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German ExpressionismGerman Expressionism refers to a number of related creative movements beginning in Germany before the FirstWorld War that reached a peak in Berlin, during the 1920s. These developments in Germany were part of a largerExpressionist movement in north and central European culture in fields such as architecture, painting and cinema.German Expressionist painting produced a great number of works, and led to Neo-expressionism.

History

Mary Wigman, pioneer of Expressionist dance(left)

1920s–1930s

Still from the 1920 film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Among the first Expressionist films, TheStudent of Prague (1913), The Cabinet ofDr. Caligari (1920), The Golem: How HeCame Into the World (1920), Destiny(1922), Nosferatu (1922), Phantom (1922),Schatten (1923), and The Last Laugh(1924), were highly symbolic and stylized.

The German Expressionist movement waslargely confined to Germany due to theisolation the country experienced duringWorld War I. In 1916, the government hadbanned more foreign films in the nation. Thedemand from theaters to generate films ledfilm production to rise from 24 films (1914)

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to 130 films (1918). With inflation on the rise, Germans were attending films more freely because they knew thattheir money's worth was constantly diminishing.[1]

Besides the films' popularity within Germany, by 1922 the international audience had begun to appreciate Germancinema, in part due to a decreasing anti-German sentiment following the end of World War I. By the time the 1916ban on imports was lifted, Germany had become a part of the international film industry.Various European cultures of the 1920s embraced an ethic of change, and a willingness to look to the future byexperimenting with bold, new ideas and artistic styles. The first Expressionist films made up for a lack of lavishbudgets by using set designs with wildly non-realistic, geometrically absurd sets, along with designs painted on wallsand floors to represent lights, shadows, and objects. The plots and stories of the Expressionist films often dealt withmadness, insanity, betrayal, and other "intellectual" topics (as opposed to standard action-adventure and romanticfilms). Later films often categorized as part of the brief history of German Expressionism include Metropolis (1927)and M (1931), both directed by Fritz Lang. This trend was a direct reaction against realism. Its practitioners usedextreme distortions in expression to show an inner emotional reality rather than what is on the surface.[2]

The extreme anti-realism of Expressionism was short-lived, fading away after only a few years. However, the themesof Expressionism were integrated into later films of the 1920s and 1930s, resulting in an artistic control over theplacement of scenery, light, etc. to enhance the mood of a film. This dark, moody school of film making was broughtto the United States when the Nazis gained power and a number of German filmmakers emigrated to Hollywood.These German directors found U.S. movie studios willing to embrace them, and several German directors andcameramen flourished there, producing a repertoire of Hollywood films that had a profound effect on film as awhole.[3]

Two genres that were especially influenced by Expressionism are horror film and film noir. Carl Laemmle andUniversal Studios had made a name for themselves by producing such famous horror films of the silent era as LonChaney's The Phantom of the Opera. German filmmakers such as Karl Freund (the cinematographer for Dracula in1931) set the style and mood of the Universal monster movies of the 1930s with their dark and artistically designedsets, providing a model for later generations of horror films. Directors such as Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, OttoPreminger, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Carol Reed and Michael Curtiz introduced the Expressionist style tocrime dramas of the 1940s, expanding Expressionism's influence on modern film making.

Influence and legacyGerman silent cinema was arguably far ahead of cinema in Hollywood.[4] As well as the direct influence of filmmakers who moved from Germany to Hollywood, developments in style and technique, which were developedthrough Expressionism in Germany impressed contemporary film makers from elsewhere and were incorporated intotheir work and so into the body of international cinema from the 1930s onward.A good example of this process can be found in the career of the British director Alfred Hitchcock. In 1924,Hitchcock was sent by his film company Gainsborough Pictures to work as an assistant director and art director atthe UFA Babelsberg Studios in Berlin on the film The Blackguard.[5] An immediate effect of the workingenvironment there can be seen in his expressionistic set designs for The Blackguard.The influence can also be seen throughout the rest of Hitchcock's career. In his third film, The Lodger, Hitchcockintroduced Expressionist set designs, lighting techniques, and trick camera work (such as the image of a manwalking across a glass floor shot from below, a concept representing someone pacing upstairs) to the British publicagainst the wishes of his studio. In his later films, this influence continued through his visual experimentation. Forexample, in the shower scene from Psycho, Norman Bates' blurred image seen through a shower curtain isreminiscent of Nosferatu shown through his shadow. The development of these themes and techniques are notcoincidental. Hitchcock said, "I have acquired a strong German influence by working at the UFA studios Berlin".Hitchcock's film making has in its turn influenced many other film makers and so has been one of the vehicles whichhave propelled German Expressionist techniques into the present day.

