Peter W. Jansen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peter Wilhelm Jansen (born November 11, 1930 in Elsdorf , Rhineland; † November 15, 2008 in Gernsbach ) was a doctor of German studies and journalism and was one of the leading German film journalists of the 1970s and 80s. Jansen supported New German Film and international auteur films in radio, television and print media .

biography

Jansen was the son of a tailor. After graduating from high school in Andernach, he initially trained as a publishing bookseller with Kiepenheuer and Witsch in Cologne . He then went on to study German, history and sociology at the Universities of Cologne and Marburg . In 1958 he received his doctorate from the University of Freiburg im Breisgau with a German studies on Joseph Roth . Jansen then embarked on a journalistic career, he worked in the editorial offices of Der Mittag in Düsseldorf, at WDR in Cologne and in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). From 1966 Jansen worked for Südwestfunk (SWF) in Baden-Baden , most recently as head of the main department for culture / radio with a focus on “international film” until 1995. Since the late 1970s, he was a film critic for the ZDF culture magazine for almost ten years aspects where he could present a film of his choice every two weeks. In addition, Jansen wrote non-fiction books, reviews, essays and travel articles. Jansen was a frequent juror at film festivals and a valued conversation partner and friend of filmmakers and auteur filmmakers . Among his best friends were Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Edgar Reitz . Jansen was considered an exponent of German film criticism, who campaigned for the new film in the 1970s and 1980s - during the heyday of European auteur films and New Hollywood . He wanted to bring the " emphasis " and the " ethos " of free filmmaking closer to the largest possible audience and achieved this for a long time.

Series film

Together with the film critic of the Frankfurter Rundschau , Wolfram Schütte , he published the blue “Film series” at Hanser Verlag in cooperation with the Deutsche Kinemathek Foundation, which is respected among film connoisseurs and lovers . Such a comprehensive filmographic series had previously only appeared in France. "Each volume should contain an annotated filmography, an interview or an essay, and in any case a data section, as carefully and extensively as possible." Before publication, the authors viewed all of the director's films. As a result of these film shows, the Berlin Arsenal cinema was able to offer retrospectives. A total of 45 volumes were published from 1974 to 1992. Michael Krüger , the literary director and later managing director of the Hanser Verlag, discontinued the unique series because it had made a loss of half a million DM and Krüger no longer wanted to counter-finance it. Source evidence is missing!

Jansen's cinema

Jansen's second magnum opus was the edition of the radio reviews of his 100 favorite films as audio CDs, which he regarded as representative of film history up to around 1980. An “analytical and linguistic brilliance” was found in the portrayals of “ Jansen's cinema ” and the edition was recognized as a “new genre of audio books, or better audio films”. Schütte described Jansen's retrospective of the medium of film as a sensitive montage of film music, dubbing and original dialogues, interviews “in a captivating dramaturgy”, which for him “was more than any film review; it was an original creative art of translating from one medium to another. ” Thomas Rothschild added in formal terms:“ He added information about the historical context and production conditions as well as the reception of the films. He cited declarations of intent and theoretical positions of the makers. [...] In doing so, Jansen looked beyond the boundaries of film, to literature and music, visual arts and philosophy. "

Jansen's passion and devotion for the art of film was expressed not only in an extraordinarily high level of receptivity and productivity, but also in his contributions to the radio. He was loved to be listened to, the “warm tone of his voice” was appreciated and he was considered to be “the German radio voice par excellence” when it comes to film.

He regretted the non-political viewing of films that has become common today as a “decline in film criticism.” This can also be observed in terms of craftsmanship: “For a long time I have been bothered by the fact that many film reviews read like book reviews. Montage no longer plays a role, neither does camera work. ”In addition, film reviews are increasingly being read as if they were written by volunteers .

Peter W. Jansen had lived in the Gernsbach district of Staufenberg near Baden-Baden since 1974 and died after a long, serious illness. Jansen was married to the socially and politically committed librarian and lawyer Anne Jansen (1930–2011); they had two sons and a daughter.

