The Russian revolution of 1917. The radical leftist revolutionaries overthrew the centuries-old Czar Nicholas II ending the Romanov rule. The Bolsheviks established a socialist state in the empire once called the Russian empire. A long and bloody civil war followed.
During WW1 Russia suffered from poor and underdeveloped infrastructure. She was reliant on foreign exchange and due Russia’s struggling economy during the period they were incapable of competing with the German’s powerhouse economy. During the three years of war Russia showed serious strain on their economy and led to famine and a depression within the country.
Between WW1 and The Russian revolution, the film industry within Russia had deteriorated to the point of being unusable. Additionally the government did not have the funds to support the production of Russian films.
German expressionism involves using angles, chiaroscuro lighting, camera tilts, large-scale set design, and detailed costumes. Dark City includes all of the elements in the german expressionist film. A comparable film would be “Metropolis – 1927”.
UFA acquired one of the largest film production studios in 1923 after merging with the studio Decla Bioscop, an independent film studio who produced the films Der mude Tod, Phantom and more. Whilst still being on the edge of financial ruin UFA produced German Hollywood films with Paramount and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
UFA was purchased in 1927 by Alfred Hugenberg – a powerful German businessman who wanted to use the company to promote German nationalism
Expressionism is a movement that arose in northern Europe during the 20th century and involves using distorted and exaggerated art styles to invoke emotion and mood.
Examples of Expressionist art:
Improvisation, Wassily Kandinsky
Fränzi in front of carved chair, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
After the war the Allies joined to together and formed a treaty as a way to punish Germany, The Treaty of Versailles. Germany was forced to sign the treaty that established peace between all the nations and take responsibility for the war. Germany was crippled financially, socially, and had a reduced militia. This eventually lead to the economic crisis in 1923.
During the years after the war UFA aimed to publicise German culture and improve the public image of Germany which had been stained after the war. German expressionism was completely banned in some countries which limited their ability to reach international audience. The depression that followed during their economic crises was manifested into their films and media – Despair, twisted, distorted
Films released: 1923 Germany
Scene from the 1923 film Raskolnikow – based on Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky, directed by Robert Wiene (27 April 1873 – 17 July 1938) an important film director of the German silent cinema. Supplied By: SCRSS – Society for Co-operation in Russian & Soviet Studies, Russia Federation
Scene from the 1923 film The Ancient Law directed by E.A -a German silent drama film that follows the story of the son of a Rabbi and the hostility he faces from his father. Supplied By: wikipedia /The_Ancient_Law
Why do critics praise Citizen Kane as ‘Being the greatest film ever made?’
Intro:
Citizen Kane features techniques that have been the main influence for mainstream films even today and have had a long-term influence on the way films are produced. Orson Welles discovered new ways of structuring actors and camera angles to add deeper emphasis on the roles and relationships of the characters. Most notable was his use of deep focus that consisted of other techniques with lighting, composition, and type of camera lens.
Examples of the use of Deep focus
Techniques such as these were new to the typical 1940s audience and therefore was not as well recognized by critics at the time. To a more modern audience ‘Citizen Kane’ is now being praised as being ‘the greatest movie of all time’ by fans and critics for its storytelling, visual style, and editing style Orson Welles integrated throughout the film (montage, dissolves, etc). Citizen Kane’s influence can be spotted in modern films such as ‘The other side of the wind (2018)’ and ‘There will be blood (2007)’. Orson Welles was just 25 when he produced Citizen Kane and with the cinematographer, Gregg Toland, and the editor, Robert Wise under Welle’s direction the film gained its reputation as groundbreaking and innovative from its time.
Conc.
I believe Citizen Kane’s attention and praise from critics derive from its use of new filming techniques to tell its story. The film introduced new ways of using cinematography and editing to influence the meaning of a storyline and in turn, influenced dozens of other films. After the decades since its release, it received the appraise it never had during its years of release. Welles stained the film industry with his detailed and technical style. Now it’s being referred to as the ‘greatest film of all time’.
