather reveals it to be a site <strong>of</strong><br />
contestation between genders, between generations, and between the victorious Allied<br />
Forces and the defeated German population (Naughton n. pag).<br />
Let us turn now to an examination <strong>of</strong> the other sequences <strong>of</strong> the film that<br />
juxtapose fictional scenes and archival footage. After the birth/bombing montage, the<br />
next sequence that contains authentic footage shows Lene and her infant daughter taking<br />
refuge from a bombing raid in an air raid shelter. In this sequence, Sanders-Brahms uses<br />
both newsreel footage and radio broadcasts to refer to the political forces that intrude on<br />
Lene‟s private life. The first scene <strong>of</strong> this sequence shows Lene alone at home, holding<br />
Anna in her arms, and sitting in front <strong>of</strong> a Christmas tree. She listens to the famous radio<br />
broadcast <strong>of</strong> “Stille Nacht” or “Silent Night” on Christmas Eve 1942 sung by German<br />
soldiers on the outmost reaches <strong>of</strong> the expanded German Reich. The broadcast is ironic<br />
because, as Hillman suggests, “It‟s rendition […] feigns a sovereignty that the imminent<br />
collapse <strong>of</strong> Stalingrad was to totally negate” (71). Ironically, the line “alles schläft” or<br />
“everything sleeps” is interrupted by air raid sirens. Lene is shown placing Anna in a<br />
baby carriage, collecting a suitcase, leaving her house, and hastily pushing the carriage<br />
past a pile <strong>of</strong> rubble towards the nearest air raid shelter. Flashes <strong>of</strong> light illuminate the<br />
dark scene. The next shot shows Lene entering the shelter and sitting down among a<br />
group <strong>of</strong> frightened women, children, and elderly men. The shelter radio broadcasts a<br />
60