Cultural Memory, Film, and Music

In this first chapter, I first introduce the general status of feature film in recent memory studies, and then give an historical overview of filmic representations of the Shoah. I outline key elements of the academic discourse about filmic representations of the Holocaust, specifically with regard to the role of popular culture in the process of globalized memory and commemoration. I argue that music and other sounds in films take on a defining function in these processes due to their (multidimensional) temporal quality, yet have received little attention. Drawing on key discursive elements of an ongoing “popularization of memory” debate, I present my selection of four films, whose music will be analyzed in detail: Schindler’s List, The Pianist, Taking Sides, and Inglourious Basterds. In my detailed analysis of these films, I apply and combine recent and established film music theories that focus on the interaction of sound and image, the construction of identity, and the influence of popular music. I am particularly interested in the meaning of supposed dichotomies between the classical and the popular, the original and the preexistent, and harmony and noise.