From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film » (2nd Edition)

Siegfried Kracauer (1889-1966) was a film critic and independent film historian and theorist. He is the author of "The Mass Ornament" and "A Theory of Film: The Redemption of Physical Reality", edited by Miriam Bratu Hansen (Princeton). Leonardo Quaresima is Professor of Film History and Criticism and Director of Cinema Studies at the University of Udine, Italy.

"An undisputed classic of modern film historiography, Kracauer's From Caligari to Hitler had a major impact on the way we relate movies to history and society. Although Kracauer is not afraid of using such contested concepts as collective psychology and German 'soul,' his productive readings of Weimar films as harbingers of emerging fascism still resonate today. Leonardo Quaresima's engaging and erudite introduction is critical in situating Kracauer's project both in its historical moment and in our time."--Anton Kaes, University of California, Berkeley

Nation

The thesis of this unusually interesting book is that the German films of the twenties were filled with premonitions of the German totalitarianism of the thirties.