German Expressionism and Film Noir

German Expressionism

German expressionism arose during the 1920’s shortly before WWI. The movement of the arts originated in Germany and covered many forms of media, including cinema. The cinematic style the movement brought on was expressionistic. It was made up of sharp angles, jagged shapes, dramatic shadows, harsh lighting and high contrast (Chiaroscuro lighting) using a monochromatic palette. The landscapes painted reflected the state of the country at the time, infiltrated with paranoia.The usage of colour in some ways represented how society at the time was ‘clashing’ with one another and issue was either black or white; there was no in-between or middle ground. There was a strong usage of binary opposites away from colours such as good vs evil and light and dark. The absurdity of what was onscreen would have had to be looked deeper into in order to relate to the raw emotions present in the text.

German Expressionism

The narratives of the films delved into darker topics such as paranoia, insanity and betrayal especially after the war as these were issues that were relatable and real issues for society at the time. Many artists of the movement served in the war and came back disillusioned and distorted which was mirrored in their works. Characters from a scientific background such as doctors and professors were also common in the films such as the widely known The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari which featured a twisted hypnotist who is also a murderer. This was because these people were initially thought of highly and were well trusted however many of the people that were in power and were trusted broke that trust, hence their presence in the films. The films were created as a means of escapism for the people of Germany to watch and temporarily be distracted by the stress of the downfall in the country’s economy amongst other issues.

The film Metropolis (1927) is an expressionistic representation of society in Germany during the country’s unsettled period around the First World War. The film shows the separation of the lower class citizens from the elites, society vs government, which reflects the political disputes at the time as the country’s sense of unity was slowly cracking.

There are visual similarities between German Expressionism and Film Noir as shown above. The shadows and sharp lines are common in both styles of film, Film Noir being influenced by German Expressionism.

Film Noir

Film Noir emerged in the 1940’s in America, heavily influenced by German Expressionism. They share very similar elements such as the reoccurring theme of paranoia and scepticism, threaded with crime drama and romance. A number of notable directors in German Expressionism such as Fritz Lang migrated to America from Germany for the fear of what would happen with the Nazi revolution. The usage of low key lighting, monochrome colours and abstract angles are present in Film Noir. Many techniques were used to convey the genre and themes of the films. Characters faces were often obscured using shadows to create dark casts over them which portrayed the idea of deception and that everyone is able to have a dark and devious side to them. Film Noir makes frequent usage of flashbacks and narrators order to tell the narrative of the film. The most common characters to appear is the detective, femme fatal and corrupt policemen. Once again this highlights the distrust in previously trusted figures, especially after the WWII in 1939 to 1945.

Modern Horror

Present day cinematic style has been heavily influenced by the previous German Expressionism and Film Noir. Many films are set in cities much like the past movements films. The lighting and shadows which were prominent features in the past are also used in modern day horror to create suspense and tension. In John Carpenters film Halloween (1978) the influences of the previous movements are present as seen in the still with Michael Myers in a canted frame using harsh lighting to create sharp shadows and high contrast.