GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM:
Objective: To explore what influenced German Expressionist film.
- The monster, usually seen as something outside the self in horror plots, really comes from within
- The subconscious creates for itself another, a monster, upon which to blame shortcomings
Context - Post First World War Germany:
- Many Germans felt they had not lost the war but had been cheated and were looking for people to blame:
- The Kaiser
- The new Government
- The Communist
- The Jews
- Threat to social order - dissatisfaction with the privileges enjoyed by the armed forces and aristocracy
- Huge debts due to the cost of the war ($40 Billion - in modern terms $11000 Billion) added to the already struggling economy
- Food shortages had been so bad that 'Germans ate dogs, crows, zoo animals and rodents'
The Seeds of Evil - The Rise of Hitler:
- After the war the German government was in turmoil:
- The Kaiser had abdicated
- There was no stable government
- Dissatisfied citizens were open to radicalization
- Hitler was just one of the extremist who began to gain power and influence over this time
Some notable features of German Expressionist films are:
- Unexpected camera angles
- Stark contrast of light and shadow
- Artificial, stylized sets
- Overtly theatrical (over the top) acting style
- Heavy make-up
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari:
- Directed by Robert Wiene, 1920
- Starts the expressionist movement
- Studio based
- Used stylized settings, distorted buildings pained onto canvas backdrops
- Critics announced that expressionism had found its way into cinema
