German expressionism

[Fawkes]

Any fans?

Definitely one of the most influential film genres despite its short-livedness (if you've ever seen a horror movie you've been affected by it).

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari might possibly be my favorite movie ever and definitely has the best production design ever.

(not original music)
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Nosferatu
(the song playing here is actually the theme from The Omen)
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Both of these are available in full here: http://www.archive.org/


Any fans?

[Fawkes]

Random, but here's an awesome version of "Ave Satani" by Fantomas (Nosferatu made me think of it):
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[praxis1966]

I haven't seen that many German Expressionist films, but I do appreciate their influence on later movements, particularly film noir. From what I can gather both from reading and from the few films I've seen of the movement, a heavy debt is owed there. Not to mention there's a direct link in the works of Fritz Lang, a heavy player in both trends.

[Lyev]

Don't forget Fritz Lang's 1927 masterpiece, Metropolis. There was discovered recently a new extra 20 minutes or so of footage in a warehouse in Argentina somewhere. It also has a wonderful soundtrack. And a really cool set. And it has influenced science-fiction as a genre on a whole (which didn't really even exist in 1927) massively.

[praxis1966]

Don't forget Fritz Lang's 1927 masterpiece, Metropolis. There was discovered recently a new extra 20 minutes or so of footage in a warehouse in Argentina somewhere. It also has a wonderful soundtrack. And a really cool set. And it has influenced science-fiction as a genre on a whole (which didn't really even exist in 1927) massively.

Right, well Metropolis was the first feature length sci-fi movie and the first movie to feature robots to the best of my knowledge. That film was so influential all the way into at least the 70s that Lucas basically copped C-3PO's design from that of Maria. From what I understand, it was a heavy influence on Bladerunner as well.

[x359594]

...Fritz Lang's 1927 masterpiece, Metropolis. There was discovered recently a new extra 20 minutes or so of footage in a warehouse in Argentina somewhere...

It was 30 minutes of footage discovered in the National Film Archive of Argentina; the print was 16mm.

Here's a good thread on Metropolis: http://www.revleft.com/vb/metropolis-t129330/index.html?t=129330&highlight=Metropolis .

Missing from the discussion so far is that Expressionism started in painting and influenced all German art in the post WWI era, including theater, literature, music and architecture as well as cinema.

[Rooster]

I'm a big fan. I came about the films when I was still painting. Got interested in the art style but then I moved into film and they're just awesome. You should check out the stuff Hitchcock worked on when he was with UFA and some of his early films such as The Lodger. It's a shame that a great number of films haven't survived.

[smk]

Of course Metropolis! One of the greatest films to come out German Expressionism. So much symbolism in that movie. I could go on for hours about why this is one of my favorite films of all time, but it is 2 AM.

[praxis1966]

Had to necro this thread as the respondents, most particularly the OP (though most of this stuff may be well worn ground as I gather he's a film student), might be interested in these articles at GreenCine. They're pretty in depth, so I hope you have some time on your hands. Well worth a gander. The first is on the origins of the horror genre, which is obviously integral to understanding German Expressionist cinema, and it sets the stage by placing the genre in it's proper socio-historical context. The second is on German Expressionism itself. Great reads, both.

Where the Horror Came From (http://www.greencine.com/article?action=view&articleID=55)

German Expressionism (http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/expressionism1.jsp)

[praxis1966]

Man I hate double posting, but this thread needs a *bump* anyway...

At any rate, out of curiosity, Fawkes, which print of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari did you watch? I saw the Kino print from 2002 today, which claims to have restored the original color tinting and shading (which I can't attest to one way or the other as I'm not an expert on the film) as well as the original musical score. While the latter may certainly be true, I have my doubts. For one thing, an electric guitar gets used quite a bit both for instrumental purposes and for sound effects (like scraping the pick up the strings starting at the bridge toward the neck), an instrument that wasn't commercially produced in any modern, recognizable form until 1931. For another, some of the saxophone parts greatly resemble the compositional style of bebop jazz, a style that didn't come anywhere near being fully fleshed out until the 40s...

It doesn't really matter since I actually kinda dig the music in this print, but it kinda annoyed me in principle that they'd claim to use the original score and then, well, not, lol...

[Lyev]

I'll make a few more comments then

Right, well Metropolis was the first feature length sci-fi movie and the first movie to feature robots to the best of my knowledge. That film was so influential all the way into at least the 70s that Lucas basically copped C-3PO's design from that of Maria. From what I understand, it was a heavy influence on Bladerunner as well.Yeah I forgot to mention, the armour-like robot suit that she wears is amazing. Apparently it was hell for the actor inside, partly because it took 9 days to film. I think she was pretty young too. At any rate, she could barely sit down. And as far as I know, it was gonna be made of out some kind of metal (but that would've been even more uncomfortable), so it was made from a combination of wood and plastic, then sprayed gold. In that transformation scene, the special effects are surprisingly convincing for 1927, too.

And on Dr. Caligari again, I agree 100% about the production design. Obviously this is a feature in most German expressionism of that period, in one way or another, but the distorted shapes, jagged mechanical lines and twisted shadows* create quite an eerie, almost claustrophobic feel to the movie. What gets me about a lot of these films, is how surprisingly modern and convincing they look considering how they were filmed almost 100 years ago now. And, yes, their influence does seem to be quite far-reaching.

*Actually, on 'twisted shadows', probably the best example is from that iconic scene in Nosferatu, where he is creeping up the stairs. chilling!

[Rooster]

Has anyone seen that god awful remake of Caligari, where they blue screened hammy actors over the (what I believe are reproductions of the) original shots? The concept isn't bad, fair enough. But it just wasn't pulled off at all. The actors were really, really bad.

I've got a little book about the genre. I might pull it out and have a look. There's been a few I haven't been able to track down. Is there a decent boxset that I could look into getting?

[praxis1966]

Has anyone seen that god awful remake of Caligari, where they blue screened hammy actors over the (what I believe are reproductions of the) original shots? The concept isn't bad, fair enough. But it just wasn't pulled off at all. The actors were really, really bad.

There have actually been a couple of remakes that I know of... There was one in '62 called The Cabinet of Caligari (note the dropping of 'Dr.' from the title) and another in 2005 by the same name as the original. I couldn't say which one you're referring to as I've seen neither.