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German Expressionism

German Expressionism emerged in post-WWI Germany as a distinct artistic movement in film, characterized by distorted imagery and a focus on emotional expression rather than aesthetic beauty. Key films like 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,' 'Nosferatu,' and 'Metropolis' exemplify this style, which utilized innovative techniques such as chiaroscuro lighting and artificial sets to evoke feelings of anxiety and alienation. Although the movement waned by the early 1920s due to political changes, its influence persisted in Hollywood and later cinematic styles, including film noir and surrealism.

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100 views6 pages

German Expressionism

German Expressionism emerged in post-WWI Germany as a distinct artistic movement in film, characterized by distorted imagery and a focus on emotional expression rather than aesthetic beauty. Key films like 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,' 'Nosferatu,' and 'Metropolis' exemplify this style, which utilized innovative techniques such as chiaroscuro lighting and artificial sets to evoke feelings of anxiety and alienation. Although the movement waned by the early 1920s due to political changes, its influence persisted in Hollywood and later cinematic styles, including film noir and surrealism.

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Tadele Molla
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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German Expressionism

Introduction

When countries are at war, every industry within them is also under attack. Or at
the very least, is vulnerable to change. After WW1, German films became stranger
and quite a bit darker. The control of the government banning foreign films also
aided to their isolation. From there, German Expressionism was born.

German Expressionism is a part of modernist movement initially started with poetry


and painting in Germany. It was the movement where people sought to express
what felt or saw during the First World War. German expressionism mainly spread
around Germany and Northern European states. The Expressionist movement today
is considered as one of the artistic movement.

To define this style, we need to understand where it comes from and why it looks
like nothing else from that era. Once we lay out the definition and a brief history,
we'll jump into some examples.

What is German Expressionism in film?

German Expressionism is a particular artistic style that first appeared in poetry


and theatre around 1910. It became popular in film 10 years later after WWI. It
comes partly from German Romanticism and gives a subjective view of the world. It
visualizes the country's collective anxiety through distorted and nightmarish
imagery. Expressionists had little interest in their work being aesthetically pleasing.
This style flourished after the horrors of WWI, and the inevitable economic
devastation that followed. The first few films that can be described as pure German
Expressionism include The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Metropolis.

Dominant characteristics of Expressionism

1. Expressionism used mise-en-scene and heavy atmosphere

2. Long shadow effects

3. Artificial sets with realistic details

4. The details in the sets bring forth the emotional, that stirs audience mind

5. Camera set in unexpected angles gives audience a different perception

6. Aims in evoking mystery, hallucinations and extreme emotional stress

7. Slow pace than other regular movies


When someone consider the real-life situation in Germany after the war, it's no
wonder that art and cinema got as dark as it did.

Lotte Eisner, a German film critic, labeled it “helldunkel,” which she defined as “a
sort of twilight of the German soul, expressing itself in shadowy, enigmatic interiors,
or in misty, insubstantial landscapes.”

German Expressionism in film is associated with high contrasts of darks and lights
to convey nightmarish sets, often using the chiaroscuro lighting technique. Let's
look at some of the classic examples that cemented this aesthetic steeped in
shadows.

Style

The “German style.” Emphasis on design or mise-en-scène, uncanny atmosphere,


and composition (less on story and editing, unlike Hollywood). “The film image must
become graphic art” (Hermann Warm).

Expressionism = Stylization that abstracts and transforms reality as we know it


(from the conventions of realistic art) through

- photography (unexpected camera angles, little camera movement)

- lighting (stark contrasts of light and shadow for various effects)

- totally artificial, stylized sets (“paintings come to life”), stripped of all realistic
details and psychology—sets that become symbolic diagrams of emotional states

- overtly theatrical (anti-naturalist) acting style (actors move in jerky, slow, sinuous
patterns) and heavy make-up

- integration of all elements of mise-en-scène to create an overall composition Such


Expressionist techniques aim to

- abstract from realistic details and contingencies

- bring out the “essence” of an object, situation, or state of being

- express a subjective viewpoint

- evoke mystery, alienation, disharmony, hallucination, dreams, extreme emotional


states,b destabilization

Expressionist film in the 1920s is based on the premise that film becomes art only
to the extent that the film image differs from

empirical reality: “The world is there: Why repeat it?” The “formative” power of film
was seen in its ability to
- resignify and rework reality (not merely record it)

- construct a self-contained aesthetic and symbolic world of the imagination


radically detached from the everyday

EXAMPLES OF GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM

Icons of German Expressionism

Now that we have somewhat of an understanding, let's look at some examples.


