The term “Zero Hour” refers to Germany’s capitulation at midnight on May 8, 1945, ending World War II in Europe. Zero Hour impacted everyone, male and female, old and young. Its arrival ushered in a period of self-reflection in addition to reconstruction, both of the physical infrastructure of the region, and of society. This course will explore some of the films that are set in this critical time period. Germany Year Zero, directed by Roberto Rossolini, captures the experiences of a 12-year-old child who must help his family survive in the devastation of post-WWII Berlin. In The Third Man, a riveting masterpiece of light and shadow filmmaking, a pulp novelist travels to shadowy postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend. Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, The Marriage of Maria Braun is the tale of a beauty, widowed by war, who successfully uses her beauty and ambition to find prosperity in the chaos and economic recovery of post-War Germany. In The Reader, a brief but intense affair with an older woman in the chaos of post-Nazi Germany provides the premise for a tortuous ethical conundrum for its protagonist when, years later, he re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial. Phoenix is an evocative and haunting drama in which a disfigured Holocaust survivor sets out to determine whether the man she loved betrayed her trust. A Woman in Berlin is based the on a true story of a woman who, to escape the most horrifying aspects of the Russian invasion and occupation of Berlin, enters into a complex relationship with a Russian officer. And finally, Land of Mine, set in post-WW2 Denmark, chronicles the experiences of a group of young German POWs that are forced to clear a beach of thousands of land mines against overwhelming odds, and the watchful eye of a Danish sergeant. There will be showings of the shorter films as double features. 5 sessions @3hrs. each.