By Ava

German expressionism was a creative development that began in Germany during the First World War.

It slowly spread North towards Europe in fields such as cinema, paintings and architecture.

In cinema, German expressionism could be identified from strange, angular set designs, advanced cinematography and chiaroscuro lighting (lighting that constructs a strong contrast between light and dark creating dramatic shadows).

They also commonly contain an excess of mirrors, glass and other reflective surfaces.

As well as this, they contain the technique known as anthropomorphism which is the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to non-human objects.

The thematic ideas in German Expression normally centredaround the subjects of madness, insanity and betrayal.

A strong mise en scene can also easily be identified within German expressionist films i.e. the background will often be constructed to specifically reflect a character’s personality. This is known as psychological landscaping.

Fritz Lang was a renowned German Expressionist director who constructed films generally from the 1920s – 1960s.

His two most famous films were ‘Metropolis’ and ‘M’ ‘Metropolis’ was a silent film ‘M’ is considered a classic and one of his most celebrated works When Lang’s wife joined the NSDAP in 1932, they soon divorced followed by

Lang leaving Germany for America as he was anti- Nazi He was also known in America for his films as a lot of European films were

recognised within America as they were mostly silent so could all be understood Lang then began making film noirs (crime dramas) aka. B films. Thus, from the techniques he used in his German Expressionist films, Lang

strongly influence the film noir genre with camera angles, maze like plot, lighting etc.

The same thematic ideas of madness, insanity and betrayal could also be recognised in the film

It could be said that film noir echoes German expressionism In modern times, we can now recognize the influence of film noir in today’s

horror films Cinema evolves!

This shot from ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’ directed by Robert Wiene clearly demonstrates some of the techniques used in German Expressionism; The chiaroscuro lighting can be identified in that the characters are lit yet the edges of the frame (especially towards the right) are so dark that you cannot even decipher what might be moving in the corners.

The genre Film noir has been developed from German Expressionism by directors such as Fritz Lang. These films contained the stylish lighting and strong mise en scene influenced by previous German expressionist films. Other directors around the 1960s such as Hitchcock eventually adapted some of these techniques for use in American Gangster and horror films e.g. ‘Psycho’. (Photo on right.)

Aspects of film noir can even be identified in today’s horror films within the lighting and the thematic ideas such as insanity, betrayal, madness etc.