German Expressionism isn't the easiest style to define, but seeing is believing,
right?

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was based on
the writers' experiences as WWI soldiers and their distrust of authoritarian
leadership. The filmmakers chose to deliberately distort reality in order to disorient
the audience to invoke a feeling of the time rather than a truthful or realistic
depiction. Edward Scissorhands is a direct descendant of Dr. Caligari. somrone can
see the angled and broken architecture of the set, the extreme light/shadow work,
and the look of Edward himself. Now look at Burton's other work and you'll see that
the haunted soul of German Expressionism lives on.

Dr caligari

Nosferatu (1922)

The grandfather of all vampire movies that set the bar for every horror movie to
come after. F.W. Murnau's film is a thinly veiled adaptation of Bram Stoker's
"Dracula." And it holds up today as one of the most visually effective horror films.
Nosferatu

Metropolis (1927)

Fritz Lang's silent film uses expressionist imagery to comment on technology


consuming society. The film is deep in exaggerated imagery heightening the
emotion that drives the plot.

Metropolis (1927)

Legacy of German expressionism


After the end of inflation in 1924, Weimar reality stabilized and films sought to be
realistic, objective, documentary (in accordancewith the cool, sober “New
Objectivity” in painting, photography, and literature). Introduction of sound after
1928 forced films to become more “realistic.” Notable exceptions: Murnau’s Faust
and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (both 1926) were the last major Expressionist films, both
excessive in their production values. Hollywood became interested in the German
style. Filmmakers (Lubitsch, Murnau), actors (Jannings, Veidt, Dietrich), cameramen
(Karl Freund), were lured to Hollywood. Expressionism has been interpreted as

- a challenge to our habitual perception of reality (liberating in the sense that we


see the world not as given or fixed but as constantly changing);

- a protest against the “duplication” of empirical reality (liberation at least in the


aesthetic realm);

- an exploration of film’s materiality, i.e. its difference as a medium (experiments


with expressive lighting effects, subjective camera, design that externalizes the
character’s inner thoughts);

- a foregrounding of the signifier (showing film to be a constructed object designed


to make things, sets, and actors signify/express something);

- a way to imbue inanimate objects and sets with “life” (colored by the subjective
vision of characters in distress or gripped by insanity, paranoia, insecurity,
disorientation), to let objects “speak” Expressionist techniques—unrealistic sets,
theatrical composition, lighting, self-conscious or obtrusive camera—live on in
Surrealist film, avant-garde cinema, horror films, and in American film noir of the
1940 and 1950s.

End of German Expressionism


German expressionism came to an end in 1923 with political barriers and forced
ban, it was named that expressionism was degenerated art for film making in
Germany. However the German expressionists moved to Hollywood where
expressionism continued with the influence of Hollywood glamour and culture. It is
considered that the main reason for the fade away of Expressionism was the
gradual disinterest in the topic.

Renowned Directors and Movies from Expressionism Era


The first film that came as an experiment of expressionism was Paul Wegener’s
“Student of Prague” a silent thriller, the plot revolves around a poor student rescues
a beautiful countess and soon becomes obsessed with her. A sorcerer makes a deal
with the young man to give him fabulous wealth and anything he wants, if he will
sign his name to a contract (i.e. make a Deal with the Devil). The student hurriedly
signs the contract, but doesn’t know what he’s in for.
Robert Wiene’s “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is also considered as one of the
landmark movie in the German Expressionism which was considered as the prime
example of expressionism films.

Ernst Lubitsch’s “Die Bergkatze”, Fritz Lang’s “Dr. Mabuse the Gambler”, Fritz
Lang’s “Destiny”, Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” are some of the critically acclaimed
films of the German Expressionist era.

REFERENCE
፩ https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/german-expressionism-film
፩ https://www.filmtheory.org/german-expressionism
፩ https://www.dw.com/en/100-years-ago-premiere-of-the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari
፩ https://people.wou.edu/~keulksg

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