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Key events in Germany between 1914-1927
Defeat in WWI
The end of the German Empire
Treaty of Versailles
Loss of Territory
Financial Reparations
$23 billion in war reparations
Artistic Response
German Expressionist film gave "social angst" an "artistic form" through themes of "Dreams," "Sleepwalkers," "Doubles," "Pacts with the Devil," "Vampire invasions," "Mad scientists," "Trespassing into the forbidden," and the "Power of the irrational." It is linked to predecessors like Van Gogh and the expressive dance of Mary Wigman.
Stylistic Features
At the level of staging:
An acting style of over acting, with exaggerated
gestures and mimicry
Sets extravagant, threatening, nearly
collapsing, contorted, deviant from reality.
The sets are painted not always three
dimensional
Lighting: low key lighting; chiaroscuro
Elements associated with German Expressionist Film
Antiheroic (even evil main characters)
Madness, paranoia, obsessions
Subjective point of view
Primarily urban settings (mostly)
The criminal underworld
Complex architecture
Shadows
Shift in Characterization
German cinema moved "from simple character roles to intricate, Freudian-inspired, psychologically-driven characters," focusing on portraying a "mental state rather than physical reality, expressing emotions about the world" (Alexandra Wexman), in contrast to the American focus on action and melodrama.
Key Films
The document lists influential films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Wiene, 1920), Nosferatu (Murnau, 1922), Der Golem (Wegener, 1920), and Metropolis (Lang, 1927), noting the "expressionist settings" of Metropolis which combined "three-dimensional constructions and painted settings showing the subjective view of the main character."