This essay analyzes three later films of Arnold Fanck: S.O.S Eisberg (1933), Die Tochter des Samurai (1937) and Ein Robinson (1940). Best known for the classical mountain films (Bergfilme) which he, along with LeniRiefenstahl and Luis Trenker, pioneered in the 1920s, Fanck continued to direct feature-length films through Robinson. These films have been the subject of far less critical interest than Fanck's mountain films. While S.O.S Eisberg, Die Tochter des Samurai and Ein Robinson are not classical mountain films, they all contain scenes that would fit in Fanck's more canonical works. The three films also share a thematic element, namely that of an individual who initially chafes at the restrictions of a group, be it an expedition or a nation. Furthermore, the filmsshow a process of politicization in Fanck's oeuvre. As the popularity of Fanck's mountain films declined in the early 1930s, he turned to more political themes in the hope of remaining relevant within the National Socialist film landscape. While S.O.S. Eisberg displays much of the Bergfilm genre transported to the Arctic, Die Tochter des Samurai and Ein Robinson range geographically farther afield and more explicitly take up themes of the individual versus the collective that resonate within National Socialist Germany.

Haque, Kamaal. Joining the Ranks: Arnold Fanck's Later Films. Colloquia Germanica, eds. Kamaal Haque and Christian Quendler, 56, no. 4 (2023): 325-332.

Kamaal Haque is a professor of German at Dickinson College.

For more information on the published version, visit University of Kentucky's Website. https://mcl.as.uky.edu/GC-upcoming-issues

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