'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
'Murderer's House' - University of Victoria
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3.1 Intergenerational Dialogue in Deutschland, bleiche Mutter<br />
In her film, Deutschland, bleiche Mutter Helma Sanders-Brahms takes up the<br />
enunciative role <strong>of</strong> woman as storyteller by recreating her mother‟s and her own<br />
experiences <strong>of</strong> the Hitler years and post-war era. Through using the public medium <strong>of</strong><br />
film to portray this narrative, Sanders-Brahms preserved her story as a cultural artefact,<br />
making it accessible to a wide audience at the time <strong>of</strong> its release, today, and for<br />
generations to come. The theme <strong>of</strong> communication between generations is one that is<br />
central to Sanders-Brahms‟ project. She seeks to open up an intergenerational dialogue<br />
through three specific cinematic techniques. These include: a dramatic reading <strong>of</strong> a<br />
Brecht poem by his daughter, the director‟s commentary on her fictionalized recreation <strong>of</strong><br />
her mother‟s life through the authorial voice-over, and Sanders-Brahms‟ daughter playing<br />
a role in the film.<br />
Deutschland, bleiche Mutter takes its title from Brecht‟s prophetic poem<br />
“Deutschland” (“Germany”) written in 1933 during his exile from Germany (Brecht,<br />
Poems 555). In the prologue to Sanders-Brahms‟ filmic action, Hanne Hiob, Brecht‟s<br />
own daughter, reads her father‟s poem. This reading is accompanied by twelve shots <strong>of</strong><br />
the poem‟s text in small print on a black and white background. Through having<br />
Brecht‟s daughter read his lyrical allegory <strong>of</strong> Germany as a mother despoiled by fascism,<br />
Sanders-Brahms traces a thematic connection between the post-war generation <strong>of</strong><br />
daughters and their interrogation into their mothers‟ roles in Germany‟s fascist past.<br />
Hiob‟s reading sets up the idea <strong>of</strong> an interaction between generations in which a “German<br />
daughter” <strong>of</strong> the post-war generation reads a poem that questions the “German mother,”<br />
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