History and Development of German Expressionist Film (1919-1926)

History background of German Expressionist Film (1919-1926)

German Expressionism is an aesthetic and artistic genre that initiated in Europe in the 1920s before Hollywood's golden age. It has successfully achieved the greatest worldwide recognition in beginning of a historical period in cinema. German Expressionism concentrated on the emotional qualities of paintings which introduced by vivid colours and distorted shape. The positioning of light and dark elements is either leaning towards a violent contrast of shapes or that of abstract designs in an illustrated and graphical work of art. The themes of German Expressionism are revolt, self-analysis, madness primitive and sexual savagery (Bordwell, 1997, p. 469 & 470).

German Expressionism was captured by filmmakers when Germany was undergoing struggling during 1920’s. They were going through from World War 1 to the years which leading to World War II. Before World War 1, German Expressionism Film was not advanced as other film movement. When the war began in 1914, the state’s theatres were mostly showing others country films such a European, Danish, Italian, French and American films.

With the falling of economic and politic, people has suffered into poverty and chaos. After Germany’s defeat in World War II in 1918, many German film-makers and photographer run away from the country and they settled in Hollywood eventually. With the end of the war, they used this film movement to express their feeling. Whereby, their experience with German expressionism which has a large impact on the work they did on American movies. (Thompson, 2012).  

German expressionism was a style that emphasized the inner psychological and mental of the characters rather than directly indicated by seeing what was revealed. By the early 1920’s, German films were invoked and spread quickly over worldwide. The famous film The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari which directed by Robert Wiene was released in 1920. It was one of most influential German Expressionist film and it has outlined the origin of movement in art and literature.  (Roberts, 2008).

Influence and impact of German Expressionism on contemporary film

In 1927, German Expressionism has ended. Yet, there is some well-known films which strongly influenced by German Expressionism although it only lasted for 7 years. It has never entirely end as it still appeared as an approach to film style (Bordwell, 1997, p. 472).

Film Noir was one of the film movement that mainly influenced by German Expressionism. The mood and visual style of noir is an innovative form of cinema from the silent film era of the 1920s. Figure 1.1 has shown the shadow of the vampire brought out different ways such as the use of exaggerated, spooky shadows in classic silent-era horror movies as “Nosferatu”. Sinister or ghostly are shown in a way that causes fear.

Figure 1.1 Shadow of vampire

Dark City (1998)  which directed by Alex Proyaz is one of the American movie that highly influenced by German Expressionism which strongly depicted the themes of Expressionism such as Anti-Authoritorian, Self-analysis, Revolt, Madness, Primitive and Sexual Savagery as shown in figure 1.2.

Figure 1.2  

These are the German Expressionist films that started published from 1920 to 1933 as shown in figure 1.3.

Figure 1.3 (Resources: FILMMAKING HISTORY: GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM IN FILM, from https://mubi.com/lists/filmmaking-history-german-expressionism-in-film )

1.   The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,  directed by Robert Wiene, 1920
2. The Golem, directed by Paul Wegener and Carl Boese, 1920
3. From Morning to Midnight, directed by Karl Heinz Martin, 1920
4. Algol, directed by Hans Werckmeister, 1920
5. Destiny, directed by Fritz Lang, 1921
6. Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler, directed by Fritz Lang, 1922
7. Nosferatu, directed by F.W. MURNAU, 1922
8. Phantom, directed by F.W. MURNAU, 1922
9. Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild’s Revenge, directed by Fritz Lang, 1924
10.  Die Nibelungen: Siegfried , directed by Fritz Lang, 1924
11.  The Last Laugh, directed by F.W. MURNAU, 1924
12.  Waxworks, directed by PAUL LENI, LEO BIRINSKY, 1924
13.  Faust, directed by F.W. MURNAU, 1926
14.  Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang, 1927
15.  Spies, directed by Fritz Lang, 1928
16.  Pandora’s Box, directed by Fritz Lang, 1929
17.  Women In The Moon, directed by Fritz Lang, 1929
18.   M, directed by Fritz Lang, 1931
19.  Vampyr, directed by CARL THEODOR DREYER, 1932
20.  The Testament Of  DR. Mabuse, directed by Fritz Lang, 1933

References:

Bordwell, D., Thompson, K., & Ashton, J. (1997). Film art: An introduction(Vol. 7). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Roberts, I. (2008). German expressionist cinema : the world of light and shadow. London : Wallflower Press, 2008.

Thompson, C. (2012, February 17). Noir Movie. Retrieved April 2, from German Expressionism and It's Influence on Noir: http://noirmovie.com/news/german-expressionism