Filming the classics in the separated Germany: Brechtian adaptations for the cinema

The article discusses the presence of Bertolt Brecht’s plays and prose in film cultures
of two antagonistic German states (the German Democratic Republic and
the Federal Republic of Germany) between 1949 and 1989. The author focuses on
the ways of transferring works (and media) within these cultures. He indicates the
film version of Mother Courage and Her Children (Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder,
dir. Peter Palitzsch, Manfred Wekwerth, GDR 1960) and Three Penny Opera
(Die Dreigroschenoper, dir. Wolfgang Staudte, FRG–France 1963) as basic examples
of different testimonies of reception of Brecht’s deeds in two German states
(a classicising attitude and the one inscribed in popular culture). Referring to the
History Lesson (Geschichtsunterricht, FRG–Italy 1972) by Jean-Marie Straub and
Danièle Huillet the author identifies the presence of the New German Cinema in
film reading of Brecht’s works. Film culture of the GDR is marked by significant
DEFA-adaptation of the short stories: Zwei Söhne (Two Sons) (dir. Helmut
Nitzschke, a part of the novella film Aus unserer Zeit (Our time, GDR 1969) which
is discussed in the context of the actors tradition of the Brechtian theatre.