German Expressionism In Film Analysis

Introduction

A film movement is a wave of films following a finicky trend in cinema of that time. Most of the current movements in cinema are regional but influence world cinema. Films from every movement have cultural and traditional origins usually influenced by national tragedy, popular culture, or social issues. Experiment with techniques can be used to create the innovating filming styles. Boundaries in editing are also pushed to the limit at times to give these films a unique identity. These innovating films impact world cinema and are very important in not only the history but also in the future of cinema. https://es-la.facebook.com/CineramaPR/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Expressionism

Films such as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari by (Robert Weiner, 1920), Nosferatu by (F.W. Murnau, 1922), Metropolis by (Fritz Lang, 1927) and Sunrise by (F.W. Murnau, 1927) are remembered as pure expressionist film. These films were made by highly stylized visuals, strange asymmetrical camera angles, atmospheric lighting and harsh contrasts between dark and light. Shadows and silhouettes were an important feature of expressionism, to the extent that they were actually painted on to the sets in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. The story lines of German expressionist films suited the visuals in terms of darkness and disillusionment. Frequently darkish in the mood and featuring characters from a corrupt underworld of crime, the films’ dramatic effects produced motifs of claustrophobia and paranoia. The same words could be used to describe 1940s Hollywood film noir, which was hugely influenced by German expressionism. Film noir is typified by Bogart and Bacall in films such as The Big Sleep. Fritz Lang himself also went on to make notable film noirs such as Fury and You Only Live Once. (http://michelle-strozykowski.suite101.com)

But it was not so much a direct relay of life to art. Rather, it was more like a filter, a way of assembling the clutter of post war Germany to coherence on the screen. It was a way to represent and bring across the reality few could imagine. Sex murders, depression, veterans ghoulishly mangled in the war, the loss of innocence and complete rejection of the past were the things the German people dealt with during the post-war years of 1919 – 1929 (commonly called the Weimar Period in film history). The films produced in Germany during those years captured the cry of a broken nation and a people horrified by the