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Expressionism has also had an influence on contemporary films. For example Dark City is influenced by GermanExpressionism's stark contrast, rigid movements, and fantastic elements.Werner Herzog's 1979 film Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht was a tribute to F. W. Murnau's 1922 film. The film usesExpressionist techniques of highly symbolic acting and symbolic events to tell its story. Notably it links the vampiremyth with the black death through the use of black rats. One may even notice the link between the evil character ofthe vampire portrayed by Klaus Kinski, and Nosferatu's star, Max Schreck.Wikipedia:Citation neededStylistic elements taken from German Expressionism are common today in films that do not need reference to realplaces such as science fiction films (for example, Ridley Scott's 1982 film Blade Runner, which was itself influencedby Metropolis).Wikipedia:Citation neededWoody Allen's 1991 film Shadows and Fog is an homage to German Expressionist filmmakers Fritz Lang, GeorgWilhelm Pabst and F. W. Murnau.Ambitious adaptations of the style are depicted throughout the contemporary filmography of director Tim Burton.His 1992 film Batman Returns is often cited as a modern attempt to capture the essence of German Expressionism.The angular building designs and severe-looking city squares of Gotham City evoke the loom and menace present inLang's Metropolis.Burton's influences are most apparent in the fairy tale suburban landscape of Edward Scissorhands. The appearanceof the titular Edward Scissorhands (not accidentally) reflects Caligari's somnambulist servant. Burton casts unease inhis candy-colored suburb, and the tension is visually unmasked through Edward and his Gothic castle. Burtonsubverts the Caligari nightmare with an inspired narrative branding, casting the garish somnambulist as the hero andthe villagers as the villains.Wikipedia:Citation needed Similarly, Dr. Caligari was the inspiration for the grotesque,bird-like appearance of The Penguin in Burton's 1992 film Batman Returns.Wikipedia:Citation neededThe familiar look of Caligari's main character can also be seen in the movie The Crow. With the tight, black outfit,white make-up and darkened eyes, Brandon Lee's character is a close relative to both Cesare and to Burton's filmEdward Scissorhands.Wikipedia:Citation neededBurton was also reportedly influenced by silent films and German Expressionism for his film adaptation of themusical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, describing the musical as a "silent film withmusic".Wikipedia:Citation needed

Cinema and architectureMany critics see a direct tie between cinema and architecture of the time, stating that the sets and scene artwork ofExpressionist films often reveal buildings of sharp angles, great heights, and crowded environments, such as thefrequently shown Tower of Babel in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.Wikipedia:Citation neededStrong elements of monumentalism and modernism appear throughout the canon of German Expressionism. Anexcellent example on this is Metropolis, as evidenced by the enormous power plant and glimpses of the massive yetpristine 'upper' city.Expressionist paintings avoided the use of subtle shadings and colors. They often used large shapes of bright,unrealistic colors with dark,and they were often cartoon-like. Buildings might sag or lean, showing the ground tiltedup steeply.German Expressionist films produced in the Weimar Republic immediately following the First World War not onlyencapsulate the sociopolitical contexts in which they were created, but also rework the intrinsically modern problemsof self-reflexivity, spectacle and identity.Robert Wiene's silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) is universally recognized as an early classic ofExpressionist cinema.

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Following the esteemed critiques of Siegfried Kracauer and Lotte Eisner, these films are now viewed as a kind ofcollective consciousness, so inherently tied are they to their social milieu. Briefly mentioned by J.P. Telotte in hisanalysis of German film, “German Expressionism: A Cinematic/ Cultural Problem”, expressionism focuses on the“power of spectacles”[6] and offers audiences “a kind of metonymic image of their own situation”.This film movement paralleled Expressionist painting and theater in rejecting realism. The creators of the timesought to convey inner, subjective experience through external, objective means. Their films were characterized byhighly stylized sets and acting; they used a new visual style which embodied high contrast and simple editing. Thefilms were shot in studios where they could employ deliberately exaggerated and dramatic lighting and cameraangles to emphasize some particular affect - fear, horror, pain. Aspects of Expressionist techniques were lateradapted by such directors as Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles and were incorporated into many Americangangster and horror films. Some of the major filmmakers of this time were F.W. Murnau, Erich Pommer, and FritzLang. The movement ended after the currency stabilized, making it cheaper to buy movies abroad. The UFAfinancially collapsed and German studios began to deal with Italian studios which led to their influence in style ofhorror and films noir. The American influence on the film industry would also lead some film makers to continuetheir career in the US.

InterpretationTwo works about the era are Lotte Eisner's The Haunted Screen and Sigfried Kracauer's From Caligari toHitler.{{Kracauer, Siegfried. “Caligari.” From Caligari to Hitler. Princeton: Princeton U P, [1947] 2004. 61–76. }}Kracauer examines German cinema from the Silent/Golden Era and eventually concludes that German films madeprior to Hitler's takeover and the rise of the Third Reich all hint at the inevitability of Nazi Germany. For Eisner,German Expressionist cinema is a visual manifestation of Romantic ideals. She closely examines staging,cinematography, acting, scenarios, and other cinematic elements in films by Pabst, Lubitsch, Lang (her obviousfavorite), Riefenstahl, Harbou, and Murnau. More recent German Expressionist scholars examine historical elementsof German Expressionism, such as inflation/economics, UFA, Erich Pommer, Nordisk, andHollywood.Wikipedia:Citation needed

