Explain how the political, social and economic context of the Weimar Republic affected the production and content of classic German Expressionist Cinema.

As a consequence, German expressionism gave birth to two new cinematic genres: the Gothic horror movie and film noir (crime thrillers which explore the darker aspects of human behaviour).

Probably the best-known German expressionist film, Metropolis is part-science fiction and part-social allegory. It depicts a future society where citizens have been split into two distinct classes: the elite, who enjoy lives of leisure in the sun, and the workers, who toil monotonously beneath the ground.

Metropolis was an incredibly ambitious project for its time. It cost around five million marks, took several months to film and employed up to 300 extras. It proved unpopular with movie-goers but was critically applauded and is considered a forerunner to modern science-fiction movies.