The Jew in Dutch Cinema

This book is a pioneer study of the image of the Jew in Dutch cinema within the context of national cinema and identity. The image of the Jew is examined from the 1914 silent film Weergevonden, through antisemitic films produced in the Netherlands under Nazi occupation, Dutch films of the first decades after the Second World War, and war films of the 1980s, to movies produced in the first two decades of the twenty-first century. While Dutch films in the first half of the twentieth century tended to emphasize the image of the Jew as the "other," Dutch films since the second half of the century have been more inclined to focus on the identity of the Jew who gradually becomes a member of the collective Dutch "self." The Jew in Dutch cinema plays a special role in defining Dutch national identity, illustrating the virtues and defects of the Dutch. Elucidating Dutch history and identity and the way in which Jews are presented as part of the issue of Dutch national identity, the book also complements the research on the images of Jews and other ethnic minorities. It will be of interest to researchers in the fields of Film and Cultural Studies, in particular those studying ethnic/racial stereotypes, cultural identity, and national cinema.