Art in the early 20th century was all about escaping from the harsh realities that were present during and after World War I. As citizens were experiencing an array of emotions, they turned to different forms of artistic expression to help cope with their anxieties and worries. Out of this arose the German Expressionist movement and the Surrealist movement, both deriving out of the European areas of the world. Through this, filmakers such as the German Robery Wiene and the Spanish Luis Bunel and Salvador Dali created their respective films The Cabinet Of Dr. Calagari and Un Chien Andalou. Simultaneously, Sigmund Freud, an Austrian physician was developing a theory of psychoanalysis that focused how the human unconscious can manifest itself …show more content…
Germans were forced to face their homeland’s economic depression as Americans invaded their national politics. They began to turn towards art as a form of escape from the harsh reality and horrific memories of the war that they were being presented with. The German Expressionist artists, similar to the Surrealist artists, began to examine the unconscious forces that motivate their everyday lives. The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari is a prime example of this, as it showed just how terrifying one’s unconscious can make them and how it can even drive them to insanity. The visibly stylistic manifestation is expressed through the films set design, lighting, acting and narrative story. The sets that were constructed for this film are all on slanting, sharp angles, This adds a disharmonious and asymmetrical composition that leads the viewer to the theme of the protagonist’s mental instability. For example, the scene where Cesare is carrying Jane up the jagged roof (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP3WDQXkJq4 43:00-43:15) is a prime visual representation of Cesare’s demise, as he suffers from a heart attack after abducting her and consequently dies. The director seems to present this emotional disturbance to express the inner suppressed emotions of the characters in the film while simultaneously telling the narrative story to the audience …show more content…
It’s aim was to solve the contradictions that were present within dreams and reality and expressed by artists through illogical scenes derived from everyday objects. It developed out of the Dada movement that was active during World War I in Paris and regarded overall as a philosophical movement. It focused on the unconscious manifestation of one’s own reality is away that was not completely realistic. The directors of this short film, Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali, created this movie based off a series of dreams that they both experienced. Dali and Bunuel According to the Surrealist Manifesto by Andre Breton, (which was basically the bible for Surrealism) surrealism was a “spark created by the clash between two opposing elements”. This juxtaposition of savageness and peacefulness is present in the scene where the cyclist’s doppelganger falls to the ground after being shot and the scene immediately changes to him falling into a meadow by a lake next to a nude woman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXlzvvTHg7k, 15:34-15:55) The elements of Surrealism are also present in the scene where the cyclist has books in his hands that transform into guns without any explination. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXlzvvTHg7k, 15:04-15:09) This