Last week we looked at film history in an hour. Today, the theme is to make links between the history of cinema, one film movement - German Expressonism - and contemporary film. So...
German Expressionism from The Cabinet to the Closet:
Dr Cagliari in 1919 to Lady GaGa in 2010
So, what is Expressionism?
"Expressionism is a symbolic representation of a state of mind"
What is Expressionism?
A film form where a subjective feeling, rather than objective observation, is represented symbolically in forms such as shapes, colour, contrasts and subject matter.
Where and why did it start?
During the period of recovery following World War I, the German film industry was booming. However, because of the hard economic times, filmmakers found it difficult to create movies that could compare with the lush, extravagant features coming from Hollywood. German film makers developed their own style by using symbolism and set design, or mise-en-scène, to add mood and deeper meaning to their films and explore the darker psyche of the mind.
How would I know I was watching an Expressionist film?
These film are characterised by:
- highly stylized visuals
- strange asymmetrical camera angles
- atmospheric lighting
- non-diegetic sounds
- harsh contrasts between dark and light.
- shadows and silhouettes, which were often painted on to the set.
Many directors, such as Fritz Lang and F.W.Murnau were able to use these techniques in their own style, creating tension, fear, excitement and intense feelings in the audience throughout the movie or specific scenes.
Its purpose was to deepen the audience’s interaction with the film, combining technology and imaginative filming techniques in order to intensify the illusion of reality. The Expressionists supplanted reality with myth and fantasy in order to liberate visual perception from the other senses.
How did this change cinema?
The Expressionists practically reinvented the look of film in a number of ways:
- unusual editing rhythms (it was very hard to follow the plot due to this fact)
- respectively distorted sets
- exaggerated gestures
- weird or different camera angles
- the “camera unchained”, the term used for the camera now able to to move within the scene, which vastly increased the character's subjectivity.
The genres that have been especially influenced by Expressionism are, inevitably, the horror film and film noir.
What are the famous films and film makers?
Amongst the best remembered are films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Weiner, 1920), Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922), Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927) and Sunrise (F.W. Murnau, 1927).
In conclusion, no other film genre of the 1920's was as innovative and influential as German Expressionism. It opened the world's eyes to the possibilities of filmmaking, and where an audience could be taken. It was very much a product of its time, and so flourished and declined in that 10 year period of social and economic change. But its influence lives on in terms of production aesthetics and audience-driven production decisions. Simply put, modern films would not be the same if it was not for the ground breaking achievement of German Expressionist cinema.
Edward Scissorhand (1990)
Where will I see the influence of German Expressionism in film now?
Film: any Film Noir, but Scorcese's Shutter Island (2010), Tim Burton's Edward Scissrohands (1990).
Music video: Lady GaGa's Alejandro clearly references the German Expressionist movement.
Sources:
Cooper, Max (2009) German Expressionism IB Film: Blog Entry
Bordwell, David & Thompson, Kristin (2001) Film Art: An Introduction New York: McGraw-Hill.
Budd, Mike (1990) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press
Carroll, Noel (1990) The Philosophy of Horror, or Paradoxes of the Heart. London: Routledge
Jensen, Paul M. The Cinema of Fritz Lang, The International Film Guide Series. A.S. Barnes & Co, 1969.
Eisner, Lotte (1973) H. Murnau Le Terrain Vague, Paris, 1964, English translation, revised and enlarged. Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd, London
Cook, Pam (1985) The Cinema Book. BFI
