An Introduction to German

Expressionist Films
This presentation 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.
Robert Wiene, The Cabinet of Dr.
Caligari (1919)
Walter Reimann & Hermann Warm, Le docteur à
la foire (from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) (1919)

German Expressionism
is an artistic genre that
originated in Europe in
the 1920s, and is
broadly defined as
the rejection of
Western conventions,
and the depiction of
reality that is widely
distorted for emotional
effect.
Influences Clockwise from top: Portrait of a Man – El Greco,
Starry Night – Van Gogh, Munch – The Scream

Heavily influenced by artists such as

Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch, and
El Greco, Expressionists were less
concerned with producing aesthetically
pleasing compositions as they were with
creating powerful reactions to their work
through the use of bright, clashing
colours, flat shapes, and jagged
brushstrokes. In its nature, the movement
was interested in the relationship
between art and society, and
encompassed a broad range of fields,
including architecture, painting, and
film.
 Metropolis
&
The Cabinet of Dr
Claigari

Expressionist films were initially born out of
Germany's relative isolation during the 1910s,
and quickly generated high demand due to
the government's ban on foreign films. The
films' appeal soon spread to an international
audience, and by the early 1920s, many
European filmmakers had begun
experimenting with the absurd and wild
aesthetics of German cinema.
Two of the most influential films of the era were
Metropolis (1927), by Fritz Lang(Austrian, 1877–
1961), and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920),
by Robert Weine(German, 1873–1938). Similar
to Expressionist paintings, Expressionist films
sought to convey the inner, subjective
experience and angst of its subjects.
 The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

Filmed in 1920, The Cabinet of Dr.

Caligari tells the story of Francis, who,
through flashbacks, recounts his
terrifying experiences at a carnival in
a small German village, where he first
encountered Dr. Caligari, a man with
the power to control people in their
sleep. When Francis's friend is
mysteriously murdered and his
fiancée is kidnapped, he pursues Dr.
Caligari to an insane asylum,
determined to unravel the mystery
surrounding these terrible events.
Caligari’s
Design

Director Robert Wiene hired

Expressionist painters Walter Reimann
and Hermann Warm (German) to
create the sets. Like many of their
contemporaries, Reimann and Warm
were interested in challenging
Modernism's formal and stylistic
elements, and used Expressionism as
a means to experiment with
perception, constructing a
nightmarish world of jagged lines and
incongruous patterns.
 The film's use of expressionistic elements is a
prime example of the genre's power to
establish a narrative that creates a
disconnect between subjectivity and reality.

In scenes throughout the film,

sidewalks lead nowhere, walls
appear warped, creating strange
shapes, and buildings rise at
distorted angles in the
background. Considering the
cultural context in which Caligari
was created, it makes sense that
German Expressionism was such a
widely used device in film, visual
art, and literature. The sense of
anxiety, distrust, and uneasiness
were at an all-time high in
Germany following World War I,
and films such as Caligari were
examples of art imitating life.
 Metropolis

Though Wiene's direction is widely

cited as making Caligari into one
of the most influential films of all
time, he was not the producer's
first choice. Producer Erich
Pommer initially campaigned for
renowned filmmaker Fritz Lang to
be given the job, but due to
scheduling conflicts, Lang was Original lobby card issued for the American release of Metropolis by Paramount in March
1927, showing a group of stooped, exhausted workers walking past one of the soulless
forced to decline. However, Lang machines which powers the city. The poster publicizes the 10 reel Channing Pollack edition
would later go on to make the of the film. It ran for anywhere from 67 to 107 minutes, having been cut down from Fritz
Lang's original 17 reel, three hour + version which had premiered in Berlin on 10 January
equally seminal and 1927.

groundbreaking Metropolis, one

of the last German Expressionist
films ever made.
Set in a dystopian future, Metropolis tells the story of two worlds: the upper city, inhabited by the
wealthy ruling class, and the underground city, populated by the poor working class, who spend their days
toiling on the enormous machines that keep the city running.

Although Metropolis does not contain

as much overtly expressionistic
imagery as Caligari, the
exaggerated movements of the
characters, the angular, crowded
skyline, and the sharp contrasts
between the upper and lower city, all
adhere to the Expressionist tradition.
Much like the compositions
produced by members of the Die
Brücke movement, Metropolis
depicted the experience of the city The artists’ group Brücke was established in Dresden on June 7, 1905, a
as one marked by chaos, tension, moment that is recognized as the birth of Expressionism. Its leading
members were Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Max Pechstein, and Karl
and intensity. Schmidt-Rottluff, and the name Brücke (“bridge”) reflects these artists’
youthful eagerness to cross into a new future. The Brücke artists worked
together communally until 1913, when the members struck out on their own
separate paths.
Expressionist film in the 1920s was based on the premise that film becomes art only to the
extent that the film image differs from reality. This particular interpretation of cinema-as-
art would go on to influence some of the most important filmmakers of the 20th century,
including Alfred Hitchcock, Werner Herzog and Tim Burton.

The style of seminal Expressionist artists

such as Erich Heckel, Wassily Kandinsky
and Emil Nolde perfectly lent itself to
cinematic reinterpretation, as one that
spoke to the most prevalent cultural
conditions of the time. During a
tumultuous and difficult period in German
history, these talented filmmakers tapped
into the popular zeitgeist and created
powerful works that have stood the test
of time. The films of this era are, in their
own way, a revealing look at a society at
a particular moment in history, expressing
the disillusionment, distrust, and isolation
experienced by many people living in
Germany at the time.
Further Viewing…
German Expressionism: Film
History and Motifs
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=42lujvwvl6k
The Metropolis Case: Fritz Lang Interviewed by
Parts 1 - 3 William Friedkin (1974)
https://www.youtube.com/watc https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=8mLsac8vuIw h?v=or0j1mY_rug
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=NI1wSbEy_AM
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=l7v5HVNB4ek