German Expressionism
In the aftermath of the First World War, the German nation were defeated and left to pick up the pieces from this defeat and led them to re-evaluate their sense of national identity and indeed pride. They needed to find out just what kind of people they really were and in cinema, they had the perfect medium. This a medium that was evolving all the time from the first Lumiére brothers short movies. Films had stories to tell and the German nation were keen to explore and hear the stories in hope of revealing a few home truths.
As a result, German Expressionism was brought forward. Taken from the movements in art and literature, the two merged together to form a potent mixture in cinematic terms. The sets were a distortion of reality and were intended to set or create a mood in which the film would operate under. The use of shadows was also hugely important as they were key elements in creating suspense and tension. The film's plots were by and large interested in madness and the festering underlying themes that drove people to such extremes.
Some of these movies are still popular to this day, Metropolis, which has recently been re-edited with footage thought to have been lost, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, M, and of course, Nosferatu made my Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau in 1922. It is widely regarded as a masterpiece of cinema. It is however a very subtle piece of Expressionist Cinema.
The way the film's use of shadows creates an expressionist mood but what really surprises is the scene where a man brings in flowers he's cut so that he can show them as a token of his love to his loved one. She however does not appreciate this as she asks him why he had to kill the flowers. Such a scene would perhaps seem to cause a smile or perhaps a chuckle in these modern times but it was a scene like this that asked the questions that something so trivial as cutting flowers as a token of love could be seen as a base for the more sinister elements that caused the First World War.
As a result, this has become a textbook for which modern cinema is run, from the shots of the river flowing from the vantage point of the mountain top, to the chase scene and the use of shadows to create or heighten the suspense of tension. Film makers time and time again come back to these films time and time again for inspiration for their films. It is with this, that German Expressionism has done a lot for the way we view cinema as a whole today.
As a result, German Expressionism was brought forward. Taken from the movements in art and literature, the two merged together to form a potent mixture in cinematic terms. The sets were a distortion of reality and were intended to set or create a mood in which the film would operate under. The use of shadows was also hugely important as they were key elements in creating suspense and tension. The film's plots were by and large interested in madness and the festering underlying themes that drove people to such extremes.
Some of these movies are still popular to this day, Metropolis, which has recently been re-edited with footage thought to have been lost, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, M, and of course, Nosferatu made my Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau in 1922. It is widely regarded as a masterpiece of cinema. It is however a very subtle piece of Expressionist Cinema.
The way the film's use of shadows creates an expressionist mood but what really surprises is the scene where a man brings in flowers he's cut so that he can show them as a token of his love to his loved one. She however does not appreciate this as she asks him why he had to kill the flowers. Such a scene would perhaps seem to cause a smile or perhaps a chuckle in these modern times but it was a scene like this that asked the questions that something so trivial as cutting flowers as a token of love could be seen as a base for the more sinister elements that caused the First World War.
As a result, this has become a textbook for which modern cinema is run, from the shots of the river flowing from the vantage point of the mountain top, to the chase scene and the use of shadows to create or heighten the suspense of tension. Film makers time and time again come back to these films time and time again for inspiration for their films. It is with this, that German Expressionism has done a lot for the way we view cinema as a whole today.
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