Thrill Machine

How did early cinema affect the nerves? And why was it regarded at the beginning of the 20th century as both a danger and an exciting attraction?

In her book *Thrill Machine*, Stephanie Werder examines how closely the public perception of the new medium of cinema was linked to the discourse on nervousness at the time. Around 1900, technological progress, big-city life, and an ever-accelerating pace of daily life were changing people’s perceptions. Neurasthenia was considered a typical “fashionable illness” of the time—and it was amid this nervous atmosphere that cinema established itself.

Focusing on Germany, Werder shows how notions of nervousness began to shape debates about film around 1907. Especially in the 1910s, cinema was regarded as a medium with a powerful effect on the nerves. Opposing positions clashed: The cinema reform movement criticized commercial cinema as a dangerous “thrill machine.” Industry journals, on the other hand, promoted precisely the intense impact of films.

This study combines perspectives from film studies, the history of medicine, the history of science, and the history of discourse, and draws on numerous sources that have received little attention to date.

A short film program complements the book presentation and brings the film culture of the era to life on the big screen.

Guest

Dr. Stephanie Werder studied German language and literature, film studies, and English language and literature at the University of Zurich. Her book is based on her dissertation at the Department of Film Studies at the University of Zurich, which was written as part of the Swiss National Research Priority “Mediality.” Today, she works as an assistant manager at the Cameo art house cinema in Winterthur.

Moderator: Karin Herbst-Meßlinger (Deutsche Kinemathek)