GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM

In Art
Impressionist painting was certainly perceived as working from outer
appearances. In opposition to that, (German) Expressionist painting of the
period 1910 - 1933 is certainly a reaction to both the concern with the outer
and with appearance. Expressionists thematise the inner and the essence, as
is evident in their attitudes to the use of colour: `Their crucial move was to
associate colour not with visible reality (as had been the case with orthodox
impressionism) but with the artist's affective responses . . . the painted forms
may be viewed as externalised emotions: colour no longer designates optical
facts, but psychic values' (Roger Cardinal, Expressionism, pp. 114-15).

[online] http://www.selectedworks.co.uk/isms.html

SEE TATE GALLERY GLOSSARY FOR SUCCINT ACCOUNT OF EXPRESSIONISM,

CUBISM and SURREALISM

In Film
Expressionism is the expression of the inner thoughts or emotions of the
filmmaker or character, through the use of stylistic elements of film form.
Distorted shapes might suggest a warped perspective on the world, heavy
shadows suggest the presence of darker aspects of human nature.

The heavy stylisation including set, make-up (heavy black eyes), clothing (tight
black suits) also suggested psychological states. Heavy stylisation moves
towards symbolism which is in direct opposition to the use of film to give
photographic realism.

Historical Moment
The output of German cinema leading up to World War I was small and
cinemas showed mainly foreign imports. The outbreak of war in 1914 resulted
in import restrictions and a number of German production companies were
created to exploit the market. From 28 in 1913 to 245 in 1919. Inflation led to
a boom in German film exports that began around 1919.

The period after World War I was one of creative expression and freedom in
Germany. The Weimar Republic (1919 – 1933) removed censorship laws and
society went through a decadent period or permissiveness – Berlin becoming
the cosmopolitan capital. For a short period, films depicting nudity,
homosexuality and drug use were made directly after the end of the war – but
censorship laws were re-introduced to the film industry with the formation of
the Weimar Republic in 1919 and the constitution.

Article 118 of the Weimar constitution forbade censorship with the text "No censorship will take
place". The only exception to this article was film. The film and cinema industry was regulated
by the Film Assessment Headquarters. The purpose of this organization was to censor films
released in Germany for pornography and other indecent content.

Other than the Film Assessment Headquarters, no official censorship of any medium took
place in Weimar Germany.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_Germany

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The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Wiene, 1919)
This film was an international success. The stylistic features of German
Expressionism: chiaroscuro lighting, surrealistic settings and a fluidity of
framing fully characterised this film.

Task:
Note anything that strikes you as interesting under the following headings:
setting, costume & props, cinematography, editing, narrative, characters.

Questions:
What’s going on – What’s the story? What are the key themes?

The exaggeratedly canted, angular backdrops are conspicuously artificial in

that they are painted sets (even light and shadow are painted on) and are
ultimately revealed to exist only inside the mind of one of the characters.

In fact we, the audience, are confined in the central character’s (Francis) world
of insanity – we see just what he sees. Distorted perspectives, eerie lights,
shadows – a sharp angular, thrusting world of fears.

Opening scene: Francis is about to tell his story to an inmate at an asylum –

an image of a beautiful girl framed in chiaroscuro lighting drives the opening
narrative.

Closing scene: Francis is still confined in the asylum with people resembling
the characters from his dark imaginings – what are we to make of this?

Story:
• Francis talks about murders to an inmate at the asylum
• Caligari fair comes to town
• Brutal murders discovered
• Francis discovers the perpetrator of the killings (Cesare controlled by
Caligari)
• Francis is an insane inmate and Caligari is the doctor of the asylum.

Is this an examination of the nature of the world – or of human nature?

Caligari manipulates Cesare to carry out his wishes and as the director of the
asylum he has Francis totally within his power at the end of the film. Francis
knows who is responsible for the murders, but is unable to expose the villain –
the hero is unable to defeat evil and restore order.

The writers wanted to present an examination of the all-powerful authority as

essentially an evil force than ordinary men cannot challenge.

Ideas of death and the bringing of death are at the heart of the film and the
same applies to Nosferatu. The cabinet and the coffin are frightening images
of the uncasing/unleashing of death. Kracauer, a film critic, wrote ‘Caligari to

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Hitler’ in which he states the contemporary state of Germany in the 1920s was
able to foresee the monstrous evil in the form of war that was to come.

The horror of the trenches from WWI was visible in the streets of Germany
-physically and psychologically maimed characters – and in a way The Cabinet
of Dr Caligari represented the look and mental states of these characters in his
film – many audiences would have already been familiar with these sorts of
images from their real experiences. The postures, gaits, and gestures of the
characters, in a sense, mirrored the physically and psychologically maimed
casualties to be found on the streets. Asylums were filled with people who
continued to live the horrors of the war.

What should be the nature of film?

This was an early film that attempted to break with mainstream cinematic
conventions that were already established (USA) and the straightforward
representation of reality. The set design and movement of actors deliberately
attempted to look alien and unreal. The aim was to create an impression of a
psychological state rather than any sense of physical reality and in doing so
suggest the ‘real’ underlying nature of the world [as did the Expressionists in
art – see above]. In the case of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari the ‘real’ underlying
nature of the world is a place of fear and dark forces.

