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The Evil Old Song (2004)

Directed by Fatih Akin

Overview

The chapter analyzes how the film interweaves Heinrich Heine’s poem The Evil Old Songs with an eclectic musical repertoire—ranging from German military songs, avant-garde industrial music, and popular Turkish and German film scores—to expand what initially may appear to be a specifically German memoryscape to a transnational, European level. While the film evokes collective memories of war and totalitarianism, Akin’s vision is not limited to this past-oriented perspective: it ultimately makes a plea for overcoming the nationalist, racist, and xenophobic attitudes that led to the catastrophes of the twentieth century in order to foster a transnational, peaceful European community.