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Explain The Origins and Defining Features of 'German Expressionism' and in What Ways Its Influence On Film in The 1920s Is Evident

German Expressionism originated in Germany in the early 20th century as an art movement that aimed to portray subjective perspectives through distorted realism. This influenced German films of the 1920s, which used expressionist techniques like dramatic sets and melodramatic performances to convey the fears and anxieties of post-WWI Germany. Two highly influential German Expressionist films were Robert Wiene's 1920 film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, known for its subjective expressionist sets, and F.W. Murnau's 1922 Nosferatu, an unauthorized Dracula adaptation that established conventions for vampire films.

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118 views2 pages

Explain The Origins and Defining Features of 'German Expressionism' and in What Ways Its Influence On Film in The 1920s Is Evident

German Expressionism originated in Germany in the early 20th century as an art movement that aimed to portray subjective perspectives through distorted realism. This influenced German films of the 1920s, which used expressionist techniques like dramatic sets and melodramatic performances to convey the fears and anxieties of post-WWI Germany. Two highly influential German Expressionist films were Robert Wiene's 1920 film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, known for its subjective expressionist sets, and F.W. Murnau's 1922 Nosferatu, an unauthorized Dracula adaptation that established conventions for vampire films.

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Explain the origins and defining features of 'German Expressionism' and in what ways its

influence on film in the 1920s is evident.


German Expressionism was an artistic movement that covered a lot of the arts in Germany before
the First World War. Its high point was roughly in the 1920s. The artistic developments that came
from German expressionism eventually spread through Europe and influenced such things as
architecture, dance, painting, sculpture and cinema. The German Expressionist movement was, to
start with, exclusive to Germany because of the isolation they experienced after The First World
War. From 1916, foreign films were banned in the country. Due to the lack of material being shown
in Germany, there was a huge increase in German made films – from 24 films in 1914 to 130 films in
1918. As the Weimar Republic was starting to be formed, the German public were going to the
cinema much more regularly, as they knew the value of their money was decreasing. After 1922, due
to decreasing anti-German feelings, foreign audience were starting to become interested in German
Cinema. Once the 1916 foreign film ban was lifted, Germany had found its place in the world of
Cinema and film making.

Expressionism originated in Germany at roughly the turn of the 20 th century. It started as an art form
which aimed to show the world from a subjective perspective by creating a distorted view to create
an emotional effect on the viewer. The main aim of the Expressionist Artists could be argued to be to
express emotions physically, rather than the realist paintings that were common at the time and
have been for centuries. As the Czech art historian Antonin Matějček put it – “An Expressionist
wishes, above all, to express himself”. Expressionism has been reported to have been created in
reaction to the demoralising effect that industrialization and the growth of cities had on people, and
that "one of the central means by which expressionism identifies itself as an avant-garde movement,
and by which it marks its distance to traditions and the cultural institution as a whole is through its
relationship to realism and the dominant conventions of representation”. Some of the most well
known pieces of art of this period are Edward Munch’s ‘The Scream’, and Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’.

Just as the Expressionist artists did, German Expressionist filmmakers utilised distortion and very
expressive performances to help convey the fears and desires of Germany in the early 20 th century.
German Expressionism reflects the feelings of its 1920s German audience by creating an external
presence of their fears. The expressionist films portray dramatic and revolutionary interpretations of
the human condition that are only capable of achieving when the cinematic realism is rejected. On
screen, the expressionist ideology is utilised in all aspects from dream-like, angled set designs
to the on-screen performances which tend to be very melo dramatic.

One of the most well known silent films of the expressionist era is a film from 1920 by Robert
Wiene -‘The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari’. The film is about a hypnotherapist who uses a sleepwalker
to carry out murders on his behalf. The screenwriters of the film created an allegory to express
their distrust of authoritarian figures, which was from their pacifistic beliefs after witnessing
the atrocities of the First World War. The film was released just as the aforementioned 1916
foreign film ban was being lifted which could explain why ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’ had left a
lasting impression on American audiences. The film is often considered to be the most
important film of the German Expressionist era. The expressionistic designs of the film’s set –
the visual style, harsh lines and intense shadow to help create a representation of the
character's subjective reality rather than that which is objective. This style still influences many
films today, most notably the films of Tim Burton. The influence of the Expressionist films is
apparent in his films ‘Beetlejuice’, ‘The Corpse Bride’ and ‘Frankenweenie’
Another important film of the German Expressionist era is F.W. Murnau’s 1922 Dracula story,
‘Nosferatu’. Whilst the film is now considered as one of German Expressionist cinema’s
masterpieces, it was an unauthorised adaptation of Bram Stokers legendary novel .Due to this
‘Nosferatu’ famously ended with a lawsuit with the mass incineration of all the film’s prints.
Luckily, despite this, a few prints had already been distributed to foreign audiences, thus
allowing it to be seen. Whilst most of the key story points are lifted directly from ‘Dracula’,
‘Nosferatu’ made a huge impact on the horror genre and is still hugely influential to this day.
For example, in the novel ‘Dracula’, he is only weakened by sunlight, whist in ‘Nosferatu’ Count
Orlok can be entirely destroyed by it, therefore forcing him to sleep during the day and to live
in the shadows. This aspect is much more prominent in modern stories than it as in the original
story. ‘Nosferatu’ had set the basis for practically every other vampire film made, from the
‘Twilight’ saga to Taika Waititi’s vampire comedy ‘What We Do In The Shadows’.

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