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

The economic disruption of the Weimar period created an expressionist style in German film-making, meaning films had unrealistic sets and featuring exaggerated acting techniques in order to create a dark and sinister atmosphere, mood and emotion. Due to the lack of funding, atmospheric films were made on small sets with low budgets.

Expressionist film-makers prefered darker storylines and themes such as horror and crime genres in order to represent the economic struggles at the time. The most popular film directors of the time were Fritz Lang and F.W. Murnau and the most famous films of the period were The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari (1920), Nosferatu (1922 – based on the Dracula story), Phantom (1922), The Last Laugh (1924) and Metropolis (1927).