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Bruce Campbell evaluates the prior authors, Konrad Weiss and Beate Meyer’s, argument on the cinematic presentation of the film, Rosentrassee.
First, I would like to take issue with Konrad Weiss (though I agree with
much of what he says otherwise): whatever the exact wording at the
beginning of the film, Margarethe von Trotta does claim
authenticity--otherwise she would not be stating that the events actually
happened. In fact, any historical film makes this claim to some degree, by
simply taking up historical events or situating the action in a
recognizably historical context. This does not mean we can't treat
historical events in a fictional way, it simply places a special
responsibility on a filmmaker not to depart too far from the historical
record.
More important, I see the film as one of a recent series of cultural
productions which memorialize the Third Reich more and more as a time when
Germans were either victims or heroes--not perpetrators, and as a time when
Jews, if mentioned at all, are seen as merely adding to the German's
problems. (My thinking here is strongly influenced by Omer Bartov's essay
"Seit die Juden Weg sind", printed most recently in his book _Germany's War
and the Holocaust: Disputed Histories._) In von Trotta's film Jews are
almost just a part of the scenery; they serve to demonstrate the nobility
of the Aryan Germans, they disrupt the lives of their German spouses (by
being arrested) and they add a bit of exoticism with their curious burial
customs, but the main story of the film does quite well without them. The
real heroes are Aryan German women (and one, crippled Aryan man....), who
are also victims of (in first instance) men (including Jewish men) and
(secondly) of cliches in SS uniform who are to one-dimensional to be
considered real people. This leaves the film with the simple message that
(female) Germans were heroes in opposing the Nazis and continuing life under
the burdens of war--which burdens were made worse by having to look after
weak and helpless Jews. (I found Beate Meyer's remarks particularly helpful
here.)
But I would go a step further and argue that Rosenstrasse really argues for
kind of integralist or fundamentalist identity politics: what ultimately
defines people is an integral identity which cannot be denied or overcome:
Aryans are Aryans, Jews are Jews, women and women, and anyone who attempts
to combine or deny one of these fundamental identities will sooner or later
suffer the consequences or return to the fold: thus Ruth insists on
mourning her husband in the strict orthodox tradition, and her daughter
Hannah goes to Germany in search of her Jewish identity. Though von Trotta
may seem on the surface to be arguing for a "humanistic" or "non-political
anti-fascism", I think the real logic of her film is quite different. This
is only intensified by the melodramatic character of the film and by its
heavy use of stereotypes, which contributes to its ultimately conservative,
even reactionary message.
Bruce Campbell
Dept. Of Modern Languages and Literatures, the College of William and Mary