References[1] Thompson, Kristin. Bordwell, David. Film History: An Introduction, Third Edition. McGraw Hill. 2010, p.87[2] Thompson, Kristin. Bordwell, David. Film History: An Introduction, Third Edition. McGraw Hill. 2010, p.91[3] Dickos, Andrew (2002). Street with No Name: A History of the Classic Film Noir. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press. ISBN

0-8131-2243-0, pp. 9-34.[4][4] "Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock", BBC Television 2009, Broadcast- 28th Feb 2009[5] "Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock", BBC Television 2009, Broadcast- 28th Feb 2009 and Wikipedia Alfred Hitchcock page[6] Telotte, J.P. “German Expressionism: A Cinematic/ Cultural Problem” in Traditions in World Cinema. (ed. Badley, et al.), 2006, p.21

External links• GreenCine primer on German Expressionism (http:/ / www. greencine. com/ static/ primers/ expressionism1. jsp)• German Expressionist Cinema at Indian Auteur (http:/ / www. indianauteur. com/

mar_13_world_GermanExpressionist. php)• Online Films (https:/ / archive. org/ search. php?query=mediatype:movies AND collection:feature_films AND /

metadata/ subject:"German Expressionism")• Leicester's Collection of German Expressionist Art (http:/ / www. leicester. gov. uk/ your-council--services/ lc/

leicester-city-museums/ exhibitions/ german-expressionist)

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Article Sources and ContributorsGerman Expressionism  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=614279099  Contributors: 84user, A dullard, AVand, Abolyss, Achowat, AdamSmithee, Alex '05, Alex contributing,Alonsogv, Androsyn, Arctic Night, Askme300, Avik pram, Awersowy, Azendel, BATTISFORD, Backslash Forwardslash, Badseed, Bagatelle, Beetstra, Bender235, Betacommand,Bigdaddy1981, BowChickaNeowNeow, BudhaCronX, Cat's Tuxedo, Cjohnson487, CommonsDelinker, D.h, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, Dagonet, David Gale, Dionellesampson, DionysosProteus,Doctormatt, Dr K Vivian Taylor, Dwoodwoo, Edgar181, EmerySean, Emperor, Enshaian, EoGuy, Eos różanopalca, Eras-mus, Eric-Wester, Esaborio, Folantin, Gaius Cornelius, Ghirlandajo,Gnrlotto, GoingBatty, Hans Dunkelberg, Haverpopper, Helion Omega, Hellmers, Hello32020, Hgilbert, Hmains, Isabel100, J.delanoy, JNW, Jahsonic, Janga5382, Janzomaster, Jeremy Butler,Jerzy, Jihg, Jim1138, Jmabel, Jmodel, Jublub, Jun-Dai, Jusdafax, Kbdank71, La goutte de pluie, LaNaranja, Lady Aleena, Lancelost, Liizz, Lola Voss, Lord Bodak, Lord Cornwallis, LorenzoB,Lugnuts, Malickfan86, Marcg106, Martarius, Matthew Fennell, Mcginnly, Mdhollan, Mike Rosoft, Modemac, Modernist, MusikAnimal, NSR77, Neko-chan, Neutrality, Nightscream, Odenkam,OldakQuill, Omnipaedista, Osaboramirez, Otto Normalverbraucher, Parable1991, Pearle, Pejosi, PerlMonk Athanasius, Pete the pitiless, Phantomsnake, Philip Cross, PianoMan1307, Pjoef,Pointillist, Prayin4it, PrestonH, R'n'B, RGD, RWyn, Reginmund, Rintrah, RosieFlach, RoyBoy, Ryuukuro, Sadalmelik, Schneelocke, ShiftFn, Sigma 7, Signalizing, Siriusdancer, Sluzzelin,Snowybeagle, Specs112, Staticshakedown, Stemmy, Sugar Bear, Sunnystrom18, TFCforever, TFunk, Tancrisism, Tasmer, The Singing Badger, The Thing That Should Not Be, TheOldJacobite,TheTruthiness, Thelema418, Theopolisme, Tide rolls, Tjmayerinsf, UMDSpecColl, Uqah, Uris, Venske, Vidioman, Wikimsturner, Wilybadger, Winick88, Wolfkeeper, Woohookitty, Ynhockey,Yorick8080, Zafiroblue05, 290 ,55דוד anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-P047336, Berlin, Mary Wigman-Studio.jpg  Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-P047336,_Berlin,_Mary_Wigman-Studio.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Germany Contributors: RybakImage:CABINET DES DR CALIGARI 01.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:CABINET_DES_DR_CALIGARI_01.jpg  License: unknown  Contributors: RobertWiene, director, died 1938; Rudolf Meinert, producer, died 1943; Erich Pommer, producer, died 1966; Hans Janowitz, writer, died 1954; Carl Mayer, writer, died 1944; Willy Hameister,Cinematographer, died 1938;

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