...“There are significant stylistic variations within international film styles.” How far have you found this to be true in the films you have studied for this topic? There are significant stylistic variations within the German Expressionist films, ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’, ‘Nosferatu’ and ‘Metropolis’. German Expressionism is the term used to describe the creative arts and film movements that were happening post war, in the early 1920’s. They are associated with themes of death, depression, darkness, insanity and distortion, which depict the state of the country and its civilians following the devastation of the war. German Expressionist films are significant to the history of the film industry as they have been filmed using distinctive methods and style techniques, which have influenced modern day film makers such as Tim Burton. One of the most significant stylistic variations that can be found within German Expressionist films is the considerable use of mise-en-scene. ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’, directed by Robert Wiene, was filmed against painted sets and backdrops. Due to the lack of funding in the film industry at the time, some films were shot entirely on backdrops like the ones seen in this film. The importance of this is that the sharp angles and distorted buildings look highly unrealistic, which reflects upon the madness and insanity of the main character Francis. As he is the narrator of the film, we are being told and shown the story through his mind, therefore...
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...Robert Wiene’s silent film, “The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari”, is an early cinematic gem that uses expressionist form in order to convey social and political messages to viewers. This film is not only a representation of the artistic styles within Germany at the time, but also an insight on the opinions of the German people during the early Weimar Republic. Sociologists, such as Siegfried Kracauer, have praised this film for its artistic form and political message. The expressionist stylings of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari are both immediate and abundant throughout the film. Gothic themes enter the storyline within the first scene when a man is observing the movements of the spirit of his fiancee. Title cards with disorderly designs narrate much...
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...ART WORLD Art House: An Introduction to German Expressionist Films Alissa Darsa, Thursday, December 26, 2013 Robert Wiene, Stills for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (three works) (1919). Gelatin silver print, sold at Christie's New York. Welcome to the first article in Art House, a series detailing the evolution of art house films, and their impact on the relationship between art and cinema. The term art house refers to films that are artistic or experimental in nature, and are generally not part of the commercial mainstream. It is interesting to note that unlike many other forms of avant-garde, filmic avant-garde does not typically generate the profits earned by its musical, visual, and literary counterparts. Most artists who have produced avant-garde films have had to rely on other artistic media as a source of income, including Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987).1 However, there are several films that have crossed over into the realm of mainstream cinema, and have been both financially successful as well as stylistically influential. This article focuses on German Expressionism, one of the earliest artistic genres to influence filmmaking, and one that arguably paved the way for many other avant-garde styles and techniques. Walter Reimann & Hermann Warm, Le docteur à la foire (from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) (1919). Sold at Binoche Renaud-Giquello & Associés. German Expressionism is an artistic genre that originated in Europe in the 1920s, and is broadly defined...
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...【UNDERSTANDING MOVIES】Mise en Scene in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Thursday, Jul 23, 2009 2:33PM / Standard Entry The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one of the first and major examples of the German Expressionism film movement, which features a dark and twisted style of film making. The plots and stories of the Expressionist movement films often deal with madness, insanity, betrayal, and other sinister topics. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is known for its particular and unusual settings. All the scenes are distorted and the objects in them changed in odd ways. For example, a normal window has an abnormal shape. Lines and other shapes are not regular even though the viewer can still understand what they are. Moreover, the lighting including the shadowing is drawn on the background screen directly, which makes the picture look unnatural. The subtitles and its background are also odd and bent. All of these techniques were used to make people recognize everyday objects but understand that it is part of the characters’ imaginations (or the director’s imagination). The director is leading people into his imagination, buried in the mazy town, fragmented frame, the twisted mirror, sloping walls, lopsided doors, the rough road, exaggerated tree branches, etc. One interesting note is the scenes where Alan, who seems the most “normal” of all the characters, is introduced. He is in a room with a chair that looks normal—it has straight lines and is the right size. But he looks out...
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...German Expressionist Movement Film presents the physical word on screen as a projection, or expression of the subjective world, usually that of the films protagonist using: * Distorted and exaggerated settings * Composition of unnatural spaces * The use of oblique angles and non-parallel lines * Moving and subjective cameras * Unnatural costumes and make-up * Stylised acting * Visuals and narrative around darkness * Stylised visuals showing an awareness of art and design * Atmospheric lightning * Harsh contrast light between light and dark * Shadows * Low key lightning used to convey mystery * Monsters lurking in shadows * Distortion employed through make-up, camera angles, costumes and background. Questions: 1. All above. 2. Often sombre in mood and featuring characters from a corrupt underworld of crime the films dramatic effects produce motifs of claustrophobia and paranoia. 3. Style of German expressionism is ideal for portraying macabre subject matters such as: * Low key lightning - used to convey mystery * Monsters lurking in the shadow. Distortion also commonly used in both expressionism and alter horror film employed through make up, camera angles, costumes and strange backdrops. 4. Lang's late expressionist classic M (1931), he uses techniques that exaggerate reality and provide visual clues for the audience as to the psychology of the characters. M is about a horrific child killer. Lang emphasizes...