Genre and Narrative Structure

It is held as an early horror as it employs certain plot conventions that used

and re-used in later films in the horror genre.

• Evil doctor / scientist who commits murder by manipulating a ‘monster’

whom he controls (Metropolis and many others)
• Mysterious freakish creatures that come to town bringing terror
• Monster falls in love with beautiful girl (Nosferatu)
• Angry townspeople chase monster from their community

Nosferatu (Murnau, 1922)

Uses a wide range of cinematic techniques to unsettle the audience, including
the mise-en-scene (coffin, rats), characterisation (Nosferatu’s
costume/movement).

Shot on location – uses locations powerfully e.g. the beach scene.

Nosferatu does not use expressionistic sets as in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari –

but instead employs cinematography and low-key lighting to generate
atmosphere and impact. The vampire is list to cast a shadow over the film.

He is often shot from below to create a sense of power and menace. The
vampire’s movement is expressionist - slow and jerky – stop motion. His
strangeness is clear as is his seductive power.

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Nosferatu is threatening to the bourgeois sensibility and politics. The sexual
undercurrent challenges the propriety of the couple and the society in which
they live. Nosferatu is the outsider, the marginalized individual, who does not
live by the same code of society and therefore is a threat to the status quo.

Metropolis (1927, Lang)

Lang is credited with having a talent for lighting the scenes and not just the
characters. As Eisenstein is credited with being a master of editing and
framing, Lang is the master of lighting. He greatly influenced the low-key
lighting style of film noir.

Futurism – a revolutionary modernist movement committed to the potential for

social change offered by technological advances.

Metropolis lies between expressionism and futurism. The themes are of those
capitalist oppression and insanity (inventor).

It is a criticism of the manipulative capitalist system which oppresses the

people and transform them into a monstrous destructive power.

The masses are seen as victims of a manipulative system – the destruction of

the machines by the workers does not bring about the destruction of the
system itself.

The re-introduction of the formalised geometric mise-en-scène testifies to the

re-establishment of order. It asks the question – who holds the power. The
abstract mise-en-scène allows this critical space to open up. It represents
social structures topographically so that each of the characters is seen to
inhabit an ideological position, rather than a coherent psychological entity –
offering the audience the possibility of a critical perspective.

The clock to 10 – does not represent reality and is representative that the
industrialists are controlling time itself.

The workers move in an expressionist style – restricted movement. The set is

expressionist – angular and geometric. The make-up is expressionist –
particularly in the case of Maria where Lang differentiates between the good
and evil Maria by use of heavy make-up to depict evil.

Lang was greatly influenced by the lighting of New York’s building when he
visited and translates to his angular cityscape where the lights enhance the
architecture.

Questions:
1. Compare the genre and narrative of Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr
Caligari looking for similarities and differences.

2. Nosferatu (Murnau, 1922) and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Weine, 1920)

make different choices in relation to settings. Murnau chose locations
and Weine highly designed sets – any and to what effect?

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 3. Compare the techniques relating to mise-en-scène, cinematography
and editing that are employed in The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and
Nosferatu – what are the similarities and differences.

Similarities: Costume of Nosferatu, movement of the character, use of

shadows, fluid framing, releasing of death from cabinet/coffin.
Differences: N uses natural locations to great effect, C uses a highly
stylised set. C set in the mind, N Nosferatu represents the
psychological inner mind.

4. Are any of these films (Cabinet of Dr Caligari, Nosferatu, Metropolis)

fully expressionistic?

Dr Caligari is the only fully expressionist film – showing us the internal

state of the mind. The use of locations and parallel narratives are
conventions employed in realist cinema. Nosferatu makes use of
expressionist conventions – shadows, make-up, tight black suits etc. but
these are for the preserve of Nosferatu himself.

The German film industry struggled in the mid to late 1920s, partly as a result
of Lang’s Metropolis going hugely over budget with many stakeholders
standing to lose money. In 1927, USA’s Paramount took over UFA. With the
rise of Nazism in 1933, Lang and Murnau left Germany for Hollywood and this
assisted with the spread of Expressionist techniques in mainstream cinema –
most notably in the horror cycle of the 1930s and the film noir cycle of the
1940s and early 1950s.

Example Exam Questions:

1. Compare ways in which German and Soviet films of the period use
visual means to create tension and suspense.
2. Is German and Soviet cinema of the 1920s better seen as a cinema
fascinated by victims or a cinema engaging with ideas of oppression?
3. In the films you have studied from this period which features of film
construction create the most powerful impression: cinematography,
editing or mise-en-scène?
4. In what ways do you believe it has been worth studying films from the
period?
5. What are some of the similarities and/or differences in the ways in
which conflict is represented in the films you have studied?
6. Consider some of the ways in which performance and movement is
used in the films you have studied to convey themes and ideas?

Benyahia, C., Gaffney, F. and White, J. (2006) A2 Film Studies: The Essential
Introduction. London: Routeledge