g erman e xpressionism, 1920-1927: t he c abinet of d r. c aligari lecture 6
TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927:THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI
Lecture 6
![Page 2: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
GERMAN NATIONAL FILM CONTEXT: 1913-1919
• 1916 ban on film imports • Boom in national wartime production– 1913: 30 production companies– 1919: 250 production companies
• 1917: Universum Film A.G. (or Ufa) formed with 1/3 of funding provided by the state.– 1918—Ufa privatized (purchased by Deutsches
Bank)• 1920: Reich Film Act
![Page 3: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Expressionism
• Pre-cursors: Van Gogh, Gauguin, Munch• Rejection of realism• Two phases:
– Pre-war artists: 1905-1915• Developed by two groups
– Die Brucke “The Bridge” (1906)» Ernst Kirchner» Erich Heckel
• Der Blaue Reiter “The Blue Rider” (1911)» Franz Marc» Wassili Kandinsky
– Post-war, second generation artists: 1915-1925• More politicized• Deeply affected by war-time experience• Associated with “Der Sturm” (The Storm) magazine
![Page 4: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Wassili Kandinsky, “Winter” 1909
We start from the idea that the artist, beyond impressions which he receives from the exterior world, from nature, continually accumulates experience in his inner world, and is in quest of artistic forms which must be liberated from all irrelevant elements, so as to express only the necessary… (Kandinsky, 1909)
![Page 5: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
EXPRESSIONISM• Interested in representing interiority• Expressionism eschews objectivity externalizes
inner feelings in the mise-en-scene– Thus, it confuses the subjective and the objective
![Page 6: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
WHAT IS THE MODE OF REPRESENTATION OF EXPRESSIONIST FILM?
1. *Innovates in the area of mise-en-scene (i.e. the pro-filmic)• Sets: artificial not natural• Costumes• Props• Acting• lighting
2. Enframed image/camerawork• Unobtrusive• Mobile camera (The Last Laugh)• Eye-level• Straight-on angle
3. Replaces the image of nature with art: substitutes for nature4. Editing
• Unobtrusive• Continuity
o Shot/reverse shoto Cross-cutting
![Page 7: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
EXPRESSIONIST STYLISTICS: BUILT SETS
From The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
![Page 8: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
EXPRESSIONIST STYLISTICS: GRAPHIC QUALITIES OF THE SHOT/ SETS AS ACTORS/
DE-EMPHASIS ON THE HUMAN FIGURE
![Page 9: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
EXPRESSIONIST STYLISTICS: DISTORTION AND EXAGGERATION
![Page 10: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
EXPRESSIONIST STYLISTICS: DISTORTION AND EXAGGERATION
From Metropolia (Fritz Lang, 1927)
![Page 11: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
EXPRESSIONIST STYLISTICS: JUXTAPOSITION OF SIMILAR SHAPES
![Page 12: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
EXPRESSIONIST STYLISTICS: COSTUMES
![Page 13: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
EXPRESSIONIST STYLISTICS: ACTINGSLOW AND EXAGGERATED
![Page 14: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
EXPRESSIONIST STYLISTICS: LIGHTING
From Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)
![Page 15: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Context for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
• Cabinet emerges from an industrial, commercial filmmaking context
• Expressionism was in vogue at the time.– Kasimir Edschmid in 1919: “[Expressionism] today
affords titillation and edification to clergymen’s daughters and factory-owners’ wives… What once seemed a daring gesture has now become routine. The thrust forward of the day before yesterday has become the gimmick of yesterday and the big yawn of today.” (quoted in Robinson)
![Page 16: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
CONTEMPORANEOUS RECEPTION
• World premiere at the Marmorhaus in February 1920
• German critics were universally enthusiastic• U.S. premiere: April 1921 at the Capitol
Cinema in NYC
![Page 17: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
![Page 18: G ERMAN E XPRESSIONISM, 1920-1927: T HE C ABINET OF D R. C ALIGARI Lecture 6](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062409/56649f0d5503460f94c212cf/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Marcel Duchamp, 1912