Dark or brutal themes Most of the German expressionist films felt like twisted horror movies that reached right into the realms of disturbing nightmares for a plot. They often explored themes of insanity and innate evil, mostly depicting the ugly side of humanity or the paranormal.

What are the major themes of German Expressionism?

These include a fascination with the enticing yet often sordid experiences of modern urban life; the enduring solace associated with nature and religion; the naked body and its potential to signify primal emotion; emotionally charged portraiture; and, most pivotally, the need to confront the devastating experience of ...

Is German Expressionism horror?

They were generally dark in nature, capitalizing on the deep contrast of light and darkness to emphasize the morbidity and nihilism inherent to their stories. This highly influential movement, dubbed “German Expressionism”, would be the flashpoint for the macabre subject of horror in cinema.

How are shadows used in German Expressionism?

The German Expressionist use of shadows to intensify emotive and expressive moments are instrumental in audience absorption in the films. Two films that use shadow to create mood are both considered by many to be the essential German Expressionism films, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu.

What was the major theme of Expressionism?

The dominant theme of Expressionist verse was horror over urban life and apocalyptic visions of the collapse of civilization.

Video Essay: German Expressionism, Explained

What are the characteristics of German expressionism?

As the name suggests, German expressionist filmmakers used visual distortion and hyper-expressive performance to show inner turmoils, fears and desires of that era. German Expressionism reflects the inner conflicts of its 1920s German audience by giving their woes an inescapably external presence.

What was the decline of German expressionism?

Decline of the movement

Expressionism was definitively killed by the advent of the Nazis to power in 1933. They branded the work of almost all Expressionists as degenerate and forbade them to exhibit or publish and eventually even to work. Many Expressionists went into exile in the United States and other countries.

How did German expressionism influence horror?

A number of artists and craftsmen working in the Berlin theater brought the Expressionist visual style to the design of stage sets. This, in turn, had an eventual influence on films dealing with fantasy and horror. The prime example is Robert Wiene's dream-like film The Cabinet of Dr.

What is light and shadow in German expressionism?

German Expressionism in film is associated with high contrasts of darks and lights to convey nightmarish sets, often using the chiaroscuro lighting technique. Let's look at some of the classic examples that cemented this aesthetic steeped in shadows.

What are the two types of German expressionism?

There were two main groups of German expressionist artists: Die Brücke (the bridge) led by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) led by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc.

Why is Expressionism so dark?

Most of these took a rather dark tone to reflect the mood and devastation of the war. Nightmarish imagery became a common aspect, resulting from the people's uneasiness in the aftermath of WW1. In some corners of the interwebs, German expressionism is often branded as “helldunkel.” That loosely translates to hell dark.

What is the main purpose of German Expressionism?

German Expressionism is linked to a number of other contemporary movements whose goals were overturning traditional society. These movements all shared a desire to bring about changes in society, frequently with a focus on overcoming the bourgeois class and the strength of the individual.

What did German Expressionism believe in?

These artists became known as the German Expressionists: progenitors of an experimental, multifaceted movement bound together by the belief that art should express emotion—and challenge the era's social conservatism in the process.

What tone does German Expressionism evoke?

Style of German Expressionism

The films from other countries where banned in 1916 and this led to German Expressionism. The films made were surreal, distorted with heavy shadows to make the story look gloomy and depressing. The movement expressed the depression in the people's minds caused by the war.

What are the colors of German Expressionism?

German Expressionism is a bold and bitter protest movement and a style of modern art. The colors are bold, orange, blue and black.

Is the Blue Angel German Expressionism?

The Moviegoer. CRITICS AGREE that The Blue Angel (1930) is a classic, but usually for misleading reasons. They see it as a masterpiece of German Expressionism, detailing the complete degradation and ultimate death of a bourgeois hero through his descent into the sex-and-violence filled world of the lower classes.

What is the use of dark shadows and lighting to create drama called?

chiaroscuro, (from Italian chiaro, “light,” and scuro, “dark”), technique employed in the visual arts to represent light and shadow as they define three-dimensional objects.

What kind of lighting is used in German expressionism?

One key feature of expressionism that I talk about is chiaroscuro lighting. The high contrast between light and dark was used by many filmmakers and Fritz Lang is no exception.

What is German expressionism drama?

Expressionism in Germany. The term Expressionism was coined at the beginning of the 20th century to describe a style of painting that reacted violently against late 19th-century naturalism and Impressionism. Applied to the theatre, it represented a protest against the existing social order.

How does German Expressionism influence noir?

These social and psychological concerns are expressed in film noir through stories and styles hugely influenced by German Expressionism – claustrophobia, obsession, madness, peculiar narrative frames and importantly, chiaroscuro lighting and the juxtaposition of light and shadow.

What genres did German Expressionism influence?

The Long Shadow of German Expressionism

The clearest influences can be seen in the horror genre, particularly the 1930s monster horror and the cynical 1940s film noir. The movement changed filmmaking forever. Its influence can be noticed in cinema, television, photography, visual arts, and even comics.

Is German Expressionism realistic?

German Expressionism was one of several creative movements in Germany before WWI, influencing architecture, painting, printing, and cinema. Expressionist films often used wildly non-realistic and geometrically absurd sets with designs painted on walls and floors to represent lights and shadows.

What was German Expressionism a critical response to?

German Expressionism was a sharp response to the growing pains of an industrializing country. This new form of art found all its meaning before, during, and after the crisis of the First World War, along with the creation of the Weimar Republic.

What style is considered the peak of German Expressionism?

Die Brücke is typically seen as the fountainhead of German Expressionism, chronologically the first of two groups (the other being Der Blaue Reiter) that pushed German modern art onto the international avant-garde scene.

What war affected German Expressionism?

When World War I broke out in August 1914, many Expressionists initially believed it could be the apocalyptic event that would at last overthrow the self-satisfied materialism of the nation's monarchy and bourgeoisie.