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...lot of other countries for raising the tensions during the war and was forced to pay reparations to Britain and France as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. If it weren’t bad enough a lot of countries placed protective tariffs on German goods, which prevented citizens from buying German goods, and thus made it nearly impossible for Germany to pay it’s reparations. The economic issues lead to Adolf Hitler being able to rise to power under the guise of making Germany great again. The Cabinet of Caligari predicted this with Dr. Caligari being representative of an evil force lead by a desire for power taking advantage of the common people (Cesare), and leading them to commit atrocities. Francis, the narrator, originally believes that Cesare is acting on his own free will, and then later realizes that Dr. Caligri is manipulating him. Siegfried Kracauer, a well known Jewish film critic at the time, claimed that The Cabinet of Caligri predicted the rise of Hitler in his book From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film. Rüdiger Suchsland went on to direct a documentary by the same name. Kracauer was forced to flee from Germany when Hitler rose to power and began to persecute the Jewish people. It wasn’t until he got to the United States when he claimed that the German people were looking for a tyrant like Hitler to enable them. They subconsciously needed someone to tell them what to...
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...academic realm, the term mise-en-scène is always invoked when the overall look and feel of a movie is under discussion. Students taking Film Analysis should be quite familiar with the term. Even though many professionals are involved in its creation, the director is the one that oversees the entire mise-en-scène and all of its elements. Not just that, but during the early stages of pre-production, the director or his AD sits down with set designers, prop masters, location managers, costume designers, and scenic artists to determine the look and feel intended. In some instances, the mise-en- scène is used to evoke lasting feelings throughout the movie and not just for selected scenes. In the German expressionist film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), distorted shapes and claustrophobic scenery is implemented to disturb the audience and enhance the horror. Mike Nichols’ The Graduate (1967) has been praised by its amazing, exciting, and multi-layered visual...
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...German Expressionism ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ is a film from the 1920’s and was the most influential and significant film that belongs to the German expressionism film movement. German Expressionism, as it name shows, highlights the expressions of the internal opinions, beliefs, and feelings via the use of artistic, stylistic materials and fundamentals. It had a main goal to advance life, especially, change. Therefore, it may be considered an evolution revealing German civilization through these times of alteration or change. Due to the loss of the German’s in WWI and its consequences, the movement’s plot was about madness, insanity, and poverty. It’s not just a story telling but it had communal, civilizing, and political features. Expressionist first film was ‘The Student of Prague’ (1913), then comes the first vampire movie in 1916 ‘ Nache des Gravens’ (Night of Horror), ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ in 1920, and ‘The Golen’ (how we came into the world)… All these films have their special style, the style that specialize the German Expressionism movement. It’s characterized by relying heavily on the story and design, mise-en-scene, with the weird ambiance and work of art but lightly on editing. According to the shooting, the camera moves slightly with unpredictable camera’s position. As for the illumination, we see harsh distinction of light and shadows for diverse effects, known for Chiaroscuro lightning, symbolizing the occurrence of gloomy phases in human beings...
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...In the film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the director, Robert Wiene employs elements of mise-en-scene such as the animalistic acting and ghoulish makeup, with simple framing and editing in order to move the story forward. This is displayed greatly when Wiene shows the fraught nature of Cesare when he abducts Jane. Firstly, The opening shot of this scene is the long shot, which places the subject in whole while keeping it related to the environment. It is meant to show action rather than emotion. Throughout this whole scene, we are able to see Cesare from his head to his toes. The long shot is crucial because it highlights Cesare as he enters Jane’s bedroom. It is obvious that he is the antagonist in the scene because Cesare has an absurdly...
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...Throughout the course of this semester, we viewed many films that had different styles and themes. Though each film had different elements that stood out, two films as a whole have stayed with me. Robert Weine’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger's The Red Shoes. Prior to taking this course, I will admit that I had the impression that silent films were cheesy. But Robert Weine’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is definitely not a cheesy film. The film is told as a flashback in Francis's perspective regarding a series of events that happened prior to the introduction of the film. Throughout the film, the perspective of the set is presented as unbalanced and disorientated which proved to be an interesting element...
