Maria, Myth and “the Other”: Image, Worship and Taboo
Abstract
Coates analyzes Metropolis, the film by Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou, against the context of anti-Semitic sentiment that had an impact on Germany’s collective awareness before World War 2. The starting point for Coates are the notions of the Other, an enemy, scapegoating and the substitute victim formulated by René Girard. The key character is Maria in her double incarnation, a sacred and a real one; a monstrous and a false one. Anti-Semitism in Metropolis is hidden and coded. Coates is aware that such an interpretation is connected with the risk of over-interpretation but Metropolis is a special film which underwent modifications and re-editing. Coates proves that the editing changes were not ideologically neutral and perfectly corresponded with the Nazi-fuelled fears of a Jewish threat.
- The text is a translation of an excerpt from the book Cinema, Religion and the Romantic Legacy by Paul Coates, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot 2003. © 2003 by Ashgate Publishing.
Keywords:
Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou, myth, anti-SemitismReferences
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Authors
Paul Coateskwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
University of Aberdeen United Kingdom
Profesor anglistyki na King’s College, University of Aberdeen w Szkocji. Interesuje się kinem europejskim i jego związkami z polityką, a także wpływami totalitaryzmu, historią i literaturą, kinematografią polską i niemiecką oraz wczesną teorią filmu dotyczącą kina niemego. Wybrane publikacje: The Gorgon’s Gaze: German Cinema, Expressionism, and the Image of Horror (1991), Film at the Intersection of High and Mass Culture (1994).
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