Works (selection)

  • Relation to the world and narrative attitude. A study of narrative work and poetic existence Joseph Roth 's ; Dissertation; Freiburg im Breisgau, Philosophical Faculty, 1958
  • Movie. 100 years of cinema ; in: Brockhaus-Enzyklopädie , Leipzig, Mannheim, 1995 (1996); Pp. 133-137. (Essay)
  • Film criticism on radio and television ; in: Filmkritik , 1998; Pp. 190-195.
  • Jansen's cinema. A history of cinema in 100 films . Bertz + Fischer Verlag , Berlin 2003 (radio essays)
    Radio series of the SWF and SWR : Jansen's cinema in 100 episodes from 1995 to 2002 as an audio book on 50 CDs.
  • East. It continues beyond the horizon. The films of Volker Koepp . In: apropos: Film 2004; Red .: Ralf Schenk, edited by the DEFA Foundation, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-929470-29-2 ; Pp. 110-128.
  • Rainer Werner Fassbinder [edited by Peter W. Jansen and Wolfram Schütte in collaboration with the Deutsche Kinemathek Foundation , with contributions by Peter Iden and others], in: Fischer-Cinema series film. Fischer Taschenbuch 11318, Frankfurt am Main 1992, ISBN 3-596-11318-0 (licensed edition by Hanser Verlag , Munich, Vienna).

Filmography (selection)

  • CVs: Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Television documentary, Federal Republic of Germany 1977, director: Peter W. Jansen, production: Südwestfunk , first broadcast: March 18, 1978
  • The cinema of perestroika. A report. TV feature , 1987, 30 min., By Peter W. Jansen and Michael Stefanowski, production: ZDF , aspekte
  • The gradual disappearance of the worker. The world of work in film. Studio show, 43 min., By and with Peter W. Jansen. Guests: Christian Ziewer, Reinhard Jung, Production: SWF , First broadcast: 1988
  • Parlez-moi d'amour: French cinema of the 1930s. Television feature, 1988, 43 min., Book: Peter W. Jansen and Christa Maerker, production: SWF
  • Wim Wenders in conversation with Peter W. Jansen. Talk, 1989, 40 min., Production: SWF

Memberships

Jansen was a member of many funding committees and juries, which he left again if his suggestions were not welcomed. He did not want to solve questions of aesthetics with a democratic vote, but with a consensual agreement among experts.

literature

  • Peter W. Jansen. Publicist and film critic (= Film & Schrift, Vol. 19, edited by Rolf Aurich and Wolfgang Jacobsen). Munich: edition text + kritik 2018.

Web links

Audio files

Contributions by Jansen

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Peter W. Jansen. In: autoren-bw.de. Retrieved March 27, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Peter W. Jansen: Home. In: nzz.ch. January 1, 2002, accessed March 27, 2020 .
  3. ^ Licht im Dunkel - On the death of the film critic Peter W. Jansen - SZ Archive - sueddeutsche.de. In: archiv.sueddeutsche.de. November 17, 2008, archived from the original on August 12, 2010 ; accessed on March 27, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Ekkehard Knörer: peter w. jansen is dead: a child of the heroic era - taz.de. In: taz.de. November 18, 2008, accessed March 27, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Cinema nostalgia: The blue "Film series" from Hanser-Verlag. In: kinogucker.wordpress.com. September 15, 2015, accessed March 27, 2020 .
  6. ↑ a b c Ralf Schenk : “Jansen's cinema. Workshop talk with Peter W. Jansen ”  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , film-dienst , August 2008, No. 19, excerpt  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / film-dienst.kim-info.de  @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.highbeam.com  
  7. ↑ a b Archive • Film Time. In: www.film-zeit.de. Archived from the original on February 25, 2018 ; accessed on March 27, 2020 (quotation from Josef Schnelle in the film service).
  8. ↑ Wolfram Schütte: On the death of Peter W. Jansen. In: titel-kulturmagazin.net. November 17, 2008, accessed March 27, 2020 .
  9. ^ Thomas Rothschild : Peter W. Jansen (1930-2008) . In: Friday . No. 47 , November 20, 2008 ( freitag.de ).
  10. ↑ Daniel Kothenschulte : Warm tone . In: Frankfurter Rundschau . November 17, 2008 ( fr.de ).
  11. ↑ Jan Schulz-Ojala: Peter W. Jansen. His cinema . In: Tagesspiegel . November 17, 2008 ( tagesspiegel.de ).
  12. ↑ a b Irene Schneid-Horn: Anne Jansen celebrated her 80th birthday. A woman with a lot of commitment. In: Gernsbacher Bote . No. 3 , September 15, 2010, p. 19 ( katzverlag.de [PDF; 3.0 MB ]).
  13. ↑ "Mourning for Anne Jansen." SPD Gernsbach, June 26, 2011.
personal data
SURNAME Jansen, Peter W.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jansen, Peter Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German film critic and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH November 11, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Elsdorf
DATE OF DEATH November 15, 2008
Place of death Gernsbach