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...After its defeat in the First World War, Germany was left in a dismal state; there was a massive shortage of resources and thousands of German people had died. Many artists, including the creators of the film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, were forever changed after witnessing the horrors that war had caused. The effects of the war caused them to turn inward and seek ways to try and verbalize their emotional states. German citizens wanted a retreat from their bleak reality. This need to express their emotions led German artist to create a movement of expression that is known as German Expressionism. German Expressionism manifested the German people’s state of mind in cinema through the use of distorted sets, dark, compelling stories, and exaggerated performances. Expressionism was an artistic way to visually represent the inward anxieties felt by the German society after the war. One way this was achieved in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was through director, Robert Wiene’s use of set designs. The sets were jagged, angled, and gave the viewer feelings of being disoriented and unbalanced. These sets represent the uneasiness people felt about the future of their society....
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...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...
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...nineteen hundreds. The movement is said to have started around “1908 as a style of painting and the theatre”. The movement spread across Europe but Germany was considered the epicenter of Expressionism, where it was said to be more intense than any other nation in Europe. The Expressionist style was essentially a rejection of realism. In painting, artists would not use the clever shading techniques, for example, to make the subject look real, like painters at the time had been doing for so long. They might use brighter or darker colors and make people look distorted and often creepy and grotesque. “In late February 1920, a film premiered in Berlin that was instantly recognized as something new in cinema: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”. Although Dr. Caligari, directed by Robert Wiene, was considered the first Expressionist film and would spark a massive movement in the film industry, it did not come as much of a shock to a lot of film critics since the movement was already so prevalent in other art forms. Nonetheless, many more film makers followed suit in making movies that featured the Expressionist style. One such movie was Nosferatu. Made in 1922 and directed by F.W. Murnau, Nosferatu was for all intents and purposes a horror film. The protagonist, Hutter, who works for a real estate company, is sent to the mysterious estate of a potentially huge client, who turns out to be Nosferatu, a hideous and grotesque monster of a person. During his stay at Nosferatu’s castle...
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...at theatres, on television, or home video are typically narrative films. They tell stories about characters going through experiences. But what are they really about? What is the content of a film? DIGGING DEEPER: FOUR LEVELS OF MEANING Recounting the plot of a movie, telling what happens, is the simplest way to explain it to someone else. But this is neither a film review nor a film analysis. It’s merely a synopsis that anyone else who sees or has seen the movie will likely agree with. This level of content may be called the referential content, since it refers directly to things that happen in the plot and possibly to some aspects of the story that are merely implied by the plot. In John Boorman’s Deliverance (1972), four men from the city go on a weekend canoe trip that unexpectedly becomes a life or death struggle for survival of man against man and man against nature. Some characters survive, others don’t. Most films can be analyzed more thoroughly to reveal deeper levels of meaning. A review (perhaps 400-1200 words) typically includes personal impressions and evaluations of a movie’s content and techniques. A good review may be subjective, yet still touch superficially on topics that might be explored in more detail in a longer formal analysis. An analysis (perhaps 1200-12,000 words) attempts to determine how the film actually uses various cinematic techniques and elements of film or narrative form to make a viewer react in a certain way and why it...
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...(c) Bedford/St. Martin's bedfordstmartins.com 1-457-62096-0 / 978-1-457-62096-6 SOUNDS AND IMAGES Movies and the Impact of Images 187 Early Technology and the Evolution of Movies 192 The Rise of the Hollywood Studio System 195 The Studio System’s Golden Age 205 The Transformation of the Studio System 209 The Economics of the Movie Business 215 Popular Movies and Democracy In every generation, a film is made that changes the movie industry. In 1941, that film was Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane. Welles produced, directed, wrote, and starred in the movie at age twenty-five, playing a newspaper magnate from a young man to old age. While the movie was not a commercial success initially (powerful newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, whose life was the inspiration for the movie, tried to suppress it), it was critically praised for its acting, story, and directing. Citizen Kane’s dramatic camera angles, striking film noir–style lighting, nonlinear storytelling, montages, and long deep-focus shots were considered technically innovative for the era. Over time, Citizen Kane became revered as a masterpiece, and in 1997 the American Film Institute named it the Greatest American Movie of All Time. “Citizen Kane is more than a great movie; it is a gathering of all the lessons of the emerging era of sound,” film critic Roger Ebert wrote.1 CHAPTER 6 ○ MOVIES 185 (c) Bedford/St. Martin's bedfordstmartins.com 1-457-62096-0 / 978-1-457-62096-6 MOVIES A generation later...
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