The Historical Films of Ernst Lubitsch

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Edited by David John Boyd

Type

Studies

Subject

Director > Ernst Lubitsch

Keywords

Ernst Lubitsch, analysis, filmography

Publishing date

2025 (January 01, 2025)

Publisher

Edinburgh University Press

Collection

ReFocus: The International Directors Series

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 312 pages
6 x 9 ¼ inches (15.5 x 23.5 cm)

ISBN

978-1-3995-3261-7

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Book Presentation:
Explores German-American filmmaker Ernst Lubitsch’s engagement with and expressions of historicity throughout his career

• Analyses Lubitsch’s historical cinema from his Berlin silent epics to his Hollywood comic classics in relationship with ongoing debates in film history, film studies, film-philosophy, world cinema and historical studies
• Considers the impact of Lubitsch’s historical oeuvre in philosophical, textual, and cultural contexts, with a focus on the spatial, performative and sensorial readings of his accessible, satirical and playful historical stylings
• Connects Lubitsch to relevant political and cultural events and institutions, specifically noting Lubitsch’s relevance during our contemporary moment marked by the global rise of fascism, as well as a public return of Nazism and populist antisemitism across the world

ReFocus: The Historical Films of Ernst Lubitsch responds to and reframes the films of German émigré director Ernst Lubitsch as film-philosophical exemplars of both early world cinema and historical cinema, from his silent era costume dramas to his post-war Hollywood romances. This edited collection examines recent Lubitsch scholarship within the context of transcultural and transhistorical film theory to provide a critical retrospective of Lubitsch’s costume films, historical epics, and marriage comedies across his three illustrious decades of international success.

Press Reviews:
Like adjusting the lens on a projector, this volume brings Lubitsch’s films into sharper focus, revealing new dimensions. The authors convincingly refocus our vision of Lubitsch’s humanizing touch with fresh insights and diverse approaches that illuminate the global impact of his style and demonstrate why his historical films continue to reward close analysis long after their initial flicker.– Mason Kamana Allred, associate professor of communication, media, and culture, Brigham Young University—Hawaii

This rich, theoretically ambitious volume explores the relationship between history (social and film history) and Lubitsch’s films of both the German and the American periods. The emphasis on the tactile in Lubitsch is especially original and promising. The authors collected here bring diverse, multinational perspectives to the volume.– Rick McCormick, Professor Emeritus of German, University of Minnesota

See the publisher website: Edinburgh University Press

See the complete filmography of Ernst Lubitsch on the website: IMDB ...