10 Facts About German Expressionism

German Expressionism consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s.

International audiences and appreciation for German cinema began to grow as anti-German sentiment decreased following the end of World War I By the time its 1916 ban on imports on foreign film was lifted, Germany had become a part of the international film industry.

Later films often categorized as part of the brief history of German Expressionism include Metropolis and M (1931), both directed by Fritz Lang.

However, the themes of German Expressionism were integrated into later films of the 1920s and 1930s, resulting in an artistic control over the placement of scenery, light, etc.

These German directors found U S movie studios willing to embrace them, and several German directors and cameramen flourished there, producing a repertoire of Hollywood films that had a profound effect.

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German Expressionism would continue to influence Hitchcock throughout his career.

Stylistic elements taken from German Expressionism are common today in films that need not reference contemporary realism, such as science fiction films.

German Expressionism has been described as focusing on the “power of spectacles” and offering audiences “a kind of metonymic image of their own situation”.

The UFA financially collapsed and German Expressionism studios began to deal with Italian studios which led to their influence in style of horror and films noir.

For Eisner, similarly, German Expressionism Expressionist cinema is a visual manifestation of Romantic ideals turned to dark and proto-totalitarian ends.