Introduction: Ernst Lubitsch’s Touch of the Past

This introduction situates Ernst Lubitsch’s historical films within a broader discourse of film-philosophy, historicity, and aesthetic innovation, using a series of illustrative anecdotes and critical reflections. It revisits Lubitsch’s critique of Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) and Pudovkin’s Storm Over Asia (1928) as a framework to theorise his unique cinematic approach to history—not as literal accuracy, but as humanised, comic, and affectively resonant expression of memory and modernity. The chapter traces Lubitsch’s resistance to monumentalism, privileging subtlety, sensuality, and satire over grandiose historical spectacle. It also outlines the volume’s structure, periodizing Lubitsch’s career into three major phases—Weimar-era costume dramas, Pre-Code Hollywood films, and émigré comedies—while establishing key theoretical and historiographical concerns. Ultimately, the introduction positions Lubitsch’s oeuvre as a ludic, tactile, transhistorical negotiation with power, desire, and memory, offering a vitalistic, accessible and embodied alternative to dominant historical cinema of his peers.