Lotte H. Eisner

Lotte H. Eisner
Born	Lotte Henriette Regina Eisner (1896-03-05)5 March 1896 Berlin,German Empire (present-day Berlin,Germany)
Died	25 November 1983(1983-11-25)(aged 87) Paris,France
Nationality	German French(naturalized)
Alma mater	University of Rostock(PhD)
Occupation(s)	Writer,film critic
Awards	Ordre des Arts et des Lettres(1982)

Lotte H. Eisner(5 March 1896,Berlin– 25 November 1983,Paris) was a German-French writer, film critic, archivist and curator. Eisner worked initially as a film critic in Berlin, then in Paris where in 1936 she metHenri Langloiswith whom she founded theCinémathèque Française.

Early life and education

She was born Lotte Henriette Regina Eisner inBerlin,the daughter of textile manufacturer Hugo Eisner and his wife Margarethe Feodora Aron.Eisner grew up in a prosperous Jewish middle-class milieu and in 1924 obtained a Ph.D. from theUniversity of Rostock.Her dissertation was on the development of Greek vases.

Career

In 1924, she began working as a freelance theatre critic until in 1927, Hans Feld, a friend of her brother, suggested she worked for him atFilm Kurier,one of many film trade papers in Berlin. She joined theFilm Kurieras a staff journalist, writing a mixture of articles and interviews and the occasional film review including the premiere ofMädchen in Uniform.Most of the premieres and major commercial feature films were reviewed by the men on the staff but occasionally she was allowed to assess them. In 1932, with the rise ofNational Socialismshe became proof editor and reviewer-in-chief as members of staff began to leave Germany.

In March 1933, just three months afterAdolf Hitlerbecame Chancellor, Eisner fled Berlin to Paris where a sister lived. Here she lived precariously taking any job she could find (such as translating or babysitting) and working whenever possible as a freelance film critic for international journals and newspapers. In 1940, she was rounded up in the firstRafle du billet vertand taken to theVel d'Hivwith hundreds of other single Jewish women. From there, they were transported toGurs internment campin the Pyrenees, a concentration camp run by the French for the Germans. After a few months, she managed to escape and travelled toMontpellier,where she enrolled briefly as a student before finding her way to Rodez and to Pastor Exbrayat, who helped her to obtain false papers; she consequently became Louise Escoffier from the Alsace region. She remained in touch withHenri Langlois,who was in Paris, and was placing cans of film in secret locations around the country to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Nazis.One of those places was nearFigeacin central France, in the cellars ofChâteau de Béduer.Langlois instructed Eisner to go there to preserve the films (includingThe Great Dictator). Eisner accomplished this in freezing cold conditions for a month before running out of money. In need of help, she managed to gain a job in a girls school in Figeac. Badly treated, she began to teach German to some Spanish girls living with the local school teacher Madame Guitard, who took her in; she stayed there until theliberation of Parisin late August 1944.

After the liberation of Paris, Eisner rejoined Langlois and became Chief Curator at the Cinémathèque Française, where over a period of forty years she was responsible for collecting, saving and curating films, costumes, set designs, art work, cameras and scripts for the Cinémathèque. At the same time, Eisner began to work in private on her bookL'Écran démoniaquelater translated asThe Haunted Screenwhich she described in a letter toFritz Langas "a book on German silent film". She also published essays, articles and film reviews in journals includingRevue du cinéma,which later becameCahiers du cinéma.In 1952, Eisner published her most highly acclaimed book,L'Écran démoniaque,her study of the influence of the spirit of German Expressionism on cinema, translated into English asThe Haunted Screenin 1969.Eisner subsequently published studies ofF.W. Murnau(1964) and ofFritz Lang(1976), with Lang's collaboration.Murnauwas awarded the Prix Armand Tallier in 1965

In the late 1950s, she became a friend of and mentor ofWerner Herzogand other leading young German film makers, includingWim Wenders,Volker SchlöndorffandHerbert Achternbusch.When Eisner fell gravely ill in 1974, Herzog walked fromMunichto Paris in winter. Herzog commented: "It was clear to me that if I did it, Eisner wouldn't die."Eisner appears in Herzog's autobiographical documentaryPortrait Werner Herzog(1986). In his 2 February 2016 interview atStanford University,Herzog claims that 8 years later she complained to him of her infirmities and asked: "I am saturated with life. There is still this spell upon me that I must not die - can you lift it?" He says that he did, and she died 8 days later.Wenders' filmParis, Texas(1984) is dedicated to her memory.

Death and legacy

Lotte Eisner plaque

On her death in 1983, French Minister of CultureJack Langdeclared that the loss of Eisner would be "a great loss for the French cinema" which would be "felt with profound sadness by her numerous friends in the film world."

Posthumously in 1984, Eisner's memoirIch hatte einst ein schönes Vaterland(Once I Had a Beautiful Fatherland) was published. The title is a quotation from the poemIn der Fremde(Abroad) byHeinrich Heine.

Wim Wendersdedicated his filmParis, Texasto Eisner in the movie's closing credits.

Honours

Eisner became a French citizen in 1955 and as a result was particularly honoured to be awarded Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur and the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, in 1982.

Writings

• MurnauFrance 1964, US and UK 1972
• Fritz Lang,Da Capo Press, New Edition 1986,ISBN0-306-80271-6
• Die dämonische Leinwand,engl.The Haunted Screen:Expressionismin the German Cinema and the Influence ofMax Reinhardt,University of California Press, Second Edition 2008,ISBN0-520-25790-1
• Ich hatte einst ein schönes Vaterland. Memoiren,Munich: dtv, 1988 dictated to Martje Grohmann at the end of her life this book is a memoir of her life in Berlin, her escape to Paris, her war time experiences and finally her work at the Cinémathèque Française. She talks in detail about the many amazing filmmakers, designers and actors she knew during her long life.

External links

• Lotte EisneratIMDb
• Pabst and the Miracle of Louise Brooks– Lotte H. Eisner essay aboutLouise BrooksandPandora's Box(1929) at theWayback Machine